EFFECT OF STARCH BINDER ON BRIQUETTES AT VARIOUS BINDER CONCENTRATIONS

Abstract

Briquetting is a process of converting agricultural wastes into similar shaped solids that are easy to use, as a fuel for burning. Briquetting enhances the portability of the combustible material and increases the calorific value, and making it effective for a range of applications both industrial and domestic purposes. This study is aimed at exploiting the potentials of producing briquettes from carbonised sawdust using starch as binding agent at different binder concentrations. The calorific values of the briquettes obtained were 20.7714, 12.58000, 25.4037, 26.0945 and 28.1448 MJ/Kg for the binders at 5%, 10%, 15%, 20% and 25% respectively. While the Fixed carbon obtained were 57.713, 54.512, 69.639, 70.7905 and 74.788 % respectively. It can be observed that the briquettes produced using at 25% binder concentration gave the highest fixed carbon content and also calorific values which are among the properties that determines the quality of briquettes.