Comparative assessment of briquette and charcoal as energy sources for smoking of African catfish (Clarias gariepinus)

The obvious depletion of wood resources at a rapid rate and the inherent danger posed by the environmental degradation necessitates the need for an improved and eco-friendly alternative source of energy in fish processing.Smoking performance and cost implication of using briquette compared to charcoal in smoking process of eviscerated African catfish (Clarias gariepinus) was carried out.Performance evaluation parameters of the two energy sources included fish drying rate, energy consumed, energy efficiency, specific fuel consumption and duration of smokedrying operation.Data collected were subjected to statistical analysis using descriptive.Charcoal recorded better specific fuel consumption (2.360.35kg),smoking time (5.871.42h/kg)and fish drying rate (0.130.03kg/hr) compared to briquette with 3.610.68kg;8.430.84h/kgand 0.090.01kg/hrrespectively.Energy expended was also higher in briquette (170.5518.37MJ/kg)than in charcoal (164.0825.54MJ/kg).Energy efficiency was however better in briquette (99.3%) than charcoal (99.0%).Cost assessment showed no significant difference (p>0.05) between the operational cost of the two energy sources.Generally, briquette exhibited a competitive attributes in energy efficiency and cost of production, therefore may serve as a viable alternative to charcoal as energy source for smoking fish.