Effect of Material and Binders on Storage and Burning Quality of Biomass Briquettes

Abstract

This paper deals with the effect of material and concentration of binders on the storage and burning quality of biomass briquettes. The briquettes were prepared using tree leaves, saw dust and wheat straw. Two binding materials namely, molasses and sodium silicate at varying concentration were used in the preparation of briquettes. It was found that the calorific values were higher for briquettes prepared using molasses as binder than those with sodium silicate. The maximum bulk density of briquettes was found to be 954 kg/m³. The bulk density and calorific values of briquettes decreased with increase in storage time for all types of briquettes. An overall reduction of bulk density by 11% and calorific value by about 5% was found. However, all the briquettes remained stable up to 2 months of storage.