COMBUSTION CHARACTERISTICS OF BIO-DEGRADABLE BIOMASS BRIQUETTES

Abstract

This paper reports on the combustion characteristics of biodegradable biomass briquettes prepared from charcoal, sawdust and sugarcane bagasse. The three materials were mixed in respective ratio of 20:20:60, 20:30:50, 20:40:40, 20:50:30 and 20:60:20. The briquettes were produced using Budenberg dial gauge hydraulic compression machine with the formation of briquettes under 64 MPa pressure with 120 seconds dwell time. Combustion characteristics such as proximate analysis, fuel-burning rate, fuel ignition time and afterglow time of the produced briquettes were determined. Results show that briquette with sample composition of 20:50:30 has better calorific value of 24613.69 kJ/kg and sample with ratio 20:30:50 has lowest calorific value of 22500.3 kJ/kg, while sampling with ratio 20:30:50 has better physical properties with shatter resistance of 99.61% and porosity index value of 47.40%.

Keywords

• Biodegradable
• Briquette
• Calorific value
• Combustion characteristics
• Solid