Recent years it is found that the availability of conventional fuels like coal, lignite for domestic and industrial purposes is in scarce. The usage of these materials emits flue gases to the environment leading to air pollution. The cost of liquefied petroleum gas is very high recent years. Considering all the above said factors there is a need in developing a substitute called biomass briquettes with best properties for the conventional fuels which prevent air pollution, are less in cost and has maximum availability. The primary constituents of biomass briquettes consist of agricultural biomass residues, including sugarcane bagasse, maize stalk, straw, coconut shell and leaves, wood, groundnut shells, and rice husk. Additionally, sawdust and waste papers derived from municipal waste serve as binding agents in the briquette production process. In this research work waste bio-based materials having good range of calorific value like sawdust, rice husk, corn cobs and coconut shell were collected as raw materials for production process. Both organic binder algae and Inorganic binder Al2O3 were added to the carbonized bio-based materials to improve adhesive forces in briquettes.Al2O3 synthesized by sol gel method is a novel material used as an inorganic binder along with organic binders. Al2O3 synthesized is characterized by XRD to study the nature of the material. The obtained briquettes were analyzed for fixed carbon, volatile matter, moisture content, ash and calorific value. Briquettes synthesized showed good characteristics with respect to all the above said analysis. The calorific value which is known as heating value was around 26.67 MJ/kg. The value obtained was in the range of other fuels used and thus this biomass solid briquette finds its place as one of the best alternate source of fuel for domestic and industrial purposes. The comparative results obtained in this study give more insights in the encouragement, design and development of eco friendly bio-based briquettes in rural areas as an alternate fuel.
Research Article
Synthesis and Analysis of Biomass based briquettes prepared by blend of natural and inorganic binders as an alternate fuel
https://doi.org/10.21203/rs.3.rs-3739693/v1
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Briquettes
Bio based materials
alternate fuels
waste management
Sol gel method
Fuel
Energy is crucial to human survival and significantly influences the development of the economy, society, and environment (Fikremariam et al. 2020). Fossil fuels, coal, and kerosene are nonrenewable energy sources that cause emissions of greenhouse gases (GHG), such as CO2, SOx, and NOx. Renewable energy sources are seen as a more desirable and superior option than nonrenewable ones because they are so different and sustainable. Biomass fuels, such as fuel wood, wood charcoal, agricultural waste, and animal dung, are among the renewable energy sources that are frequently used for cooking in domestic settings. All over the globe various efforts were taken to replace conventional fuel like coal and lignite with some renewable energy which is also called green energy without pollutants (Simron et al. 2012). The demand for this conventional fuel is high in a populous country like India but the availability of this fuel is in demand in recent years. India being agricultural nation residues of agriculture waste is more and 80% of these can be used to meet the energy demand of rural communities (Ravindranath et al. 2005).On the other hand, massive amounts of biomass waste were produced in municipal regions, local markets, wood processing businesses, and agro processing businesses. The inappropriate handling of these wastes contaminates surface and groundwater resources and pollutes the air and water (Kebede et al. 2016).Briquettes made from recycled biomass wastes serve to reduce environmental issues, particularly the buildup of greenhouse gases (world energy council. 2016). As a result, managing of biomass waste in the design of solid briquettes adds significantly to the sustainable and effective use of biomass wastes( Li et al. 2000).The biomass briquettes are considered as a clean fuel since it can effectively reduce emission of pollutants in atmosphere (Jian Sun et al. 2019). Carbonized biomass reduce pollutant emission hence the process involved in production is highly valuable (Zhenkun Guo. 2020). Solid fuel briquettes can be produced at large scale by compressing the biomass.Biomass was introduced to pressure agglomeration process so that briquettes of reduced moisture content ease for transportation and storage is produced (Tomasz Nurek et al. 2019). Biomass of low density is considered as attractive components which has rapid burning ability. These biomasses can be upgraded to improve the burning performance. The binding agent will help in increasing the properties like density, fixed carbon and heating value (Sotannde et al. 2010).Loose