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LOW COST, PORTABLE BRIQUETTING MACHINE - RURAL USE

PROJECT REFERENCE NO.: 39S_BE_1791

COLLEGE : GLOBAL ACADEMY OF TECHNOLOGY, BENGALURU

BRANCH : DEPARTMENT OF MECHANICAL ENGINEERING

GUIDE : MR. AMITH D GANGADHAR

STUDENTS : MR. KISHAN B S

MR. KIRAN KUMAR

MR. SANTHOSH T J

MR. CHARAN RAJ

ABSTRACT

There has been a recent push to replace the burning of fossil fuels with biomass. The

replacement of this non renewable resources with biological waste would lower the overall

pollution of the world . The waste biomass like dry leaves, sawdust, rice husk, coffee husk etc..

are gathered and compressed into briquettes , these briquettes can also be transported and used

as fuel to generate heat. It is high time to take initiative to turn Biomass into a source of

energy. Hence here we take responsibility in converting agricultural and forestry waste into

useful biomass briquettes , which can also be used as a substitute for Coal.

There are different machine available in market but those machine are bulky and are costly,

Hence here we developed a portable, low cost briquetting machine, which makes use of simple

mechanism to convert the biological waste into useful briquette. Any waste or any proportion

can be used but with proper binding agent. Some raw material do not require any binding agent

if we use high pressure compression.

The paper presents the results of a project focused on the development of briquettes from the

waste wood (sawdust) resulting from the main waste from timber companies. This waste wood

currently lacks a useful purpose, and its indiscriminate burning generates CO and CO2

emissions. Sawmill waste is a big problem especially in urban cities. These wastes are burnt

openly which is causing environmental pollution. The wastes can be converted to wealth

thereby providing jobs for many unemployed citizens. The principles of machine design were

employed to design the essential parts such as hopper, sliding member, cylinder, hydraulic jack

and grinding unit.


DEPARTMENT OF MECHANICAL ENGINEERING, GAT Page 1

1. INTRODUCTION

Households in rural India are highly dependent on firewood as their main source of energy, partly

because non-bio fuels tend to be expensive, and access to affordable fuel alternatives to coal, gas,

kerosene and electricity for cooking and heating is limited. Approximately 96% of rural

households are estimated to be using bio fuels. These fuels dominate the domestic sector and are

primarily used for cooking. Fuel wood is the primary energy source for cooking used by rural

households (78%) In actual volumes as well, fuel wood ranks first, at 252.1 million tonnes,

followed by dung-cakes, at 106.9 million tonnes and agricultural residue, at 99.2 million tonnes of

annual consumption . Similarly, the per capita consumption figures are also high for fuel wood at

250 kg, 50 kg for animal dung and 134 kg for crop residues This is further corroborated by the

energy consumption estimation given by NCAER .

Many of the developing countries produce huge quantities of agro residues but they are used

inefficiently causing extensive pollution to the environment. The major residues are rice husk,

coffee husk, coir pith, jute sticks, groundnut shells, mustard stalks and cotton stalks. Sawdust, a

milling residue is also available in huge quantity. Apart from the problems of transportation,

storage, and handling, the direct burning of loose biomass in conventional grates is associated

with very low thermal efficiency and widespread air pollution. The conversion efficiencies are as

low as 40% with particulate emissions in the flue gases in excess of 3000 mg/ Nm2. In addition, a

large percentage of un burnt carbonaceous ash has to be disposed of. In the case of rice husk, this

amounts to more than 40% of the feed burnt. As a typical example, about 800 tonnes of rice husk

ash are generated every day in Ludhiana (Punjab) as a result of burning 2000 tonnes of husk.

Briquetting of the husk could mitigate these pollution problems while at the same time making use

of this important industrial/domestic energy resource. The briquettes can be used for domestic

purposes (cooking, heating, barbequing) and industrial purposes (agro-industries, food processing)

in both rural and urban areas. Thus Biomass briquetting is the densification of loose biomass

material to produce compact solid composites of different sizes with the application of pressure.

Briquetting of residues takes place with the application of pressure, heat and binding agent on the

loose materials to produce the briquettes. The potential of biomass briquetting in India was

estimated at 61,000 MW, while the estimated employment generation by the industry is about

15.52 million and the farmers earn about $ 6 per ton of farm residues.



