SAJSET-01-2023-0004 Physicochemical properties and thermal characteristics of biomass briquettes with enhancement from coal additives

Abstract

This study aims to determine the physical, chemical, and thermal characteristics of briquettes produced from local sugarcane bagasse from Jambil village and Maiganga coal. The samples were produced by mixing bagasse and coal  ranging from 5% to 20% in step of 5% and adding 0.081g, 0.102g, 0.263g, and 0.342g in samples BC5, BC10, BC15, and BC20 respectively. The sample with 0% coal and Ca(OH)₂ (g) is the BC0 and taken as control sample. Fixed carbon (FC), ash (AC), moisture (MC), and volatile matter (VM) contents in addition to carbon (C), hydrogen (H), oxygen (O), and nitrogen (N) of all the samples were determined. Also, the density (ρ), Sulphur (S), sulphur dioxide (SO₂), specific fuel consumption (SFC), and heating value (HV) were determined. The study shows that the produced sample BC20 had an increase in C and FC contents from 41% to 68% and 6% to 17% respectively as comared to BC0. S, N, and AC contents increased as coal content increased from 0%, 0.16%, and 3.99% respectively in the control sample to 0.79%, 1.68%, and 11.0% respectively in the BC20. The maximum SO₂ reduction of 22% was obtained in BC10. H, O, VM, and MC decreased with a decrease in bagasse content in the samples from 5.9%, 43.6%, 76.2%, and 8.2% respectively in the control sample to 5.7%, 23.3%, 50.2%, and 6.1% respectively in BC20 sample. These raised the density of the samples from 0.39 to 0.7kg/m³, which also increased the heating characteristics of the samples. SFC and boiling duration decreased as coal content increased and increased the heating value from 16MJ/kg to 22MJ/kg. All the produced samples had reduced S content and higher heating value than most of the common firewood used in the study area. The samples are suitable for use in domestic, small, and medium enterprises.