In this lab I was testing to find an environmentally friendly way to use the remains of the paper mill, which is the paper mill sludge (SPN Sludge). It is a product derived from waste water treatment clarifier solids, it contains 45% to 75% of water unless dried out. There is also 50-80% Cellulose, 8-12% Calcium Carbonate, 2-10% Silicon, and <1-10% Aluminum.This lab was a way for my classes little brains to try and find a creative but easy way to either make the SPN sludge useful for the environment, a way too get rid of the smell, or a way to dispose of it.
The SPN sludge when dry is flammable over open flame. I did end up doing a test on it after I got the SPN sludge wet to form it then putting it over a flame without it being dried, it did burn.
Dry SPN Sludge is odorless, but at the mill when it has water in it and is being mixed around it smells horrible. Drying it out would help the smell greatly, but we don't know of many useful ways of what to do with it.
Procedure:
Put the dried paper mill sludge on the fruit which is able to decompose, to wear it covers most of it.
Pour water on all of it and let sit.
Test:
I allowed the paper mill, soaked in water on the fruit, to sit for about 3 days. It ended up drying out on the banana and I went off of Heather's controlled banana as it decomposed.
I tested to see if the SPN sludge would help the banana decompose faster and it seemed to fail. Heather's controlled banana decomposed faster then my test, so I assumed the SPN sludge helped to slow the natural process of decomposing.
I decided to only test this with water and no other chemicals so it can be an easy thing to do at home in a compost, it would not be expensive. The thing that would cost money is the packaging of the SPN dried sludge and then processing in stores. It would provide more jobs to benefit the economy.
After the paper mill sludge was on it soaked in water and had already dried over the banana.
The decomposing process of fruit comes from the enzyme called polyphenol oxidase. This enzyme reacts with the oxygen in the air to coat the banana in a brown gross layer over the skin of the banana. Enzymes are linked to the ripeness of fruits, the chemistry of its enzymes change. Using bananas as examples, they undergo a chemical change as they rot, they change in color and appearance, this change cannot be reversed or altered, It can be slowed down which what the SPN sludge on mine seemed to do. Many foods will keep ripening after they have been harvested, and many will not. A banana, if chosen while still green, will seem to ripen for a few days after it has been removed from the plant.
Conclusion:
My test ended up slowing down the process of decomposing in a natural environment. The enzyme of the natural fruit didn't effect the banana as much as Hether' controlled fruit did.
Analysis:
In this lab I should have had my own controlled banana to watch its decomposing process, it would have shown me that the one I was doing a test on was not decomposing faster, but slower I also would have tested it with more then just water, for example an acid.
