Conversion of Palm Shaft Residues into Solid Fuel: Production and Characterization of Biomass Briquettes

The growing need in sustainable and renewable sources has contributed to the intensified search to find alternative sources of fuels that are based on agricultural residues. This paper examines the manufacturing and identification of briquettes made out of palm shaft biomass through cassava starch as the binding agent. The palm shaft residues were then gathered, washed, dried under the sun and ground and further sieved to achieve a homogenous particle size before briquetting. The piston press briquetting process was applied in making briquettes with a pressure of 90 bars and a ratio of binder to biomass 1:9. Physical and fuel properties of the briquettes were determined using compressed density, relaxed density, proximate analysis, compositional analysis and determination of calorific value. The densities of the briquettes were compressed and relaxed at 1.10 g/cm3 and 0.66 g/cm3 respectively, which showed that the briquettes possessed good mechanical stability and compaction characteristics. Proximate analysis showed that the moisture content was 6.45%, volatile matter was 88.27%, ash content was 5.24% and fixed carbon content was 0.20%. The heating value (HHV) of briquettes was determined as 24.54 MJ/kg which showed a high energy potential in comparison to some other biomass briquettes that had been reported before. Compositional analysis also supported the existence of major lignocellulosic constituents which comprise cellulose, hemicellulose and lignin which play a role in fuel properties of the biomass. These outcomes demonstrate that palm shaft biomass could be properly turned into high-quality briquettes that could be used in domestic heating and cooking purposes. Another environmental friendliness of the utilization of palm shaft residues to produce briquettes is the ability to help in the management of the agricultural wastes in the environment besides supporting the development of renewable energy.