Comparing Optimally Produced Charcoal Briquettes from Raffia Palm Shells with Hard Wood Charcoal
[1]
Raphael Terungwa Iwar, Department of Agricultural and Environmental Engineering, University of Agriculture Makurdi, Nigeria.
[2]
Kola Ogendengbe, Department of Agricultural and Environmental Engineering, University of Ibadan, Ibadan, Nigeria.
[3]
Faith Nnekka Aniogbu, Department of Agricultural and Environmental Engineering, University of Agriculture Makurdi, Nigeria.
In this study, an appropriate, cost effective and easy to duplicate manually operated biomass briquetting machine suitable for use in rural communities was developed following standard design procedures. Carbonization of the raw material (Raffia Palm Shells) was done using a laboratory muffle furnace. The developed machine was evaluated for the production of charcoal briquettes using the carbonized Raffia Palm fruit shells, a synthetic gum and cassava starch as binders. The qualities of the produced briquettes were measured in terms of the briquette thermal and physical properties following standard methods. Thermal and physical properties of the optimally produced briquettes using the two binder types and those of the convention hard wood charcoal were statistically compared using a one factor Analysis of Variance (ANOVA). The developed briquetting machine had an average throughput capacity of 64kg/hr. Thermal properties of the briquettes and hard wood charcoal ranged from 2.42 – 3.83g/min, 7.67 – 17.33 min, and 20052.20 – 29600.00 kJ/kg for burning rate, ignition time and calorific value respectively. On the other hand the physical properties of the briquettes and hard wood charcoal ranged from 399.63 – 523.67 kg/m3, 0.72 – 1.00, 46.67 – 81.90% and 399.63 – 470.98kg/m3 for compressed density, durability index, water resistance capacity and relaxed density respectively. Results of the ANOVA revealed that the thermal and physical properties of the briquettes were significantly affected by the binder type at 95% confidence level. In general, the properties of the studied briquettes compared favorably with those of the conventional hard wood charcoal. It was therefore concluded that Raffia palm shells hold great potentials for use as a raw material for the production of charcoal briquettes for rural household energy utilization. It is however recommended that the drum method of carbonization be employed to enhance the cost-effectiveness of the technology in rural areas.
Briquetting Machine, Binder Type, Raffia Palm Shells, Physical Properties, Thermal Properties, Hardwood Charcoal
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