Development of Improved Briquettes from Three Agricultural Residues.

Abstract

Briquettes were produced from mixed composition of three agricultural residues; groundnut shell, almond shell and rice husk. Cassava starch, clay and water were also added. Mixture-Process experimental design of six components and four process factors were used to develop the briquettes. The properties determined were: percentage volatile matter, percentage ash content, percentage fixed carbon and calorific value. Density and drying time were also determined. All processing variables assessed were not significantly different at 5% level of probability, except for percentage ash content. The result shows that briquette produced from composition of 52% groundnut shell, 10% almond shell, 10% rice husk, 20% cassava starch, 5% clay, 3% water, at 650oC carbonising temperature, 250Mpa compacting pressure, 300 sec dwell time and drying temperature of 160oC produced the highest calorific value of 29994.49kcal/kg while briquette produced from 46% groundnut shell, 10% almond shell, 16% rice husk, 20% cassava starch, 5% clay, 3% water, at 300oC carbonising temperature, 250Mpa compacting pressure, 60 seconds dwell time and drying temperature of 160oC produced the lowest calorific value of 23701.47kcal/kg . A burning rate of 0.43kg/hr shows that the fuel is moderately combustible.