PAPER TITLE :BRIQUETTES FROM AGRO-RESIDUES HAVE BEEN PROMOTED AS A BETTER REPLACEMENT TO FIREWOOD AND CHARCOALS FOR HEATING, COOKING AND OTHER INDUSTRIAL APPLICATIONS IN BOTH URBAN AND RURAL COMMUNITIES. THIS STUDY INVESTIGATES THE POTENTIALS OF USING CARBONIZED CORNCOBS TO PRODUCED BRIQUETTES AS AN ALTERNATIVE

FUTA JOURNAL OF RESEARCH IN SCIENCE | VOLUME 13 NUMBER 1 2017

Paper Details

  • Author(s) : A.O Akintaroa, A.I Musab*, J.A Ajoboc and T.F Oyewusid
  • Abstract:

Briquettes from agro-residues have been promoted as a better replacement to firewood and charcoals for heating, cooking and other industrial applications in both urban and rural communities. This study investigates the potentials of using carbonized corncobs to produced briquettes as an alternative to fuelwood with the view to curbing the menace of deforestation which depletes the ozone layer and mitigating the effect of greenhouse gas emission generated by the use of fallen trees as fuel wood. The study used three binders which were cassava starch, corn starch and gelatin and the briquettes were produced using three compaction pressure. A charcoal kiln was fabricated for carbonization of the corncob while a punch and die was fabricated to facilitate the densification of the carbonized corncobs into briquettes. Selected properties of the carbonized corncobs and the briquettes produced namely moisture content, volatile matter, ash content, fixed carbon and calorific value were determined. The effect of compaction pressure and binder concentration on the selected properties of briquette produced were discussed in respect of its trends and then analysed using Analysis of Variance (ANOVA) and Duncan Multiple Range (DMR) test. Results indicated that moisture content, volatile matter, ash content, fixed carbon and calorific value increased with increase in binder concentration and compacting pressure. The average moisture content, volatile matter, ash content, fixed carbon and calorific value ranged from between 4.43 to 7.62 %, 10.31 to 16.48 %, 3.03 to 5.06 %, 72.68 to 81.30 % and 28.85 to 32.36 MJ/kg respectively. The study established the potential of using carbonised corncob as alternative material for briquettes production. This will increase the sources of energy for domestic and industrial use in developing economy
Keywords: Briquette, binder, compacting pressure, calorific value, carbonized corncob