biomass leftovers are compressed during the briquetting process into a highly-densified solid block that can be burned as fuel. Biomass-derived briquettes made from agricultural waste add to the variety of energy sources. Research is presently interested in the benefit of turning biomass, which has a high moisture content, low heating value, and low density in its raw form, into highly efficient fuel briquettes (Ukpaka et al. 2019). Briquettes with superior quality and extended storage type can be formed from a blend of coconut waste and waste paper; furthermore it can be also enhanced by blending with other type of agricultural wastes (Olorunnisola et al. 2009). Bagasse, waste from sugarcane processing industry has a high calorific value and a suggested material for alternate fuel (Tiwari et al. 2011). Addition of binders to the biomass will improve bulk density and compressive strength of briquettes produced (Umesh Betal. 2018). Binders and its ratio play a vital role in deciding the quality of briquettes (Wilaipon et al. 2007). Direct combustion method helps to convert biomass to char, which are pulverized and blended with required binders and water. All the biomass and binder ingredients after mixing can be mechanically pressed and dried to remove moisture content from the solid briquettes (Suttibak et al. 2018; Eseltine et al. 2013). The lignin and proteins in biomass are naturally occuring structural binders or stabilizing agents that become active at high temperatures and pressures (Mani et al. 2006, Oyelaran et al. 2015). A potential component is algae which can act as binder due to its high protein and lignin content (Nagarajan et al. 2021).It was discovered that adding algae as a binder enhanced the briquettes' density, energy value, and durability (Muazu et al. 2017). Inorganic binders offer strong adhesion, good hydrophilicity and low cost (Shu et al. 2012). Inorganic binders used for environmental protection are iron oxide, magnesium oxide and calcium oxide (Zang et al. 2018). In this research work, various types of biomass like saw dust, rice husk, corn cobs and coconut shell were used to manufacture solid briquettes and both organic binder (algae) and inorganic binder (Al2O3) synthesized by sol gel method were used to fabricate biomass briquettes to stabilize them. A variety of biomass can be mixed to manage the waste and convert to wealth. The idea can be applied in municipal, panchayat and any biomass wastes. Converting waste to wealth leads to giving back a useful product to the society for a healthy and happy ecosystem.
2.1. Biomass samples
The biomass considered in this research consisted of saw dust, corn cobs, rice husk and coconut shell. They are commonly found in University campus, shops and mess as solid wastes. The samples were sun dried .To improve the quality of making briquettes, collected biomass wastes were carbonized. The dried biomass wastes were reduced to bits no larger than 1 cm before being carbonized. Each type of biomass waste was carbonized independently in a low-oxygen setting. The biomass wastes were first carbonized, followed by cooling to avoid ash buildup and grinded with motor and pestle, and screening through a 2 mm sieve. Using carbonized biomass wastes with a particle size of 2 mm, briquetting was completed. The carbonized biomass of small particle size is shown in Fig. 1: a) Corn cobs b) Rice husk c) Saw dust d) Coconut shell.
2.2. Organic binders
Briquette performance and superiority are influenced by binder quality. Additional binders were added to the biomass for densification in order to enhance the briquettes' characteristics. Researchers utilize a variety of binders, including organic binders, inorganic binders, and compounded binders. Some binders on usage resulted in creating lot of problems such as releasing air pollutants on combustion and causing corrosion problems (Rukayya Ibrahim Muazu et al. 2017). Some organic binders like starch and molasses have resource problems because they are considered as food products. Thus there is a need to find out an eco friendly binder for the loose biomass. Variety of organic binders were explored namely starch, molasses (Obernberger et al. 2004, M. Thomas et al. 1998).algae which is distributed and abundantly found in water ecosystem was explored (Guschina et al. 2013). Algae used as binders in briquette production produced briquettes with high properties. Usage of organic binders in briquette production resulted in good bonding, good combustion performance but the disadvantage is low thermo stability this problem can be overcome by usage of inorganic binders which resulted in producing briquettes with excellent thermo stability and hydrophilicity. The organic binder used in this research study was algae which were obtained from lakeside. The obtained algae were sundried for a day to remove moisture content and then carbonized. The powdered algae were displayed in Fig. 1.e.
