Measurement of Energy Value on different Grain sizes of Sawdust Briquettes

Abstract

Biomass and other industrial wastes is on the increase and is causing a lot of problem especially the effect on our environment. In developing countries like Nigeria, there are no adequate majors of disposing these wastes, hence, converting them to other useful products such as briquettes for domestic fuel is desirable. In this research, the energy values of briquettes made from sawdust using two binders were assessed. The sawdust briquettes was produced using sawdust mixture of different grain sizes (0.05cm and 0.1cm, 0.3cm and 0.5cm respectively) and two different types of  binders (clay and starch) in percentage compositions of 75:25, 80:20, 85:15, 90:10 and 95:05, respectively. The briquettes were subjected to energy evaluation test using a Calorimeter.  The mean bulk densities of the briquettes produced from sawdust mixture of different particle sizes was determined. We also obtained results of the average energy values of the briquettes produced using both binders respectively. The results  indicate  that  briquettes produced from sawdust of grain size (0.05cm and 0.1cm)  using starch  gave  the  highest energy value while those obtained  from sawdust of particle size (0.3cm and 0.5cm) using  clay  gave  the  lowest  calorific  value. The briquette from sawdust of particle sizes (0.05cm and 0.1cm) is therefore more suitable for starting and maintaining fire for cooking and other domestic heating. The effective utilization of these agricultural by-products as high grade solid fuel can reduce environmental pollution resulting from the wastes and also help in minimizing the energy crisis resulting from non - renewable energy sources like petroleum products as domestic fuel.