article · Scientific African
Fuel briquettes can be successfully produced from blends of Idigbo charcoal particles and pinewood sawdust bound with gelatinised cassava peel. Testing various mixing ratios under a hydraulic pressure of 5 megapascals revealed that residue proportions strongly influence fuel performance. Raising the proportion of charcoal particles increases the fixed carbon content and calorific output, whereas adding more pine sawdust raises volatile matter and reduces the heating value. Briquettes made purely from charcoal particles achieved the highest heating value at 24.9 megajoules per kilogram, alongside an ash content of 6.0 per cent. Overall, briquetting these combined biomass residues creates fuel products with superior combustion characteristics compared to the raw constituent materials, indicating suitability for both domestic and industrial energy generation.
Converting agricultural and forestry residues into solid fuels provides a practical route to utilise discarded biomass such as charcoal fines, sawdust, and cassava peels. By establishing how different blend ratios alter heating values and combustion characteristics, these findings help guide the formulation of cleaner, higher-density energy alternatives for household cooking and industrial heating systems.
This work demonstrates an applied and tested method for producing solid fuels suitable for domestic and industrial users. Biomass energy enterprises and waste processors could utilise the tested blending ratios and hydraulic pressing parameters to manufacture briquettes from local timber and agricultural waste, though the abstract does not indicate production economics, emissions testing, or pilot-scale commercial trials.
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The combustion characteristics of fuel briquettes made from Idigbo (Terminalia ivorensis) charcoal particles, pinewood (Pinus caribaea) sawdust and their agglomerates using gelatinized cassava peels were investigated. The charcoal particles and pine sawdust were blended in the mixing ratios of 90:10, 80:20, 70:30, 60:40, and 50:50, respectively and vice-versa. More so, briquettes were produced from pure charcoal particles and pine sawdust separately for the purpose of comparison with the blended briquettes. The gelatinized binder was 5% of the total briquettes weight. The briquettes were produced using a pressure of 5 MPa with a dwelling time of 5 min in a hydraulic briquetting machine. Proximate, elemental compositions and heating value analyses were carried out on the raw charcoal, sawdust, cassava peel, and their briquettes. The results showed that variations in the mixing ratios of the bio-residues had significant effects on all the properties investigated. An increase in the charcoal particles led to an increase in the fixed carbon content and heating value of the briquettes. Conversely, higher pine sawdust content in the briquette resulted in higher volatile matter content and lower heating value. The briquette made from pure charcoal particles had the highest heating value (24.9 MJ/kg) and ash content (6.0%). Its carbon, hydrogen, and oxygen contents were in the range of 44.6–50.1%, 5.1–5.6% and 34.4–41.5%, respectively. The proximate analysis, elemental composition analysis, and heating values of the produced fuel briquettes depicted that they have better combustion properties when compared to the raw charcoal, pine dust, and cassava peel. Thus, the produced briquettes would serve as good fuel for domestic and industrial applications.
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DOI: 10.1016/j.sciaf.2019.e00202
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