2.3 Inorganic Binders
Inorganic binders can impart excellent advantages like strong adhesion, low cost and good hydrophilicity. Commonly used binders are clay, lime and sodium silicate (Lijuan Zhang et al. 2012), iron oxide, magnesium oxide (Ahmed et al. 2005). The properties of Al2O3 is very attractive, it has good surface area and highly porous in nature(Arul Jayan et al., 2021) In the research work new metal oxide Al2O3 was designed from their respective precursors by Sol gel method and used as inorganic binder along with the organic binder. Various researchers have used alumina for various society accelerated applications due to its excellent mechanical, chemical and thermal qualities. Alumina was strongly used as an adsorbent, catalyst and also in other industry. The synthesized alumina inorganic binder was shown in Fig. 2.
2.4 Briquetting procedure
As the carbonized biomass and the binders were collected all the biomass samples were mixed together and to which the organic and inorganic binders were mixed at a ratio of 1: 0.25 respectively one after the other. The complete mixture is set aside. A spherical shaped briquetting die of 5 cm is used. The die was filled with known quantity of biomass binder mixture. A hand press can help in compressing the mixture inside the die. This process is very important to provide good shape, density and compression of the mixture. The obtained biomass briquettes out from the die can be sundried further to make it ready for the usage of fuel. Microwave heating at 60 o C for 5 hours was performed to all the biomass briquettes produced. These produced biomass briquettes were subjected to some of the characterization testing.
2.5 Proximate analysis.
Finding out a substance's percentages of moisture, volatile matter, ash, and fixed carbon is known as proximate analysis. Ash, volatile matter, and moisture content measurements were made in accordance with ASTM E1756-01, E872-82, and E1755-01 standards, respectively. The equipment employed included a high temperature incinerator, desiccators, a four-decimal digital scale, a ceramic cup with a cover, and a metal bottom plate. Moisture, volatile matter, and ash measurements were made, and the remaining fraction of the sample—fixed carbon—was identified.
2.6 Ultimate analysis.
The carbon, hydrogen, nitrogen, sulphur, and oxygen contents of the biomass briquettes were determined via ultimate analysis. The percentage that was still present after taking into account the other elements was used to compute the oxygen content. It was carried out using a Leco Carbon Hydrogen Nitrogen & Sulphur analyzer, Model Carbon 628,628 S. The analysis was completed at the Sathyabama Institute of Science and Technology's Centre for Waste Management in Chennai, Tamil Nadu.
2.7 Heating value
The heating value was calculated or determined using an oxygen bomb calorimeter in accordance with ASTM D 5865. Eq. (1) can be used to determine the greater heating value.
The results obtained in this research work for the proximate and ultimate analysis is compared with the standard values of wood charcoal mentioned in Table 1.
|
S.No |
Parameter |
Quality Standards for Wood Charcoal Briquettes (SNI No.1 / 6235/2000 |
|---|---|---|
|
1 |
Water content (%) |
≤ 8 |
|
2 |
Ash content (%) |
≤ 8 |
|
3 |
Carbon content (%) |
≤ 77 |
|
4 |
Calorific value (kcal/kg) |
≤ 5000 |
2.8 Preparation of inorganic binder
Al2O3nanoparticles were produced using the sol-gel method with aluminum nitrate being the precursor. First, 15.63g of 0.5N, Al (NO3)3.9H2O was fully dissolved in 250 ml of distilled water by stirring at ambient temperature. Later 23 ml of ethanol solution were added drop wise to the solution that was being stirred, and the temperature was raised to 80°C. The pH of the reaction mixture was consistently regulated within the range of 2 to 3 throughout the process. The resulting product was dried for around 4 hours, allowed to cool to room temperature, and was then calcined for 6 hours at 700°C.
2.9 XRD Method
The synthesized nanoparticles were subjected to XRD analysis. Powder X-ray diffraction was recorded on Rigaku Geiger flex X-ray diffractometer in the range of 2 theta values 20–80°.on performing this analysis it is easy to reveal the atom nature and size.
