Development and characterisation of charcoal briquettes from water hyacinth (Eichhornia crassipes)-molasses blend

Charcoal briquettes are inexpensive solid fuels made from carbonized biomass. The potential of converting water hyacinth (Eichhornia crassipes) charcoal into briquettes with molasses as binder was investigated in this study. Dried water hyacinth was carbonized at a temperature between 350°C to 500°C...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:PloS one 2018-11, Vol.13 (11), p.e0207135-e0207135
Main Authors: Carnaje, Naomi P, Talagon, Romel B, Peralta, Jose P, Shah, Kalpit, Paz-Ferreiro, Jorge
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Alternative energy sources
Alternative fuels
Aquatic plants
Ash
Biogas
Biology and Life Sciences
Biomass
Briquets
Bulk density
Burning
Burning rate
Calorific value
Carbonization
Cassava
Charcoal
Coal
Combustion
Compressive strength
Earth Sciences
Eichhornia crassipes
Electron microscopy
Engineering and Technology
Engineering schools
Environmental science
Flammability
Floating plants
Hazardous materials
Hazardous substances
Irrigation
Molasses
Physical Sciences
Research and Analysis Methods
Rivers
Scanning electron microscopy
Solid fuels
Trends
Water hyacinths
Weight
Wood
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Summary:Charcoal briquettes are inexpensive solid fuels made from carbonized biomass. The potential of converting water hyacinth (Eichhornia crassipes) charcoal into briquettes with molasses as binder was investigated in this study. Dried water hyacinth was carbonized at a temperature between 350°C to 500°C in a fabricated fine biomass carbonizer. A solution containing 80% by weight molasses was used in the production of briquettes having different charcoal/molasses ratios of 40:60, 30:70, and 20:80. Each briquette was characterized in terms of bulk density, calorific value, compressive strength, proximate analysis and micro-structure by Scanning Electron Microscopy. Charcoal briquettes were tested for their flammable characteristics through their burning rates and ignition time. Altering the molasses to charcoal ratio affected the quality and characteristics of the briquettes. Volatile combustible matter and fixed carbon increased with increasing amount of binder while ash content decreased. The 30:70 charcoal/molasses ratio produced the highest calorific value (16.6 MJ/kg) and compressive strength (19.1 kg/cm2). The results have shown the potential of converting water hyacinth into an alternative fuel source.
ISSN:1932-6203
1932-6203
DOI:10.1371/journal.pone.0207135