Rice hulls

Rice hulls

Rice hulls (or rice husks) are the hard protecting coverings of grains of rice. In addition to protecting rice during the growing season, rice hulls can be put to use as building material, fertilizer, insulation material, or fuel.

Production

Rice hulls are the coatings of seeds, or grains, of rice. The husk protects the seed during the growing season, since it is formed from hard materials, including opaline silica and lignin. The hull is mostly indigestible to humans.

Winnowing, used to separate the rice from hulls, is to put the whole rice into a pan and throw it into the air while the wind blows. The light hulls are blown away while the heavy rice fall back into the pan. Later pestles and a simple machine called a rice pounder were developed to remove hulls. In 1885 the modern rice hulling machine was invented in Brazil. During the milling processes, the hulls are removed from the raw grain to reveal whole brown rice, which may then sometimes be milled further to remove the bran layer, resulting in white rice.

Uses

The temples of the Batujaya Archaeological Site in Indonesia (5th century AD) were built with bricks containing rice hulls.

Rice hull ash

Combustion of rice hulls affords rice husk ash (acronym RHA). This ash is a potential source of amorphous reactive silica, which has a variety of applications in materials science. Most of the ash is used in the production of Portland cement^[1] When burnt completely, the ash can have a blaine number of as much as 3,600 compared to the blaine number of cement between 2,800 to 3,000, meaning it is finer than cement. Silica is the basic component of sand, which is used with cement for plastering and concreting. This fine silica will provide a very compact concrete. The ash also is a very good thermal insulation material. The fineness of the ash also makes it a very good candidate for sealing fine cracks in civil structures, where it can penetrate deeper than the conventional cement sand mixture.

A number of possible uses for RHA include absorbents for oils and chemicals, soil ameliorants, a source of silicon, insulation powder in steel mills, as repellents in the form of "vinegar-tar" release agent in the ceramics industry, as an insulation material. More specialized applications include the use of this material as a catalyst support.^[2]

Toothpaste

In Kerala, India, Rice husks (Umikari in Malayalam) were universally used for over centuries in cleaning teeth, before toothpaste replaced it.

Brewing

Rice hulls can be used in brewing beer to increase the lautering ability of a mash.

Fertilizer and substrate

Rice hulls can be composted, but their high lignin content can make this a slow process. Sometimes earthworms are used to accelerate the process. Using vermicomposting techniques, hulls can be converted to fertilizer in about four months.

Rice hulls that are parboiled (PBH) are used as a substrate or medium for gardening, including certain hydrocultures. The hulls decay over time. Rice hulls allow drainage,^[3] and retain less water than growstones.^[4] It has been shown that rice hulls do not affect plant growth regulation.^[3]

Fireworks

Rice hulls are coated with fine-grained gunpowder and used as the main bursting charge in aerial fireworks shells.

Fuel

With proper techniques, rice hulls can be burned and used to power steam engines. Some rice mills originally disposed of hulls in this way. Unfortunately the direct combustion of rice hulls produces large quantities of smoke. An alternative is gasification. Rice hulls are easily gasified in top-lit updraft gasifiers. The combustion of this rice hull gas produces a blue flame, and rice hull biochar makes a good soil amendment.^[5]

Juice extraction

Rice hulls are used as a "press aid" to improve extraction efficiency of apple pressing.^[6]

Pet food fiber

Rice hulls are the outermost covering of the rice and come as organic rice hulls and natural rice hulls. Rice hulls are an inexpensive byproduct of human food processing, serving as a source of fiber that is considered a filler ingredient in pet foods.^[7]

Pillow stuffing

Rice hulls are used as pillow stuffing. The pillows are loosely stuffed and considered therapeutic as they retain the shape of the head.

Insulating material

Rice hulls themselves are a class A thermal insulating material because they are difficult to burn and less likely to allow moisture to propagate mold or fungi.

SiC production

Rice hulls are a low-cost material from which silicon carbide "whiskers" can be manufactured. The SiC whiskers are then used to reinforce ceramic cutting tools, increasing their strength tenfold.^[8]

Tire additive

Goodyear announced plans to use rice hulls ash as a source for tire additive.^[9]

See also

• Rice-hull bagwall construction
• Winnowing barn

References

• Ma, Jian Feng; Kazunori Tamai; Naoki Yamaji; Namiki Mitani; Saeko Konishi; Maki Katsuhara; Masaji Ishiguro; Yoshiko Murata; Masahiro Yano (2006). "A silicon transporter in rice". Nature 440 (7084): 688–691. doi:10.1038/nature04590. PMID 16572174. 

• Mitani, Namiki; Jian Feng Ma; Takashi Iwashita (2005). "Identification of the silicon form in xylem sap of rice (Oryza sativa L.)". Plant Cell Physiol. 46 (2): 279–283. doi:10.1093/pcp/pci018. PMID 15695469. Retrieved 2008-05-05. 

• Mitani, Namiki; Jian Feng Ma (2005). "Uptake system of silicon in different plant species". J. Exp. Bot. 56 (414): 1255–1261. doi:10.1093/jxb/eri121. PMID 15753109. Retrieved 2008-05-05. 
• The Rice Hull House where rice hulls are used for insulation
• Uses for rice husk ash, or RHA
• Rice hulls used in cutting tool industry