3.1 XRD Spectrum
The XRD patterns of Al2O3 samples generated using the Sol Gel method and acquired following calcinations at 800 o C are displayed in Fig. 3. Between diffraction angles of 20° and 80°, three broad diffuse peaks may be observed in the XRD patterns. The sample that was obtained at the 800 o C temperature mentioned above exhibits a minor form peak that suggests that there is some crystalline phase mixed in with the main amorphous structures.The diffractograms obtained from the Al2O3 nanoparticles utilized as an inorganic binder exhibited a distinct peak at 68.00, and is attributed to the (3 0 0) crystalline plane. The crystallite dimension of the support material was calculated to be 0.36 nanometers using the Debye-Scherer formula.
3.2 Biomass Briquettes produced
Biomass Briquettes from (saw dust, corn cobs, rice husk and coconut shell) & binders (organic and inorganic) has been successfully produced using carbonization and pressing techniques. Circular shaped briquettes were produced of 5 cm diameter. It is shown in Fig. 4
3.3Proximate analysis and Ultimate analysis of Briquettes
Table 2 shows results of proximate analysis, ultimate analysis, and heating value calculations of the solid biomass briquettes, i.e., (saw dust, rice husk, corn cobs and coconut shell).
3.4 Moisture content
The physical and chemical characteristics of a briquette, which determine its resilience and energy content, have a significant impact on its quality (Zang et al, 2018). The quality of the produced briquettes is significantly influenced by processing variables including pressure, temperature, particle size, binding ratio, and moisture content (Navalta.et al. 2020), (Saeed.et al. 2020). The burning characteristics of a biomass briquette can be affected by the moisture content which can reduce the heating value of fuel and leads to incomplete combustion of volatile matter. It also results in deposition of unburned carbon when used as fuel. In our research it was found that the solid briquettes made by combination of different types of biomass has moisture content of 6.02 percentage it is lesser than 8 (wood charcoal) and very nearer to bituminous coal value of 5.98 and This percentage value is suitable for storage and combustion capabilities and falls between the ranges of 14.3% moisture content (Olorunnisola et al., 2007). However, briquettes with extremely low moisture content will be too dry and hence burn out easily (Ku Ahamed et al., 2018). Rotting and decomposition of biomass can be prevented by lower moisture content value. The raw biomass's moisture content directly affects the density of the biofuel briquettes. Over a suitable moisture range, the density of the biofuel briquette is maximized and largely stable; as moisture is increased to a certain point, the density of the briquette fuel starts to decline, eventually resulting in briquette failure. The moisture percentage of biomass briquettes should be between 5 and 10%, according to Mani et al. 2006, as these increases the agglomerates' toughness and density (Shaw et al. 2007). The thermal efficiency and burning rate of the briquette are reduced when the moisture content is above the tolerance level of 12% (Onukak.et al. 2017). Previous research have shown that charcoal should have a moisture percentage of 5 to 15% of its gross weight because charcoal with a moisture content of more over 10% becomes brittle when heated (Carnage et al. 2018). Thus the moisture content value of 6.02 percent obtained for these biomass briquettes in this work makes briquettes to have good thermal efficiency, burning rate, less brittle when heated and less decomposition.
3.5 Volatile matter
As the solid briquettes were made from different types of biomass it has a rich content of carbon, hydrogen, and oxygen thus the percentage of volatile matter in the solid briquettes was around 58.65% which is higher to 50.27% the value of bituminous coal. Higher the value of volatile matter higher will be the ignition of briquettes and flame length during combustion with low heating value (Francis Inegbedion. 2022) (Efomah and Gbabo. 2015). The value obtained in this study was lower than the work reported by Oladeji et al. 2014 which was 83.06%. Average percentage of volatile matter for saw dust was around to be 10.80%.from the above findings it is inferred that the high value of 58.65% would have resulted due to the combination of different biomass. This high value implies that more energy will be required to burn off the volatile matter before the release of its heat energy (Onukak et al 2017). The high value may be due to the actual proportion of rice husk used as observed and noted (Saeed et al.2021). Coal contains less volatile matter (up to 44%) when compared to other biomass sources (up to 87%) (Centeno et al, 2012).The value obtained in this study was comparatively better. Adding proper proportions of biomass mixtures can result in lesser values of volatile matter%.
