Design and Testing of a Low-Cost Manually Operated Briquette Press for Sustainable Biomass Utilisation

Oscar Gwatidzo*
Periodicity:October - December'2024

Abstract

Since the world's population is expanding every day, meeting the rising demand for energy sources has become a huge concern. This necessitates the use of renewable energy technology for sustainable energy supply and production. These energy sources are secure and have a considerably smaller negative impact on the environment than traditional energy sources. Using materials that were readily available in the area, a hydraulically operated briquette machine for producing briquettes from agricultural wastes was designed, fabricated, and tested. The briquette machine can turn agricultural biomass waste materials like sawdust, leaves, roots, fruit peels and seed/nut shells, ground nuts husk, and leftovers from other crops into briquettes that can produce heat energy, which is very useful for both domestic and industrial uses. The major machine parts they include the hydraulic jack, frame, pistons and compression cylinders. The results of testing of the briquette machine revealed that the highest binder concentration ratios of 30 % and 40 % and 70 % and 60 % of sawdust produced the best compressed briquettes. The compaction chamber contains 12 cylinders each having piston and ejector. The machine can produce 16 square briquettes of 80 mm length and 100 mm each side. The mass of briquettes ranges from 500 grams to 1000 grams the average density of briquettes using cow dung as the binding agent is 947 kg/m3 and using flour is 974 kg/m3. The compaction pressure and force was determined to be 3980.3 N/m2 and 94 N respectively. Furthermore, the calorific value, compressive strength, moisture content, and ash content were determined from various experiments. Test 6 had a calorific value of 14.91 MJ/kg signifying the higher content of binder.

Keywords

Agricultural waste, Briquettes, Manually Operated, Hydraulically, Fabricate

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