dipos-lintas dari: https://lemmy.ml/post/48312805

The Center for Entropy Deceleration Studies (PKPE) of the Faculty of Engineering at Gadjah Mada University (UGM) has described the repeated fires that engulfed the residence of Mutfiana, also known as Fia, in Seyegan, Sleman, Yogyakarta, as a special case.

This special case designation is based on the preliminary conclusion of a UGM expert team that suggests the fires are associated with the presence of hydrogen gas (H2) at the site.

This hydrogen gas is strongly suspected to originate from the fermentation process of organic waste from chicken slaughterhouses. For your information, Fia's family operates a chicken slaughterhouse from their home.

Sarju Winardi, a lecturer and Assistant Professor in the Department of Geological Engineering at Gadjah Mada University (UGM), who is also a member of the PKPE (Emergency Planning and Development Agency), frankly stated that his team doesn't yet have a comprehensive answer as to why this phenomenon doesn't occur at other chicken slaughterhouses.

His team's current assumption is that the hydrogen gas likely originates from organic waste, a mixture of feces, residual water, blood, and chicken feathers. This also indicates a source of another compound that is more flammable at room temperature, namely phosphine gas (PH3).

Furthermore, this organic chicken slaughterhouse has been in operation for 16 years and is reportedly cleaned occasionally.

"We haven't compared the waste management model at other locations, and we haven't found similar cases. What we've found is that it doesn't occur in other locations. This means, again, as in the previous question, this is a special case," said Sarju when met at the Seyegan District Office, Sleman, Yogyakarta Special Region, on Thursday (June 4).

"So, if we're talking about comparisons, the comparisons actually show that this is a special case, not found elsewhere," he continued.

However, Sarju said, a similar phenomenon can be scientifically observed in former landfills that previously held large amounts of organic material, such as dead animals, bones, and even graveyards. The phenomenon of phosphine gas triggering hydrogen gas combustion can occur in areas with this configuration.

"Well, that could be a reference, that's our reference. But, we haven't found anything like this in chicken slaughterhouses in Indonesia. Many cases involve septic tanks with high levels of methane (CH4). Yesterday, there was a tendency for that, so our Bomb Squad (Gegana) team measured the methane. But now the septic tank has been drained, pumped, and cleaned, but the fire is still coming out, which also strengthens the case. We suspect it's confirmed to be hydrogen," he explained.

Why is this happening now?

Sarju explained that the formation of hydrogen gas from organic waste depends on the activity of anaerobic microbacteria, namely Clostridium. The greater the number, the faster the production capacity.

"Actually, its formation doesn't take a very long time, especially since this (waste storage) has been around for 16 years, so it's a very possible time," he said.

Sarju's assumption is that the hydrogen gas is only now being released because microbial activity has reached its peak. The hydrogen gas's capacity is suspected to have reached its peak, causing it to spread out and float in the air.

"It has reached its peak, so the gas is quite large and can escape. We also believe the release is not sporadic in one place, but is continuous. So we believe this is a sign of peak bacterial activity," he said.

Therefore, the UGM PKPE team has issued several recommendations to minimize the risk of fires at Fia's house.

One of these is that the UGM team will help saturate the soil and floor of the house with an alkaline solution (lime water) to suppress the possibility of Clostridium bacteria, which play a role in producing hydrogen gas.

The mysterious fire terror at Fia's residence has been going on for almost two weeks. There have been 97 sudden fires that have ignited objects inside the house per day.

In fact, over the past two days, the spread of hotspots has spread to the shophouse where Fia and her family have taken refuge. The shophouse is located north of Fia's residence. Fia's family has mapped at least 65 hotspots since the incident began.