3.6 Fixed carbon
A high value of fixed carbon will improve the heating value. Heat generation is promoted by the presence of fixed carbon. In a research study conducted by (Ersam Sahalludin et al 2017) in brown coal briquittes it was inferred that the increase in fixed carbon is not directly influenced by the addition of adhesive; rather, it is affected by changes in the water, ash, and volatile matter contents of brown coal briquettes. In our work the solid briquettes has a value of 23.16% comparably low with the value of bituminous coal which is 28.69%.on considering the cost of briquettes and coal briquettes are superior. Most of the researchers has also studied on woody biomass (coal with sawdust) in briquette manufacturing and found that the fixed carbon percentage was very high and the values were around 79.5–85.9% (blessa.et al. 2003). In their research work they also inferred that any biomass with good percent of fixed carbon and a decrease in ash content will deliver a smokeless briquette. The results are in agreement with (Babajide et al 2018), (Akogun & Waheed.et al., 2022) which recorded 17.85% -39.50% for similar waste. It was also observed from the research performed by Francis Inegbedion et al. 2022, that the fixed carbon percentage of saw dust based briquettes were high approximately around 80.95%. This study suggests that saw dust is an ideal candidate as a biomass in solid briquettes production.
3.7 Ash content
The ash content is the left out that forms due to combustion process. High ash content reduces the heat value of the briquettes and reduces its quality. Ash content analyzed for the solid briquettes in this work were found to be 14.10. It is higher than the ash content value of wood based briquettes which should be less than 8 percentages. The value obtained was slightly less than rice based a solid briquette which was around 16.58%. The value obtained for this non woody biomass is in line with (Zhenkun Guo et al., 2020). The ash content of the carbonized coconut shell was observed to be 13% (Dodyk Pranowo et al., 2021). The study conducted earlier on carbonized coconut shell showed lesser value of 7.04% (Rout et al., 2016). The results in the earlier studies varies with high deviation, this would have resulted due to the composition of the coconut shell used in the research study. Higher ash content in the synthesized biomass briquettes would have resulted due to the usage of algae as a binding agent. Apart from proteins, fats, and carbohydrates, ash content is a crucial quality measure since it is noncombustible and contains inorganic material. Algal biomass is generally recognized for having a high ash concentration (Fuentes et al., 2000). algae grown in some locations contain ash as high as 70% dry matter (dm) (Hampell et al., 2013). The ash content of algae could be reduced by sequential chemical extractions with solvents (Lane et al., 2014). The wet fractionated algae can be subjected as a binding material could decrease the ash content which is suitable for bio fuel material (Peterson et al., 2008).
3.8 Ultimate analysis
The ultimate analysis involves the estimation of important chemical constituents in the biomass briquettes. The elemental composition of produced briquittes were observed that the carbon percentage was higher with 65.01 and it fulfills the standard value of wood based briquettes (i-e) less than 77%, followed by hydrogen of 5.00. Very trace amount of nitrogen, aluminium and sulfur was found to be 0.25, 0.05 and 0.02 respectively. The percentage of oxygen was around 15.57. Many researchers have found different values under ultimate analysis. A study on rice husk briquettes and saw dust based briquettes has reported the values as carbon = 41.46%, Hydrogen = 5.44%, oxygen = 41.23 and carbon = 41.2, Hydrogen = 5.84%, oxygen = 44.34% respectively (Okey Francis Obi et al., 2017). Similar kind of studies were also performed with charcoal and pine saw dust as biomass content and the elemental composition was observed to be carbon = 50.1%, Hydrogen = 5.6%, oxygen = 41.5%. Saw dust briquettes and parlm trunk based briquittes showed elemental composition of carbon = 51.56%, Hydrogen = 6.53%, Oxygen = 41.92%.and carbon = 40.93%, Hydrogen = 5.17%, oxygen = 53.3%.( Garrido, Maria Angeles et al., 2017). Most of the studies show that the carbon content of the solid biomass based briquettes is high which ends up in higher heating value of the solid briquettes. Thus it is revealed that percentage of carbon is an important factor to study the heating value. In this study the elemental analysis clearly shows that the carbon percentage was high and makes the briquette more suitable for domestic and industrial purposes.
3.9 Calorific or Heating value
The calorific value was estimated using Eq. (1). The heating value for the solid biomass briquettes determines the quality of the briquettes. Higher the values better the heating value. The calorific value of the solid briquettes designed using the mixture of organic and inorganic binders to the biomass was found to be 26.67 MJ/Kg which is lesser but closer to 28.47 MJ/Kg the heating value of bituminous coal. The biomass based briquette obtained in this work has a higher heating value compared to the briquettes made from waste jack fruit crust of 20.92MJ/Kg (Joko waluzo et al. 2018) and the biomass briquettes made from Sawdust (19.15MJ/Kg), Coffee husk with binder (17.76MJ/Kg), Khat waste with binder (16.6MJ/Kg) and Dry grass (17.43MJ/Kg)(Temesgen Kebede et al. 2022). Research work carried recently with Corn cobs, sugarcane bagasse and rice husk of different ratios has shown that the calorific value of 27.07 MJ/Kg was obtained for the sample S2 with the ratio of (1:2:1) which was highest compared their other combinations in their study (Nagarajan et al.2021) and the value was similar to the heating value obtained in this research work.
| Analysis | Solid briquettes synthesized with various biomass (sawdust + corncobs + Rice husk + Coconut shell) + organic and inorganic binders. |
|---|---|
| i) Proximate analysis (wt%, dry basis) | |
| Moisture content | 6.02 |
| Fixed carbon | 23.16 |
| Volatile matter | 58.65 |
| Ash content | 14.10 |
| ii) Ultimate analysis (wt%, dry basis) | |
| Carbon | 65.01 |
| Hydrogen | 5.0 |
| Nitrogen | 0.25 |
| Aluminium | 0.05 |
| Sulfur | 0.02 |
| Oxygen | 15.57 |
| Heating value (MJ/Kg) | 26.67 |
| References | Biomass sample | Binders | MC- Moisture Content (wt%, dry basis) | VM- Volatile Matter (wt%, dry basis) | Ash Content (wt%, dry basis) | FC- Fixed Carbon (wt%, dry basis) | HV-Heating Value (MJ/Kg) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jian Sun et al | Rice straw | - | 8.19 | 72.57 | 9.63 | 9.61 | 15.37 |
| Sugarcane leaves | - | 7.41 | 72.39 | 11.27 | 8.92 | 16.98 | |
| Saw dust | - | 5.61 | 71.03 | 2.58 | 20.72 | 20.25 | |
| Coconut shell | - | 9.23 | 9.75 | 2.98 | 78.04 | 31.13 | |
| Zhenkun Guo et al | Waste paper | - | 6.23 | 69.12 | 12.38 | 8.49 | 16.32 |
| Dried leaves | Waste paper | 6.52 | 75.78 | 12.48 | 5.02 | 17.75 | |
| Maize Straw | Waste paper | 8.67 | 78.93 | 14.72 | 20.46 | 18.75 | |
| Coconut husk | Waste paper | 7.19 | 65.44 | 15.62 | 19.08 | 18.83 | |
| Bagasse | Waste paper | 5.95 | 72.53 | 18.48 | 9.63 | 19.01 | |
| Bagasse + Sawdust | Waste paper | 5.96 | 63.65 | 13.58 | 22.16 | 20.42 | |
| coal | 5.98 | 80.27 | 17.15 | 28.69 | 28.47 | ||
| Umesh et al | Rice husk | - | 5.01 | 59.44 | 17.31 | 18.75 | 18.71 |
| Rice husk | 2% starch | 1.40 | 24.55 | 12.10 | 61.95 | 20.01 | |
| Rice husk | 4% starch | 7.60 | 6.84 | 13.43 | 15.13 | 18.13 | |
| Rice husk char | - | 7.10 | .80 | 23.40 | 35.71 | 18.56 | |
| Rice husk char | 2% starch | 1.30 | 32.12 | 13.04 | 53.54 | 19.55 | |
| Rice husk char | 4% starch | 1.90 | 35.50 | 14.65 | 47.95 | 19.21 | |
| Obemberger et al | Wheat straw | Sodium hydroxide modified starch | 7.21 | 72.40 | 10.21 | 17.39 | 16.27 |
| Maize straw | Sodium hydroxide modified starch | 8.59 | 74.38 | 6.89 | 18.73 | 15.54 | |
| Rice husk | Sodium hydroxide modified starch | 9.47 | 67.87 | 14.83 | 17.30 | 16.13 | |
| Kpalo et al | Paper pulp & Messua ferrea leaves (50:50) | Cellulose material of paper | 5.55 | - | - | - | - |
| Paper pulp (100%) | 12.33 | - | - | - | - | ||
| Ajimotokan et al | (Terminalia ivorensis) charcoal particles, | gelatinized cassava peels | 3.0 | 42.0 | 5.0 | 50.0 | 23.4 |
| pinewood (Pinus caribaea) sawdust | 6.8 | 77.7 | 0.3 | 15.2 | 19.7 |
On comparing Table 2 and Table 3 it is inferred that moisture content obtained in this research work was 6.02 is very less comparatively and gives a hope that this can be used as a fuel. Many research papers mentioned in Table 3 has synthesized higher value of volatile matter. In this work the value was around 58.65 which are quite low but still it’s higher than the value of bituminous coal which is used as a fuel. Many researches works also points out that lower the value of volatile matter better the heating value (Ajimotokan et al., 2019). Observing the ash content value obtained in this research work the value obtained was a moderate value which would have increased due to coconut shell and the binder Algae and algae can be solvent extracted prior to its usage in briquette production. The process of solvent extraction refines the algae from inorganic compounds. The moderate value of the ash content makes the briquettes more promising in the usage of fuel. Most of the research work pointed out in the Table 3 highlight that fixed carbon value was high for biomass like coconut shell and rice husk. This research work has delivered a biomass briquette with a fixed carbon value of 23.6 which is comparatively good with many other combination of biomass. The heating value obtained by the references pointed in Table 3 clearly identified that the value 26.67 MJ/kg in this research work is highly superior and suggest that the briquette produced in this research work can be used as a sustainable clean fuel.
The synthesized solid biomass briquettes were tested for their suitability to act as alternate fuel. The results obtained from proximate and ultimate analysis ensure that it has good properties similar to the conventional fuel (bituminous coal). The heating value of 26.67 MJ/Kg suggests that the synthesized biomass briquette can be considered as an alternate fuel. The addition of inorganic binder Al2O3 synthesized as a nano material will provide better thermal stability and good surface area due to the porous nature of nano spherical structure synthesized by sol gel method. The analysis of the briquette quality parameters will be the future work of the project. The proximate analysis and the ultimate analysis show that most of its parameters have good value similar to the conventional fuels used in domestic and industrial purposes. The results from this research work will encourage many other students and researchers to develop novel biomass based briquettes to control environmental pollution, biomass waste management and improve sustainability in usage of fuel.
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As authors, we would like to tell you that this is our original work and this paper has not been submitted anywhere except in this journal.
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Authors Contribution
Arul Jayan Mariadhass: conceptualisation, formal analysis, investigation, methodology, data curation, writing—original draft. Rajendran Govindarajan: data curation, supervision, writing—review and editing. Sakthidasan Jayaprakash: data curation, supervision, writing—review and editing. Marimuthu Chellakkannu: project administration, supervision, validation, resources, writing—review and editing.David Gnanaraj Joseph: resourses, supervision and editing. All authors read and approved the final manuscript.
Funding
The authors confirm that there is no funding received during the research work.
Conflict of interest
The authors declare no competing Interests.
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