The end use of briquettes is mainly for replacing coal substitution in industrial process heat

applications (steam generation, melting metals, space heating, brick kilns, tea curing, etc) and

power generation through gasification of biomass briquettes

There has been a recent push to replace the burning of fossil fuel with biomass. The replacement

of this non renewable resources with biological waste would lower the overall pollution of world.

We often see the dry wastes getting burned on the roadside, dump yard, polluting the atmosphere

and causing many problem. Here we have taken initiative to turn waste biomass into a source of

energy. And also to reduce the volume of shredded waste and hence decrease the cost of waste

management. To achieve this , we fabricate a briquetting machine at low cost.

This machine efficiently produces briquettes by compressing the grinded dry waste. These

briquettes are very different from charcoal because they do not have large concentration of

carbonaceous substances and added materials. Compared to fossil fuels , the briquettes produce

low net total green house gas emission , because the materials used are already a part of the

carbon cycle. Hence this briquettes are good replacement for fossil fuel such as oil or coal. In

addition to the cost savings associated with reducing the volume of waste compressed briquettes

can also be used as a fuel for starting fires or as an insulating materials. There has been a move to

the use of briquettes in the developed world , where they are used to heat industrial boilers in

order to produce electricity from steam. Biomass Briquettes are a renewable source of energy and

avoid fossil carbon to the atmosphere. Biomass briquettes also provide more calorific value/kg

and save around 30 to 40% of boiler fuel costs. Burning of wood briquettes is far more efficient

than burning firewood. Moisture content of a briquette can also be as low as 4% where as green

firewood may be as high as 65%.



1.1 RAW MATERIAL FOR BRIQUETTE:

Biomass briquettes are a bio fuel substitute to coal and charcoal. Biomass briquettes are made

from agricultural and forestry waste. The low density biomass(agricultural and forestry waste)

is converted into high density biomass briquettes with the help of a briquetting machine that

uses binder or binder less technique, without using any type of chemical so it is 100% natural.

The major raw material for biomass briquette are, Mustard Stalks, Sawdust, Rice Husk, Coffee

Husk, Coir Pitch, Jute Sticks, Sugarcane Bagasse, Groundnut Shell, Cotton Stalks, Caster Seed

Shells / Stalk, Wood Chips, Bamboo Dust, Tobacco Waste, Tea Waste, maize stalks, bajra

cobs, Arhar stalks, Paddy Straw, Wheat Straw, Sunflower Stalk, Palm Husk, Soya bean Husk,

Veneer Residues, Barks & Straws, Leafs, Pine Niddle, Seeds Cases etc.

Biomass Briquette are widely used for any type of thermal application like steam generation in

boilers, in furnace & foundries (It can be used for metal heating & melting where melting point

is less than 1000d/cel.), for heating purpose (Residential & Commercial Heating for winter,

heating in Cold areas and Hotels, Canteens, Cafeterias and house hold kitchen appliances etc),

drying process and in gasification plant replacing conventional solid fuels like Coal and

Firewood and liquid fuels like Diesel, Kerosene, Furnace Oil (FO), etc.

A popular form of biomass briquettes emerging in developed countries is called Sawdust

Briquettes. It takes the waste by-product of saw mills such as sawdust, compressed it in the

cylinder and is extruded out of the cylinder to make a reconstituted log that can replace

firewood. The process is carried out in two phases i.e with and without the binding agent. In

the process of without binding agent the natural lignin in the wood binds the particles of wood

together to form a solid. Burning a Sawdust Briquettes is far more efficient than burning

firewood. Moisture content of a briquette can be as low as 4%, whereas that of firewood may

be as high as 60%.



1.2 BINDERS :

Starch

Starch is the most common binder though it is usually expensive. It doesn't have to be an food

grade. In general, about 4-8% of starch is needed to make the briquettes. Starch sources can be

corn starch, wheat starch, maize flour, wheat flour, rice flour, cassava flour, potato starch, etc.

To use the starch as a binder, you must first gelatinize the starch, which is added to water and

heated to form a sticky consistency, then adding to the mixer to be mixed with the charcoal

powder.

Clay

Clay is widely available at almost no cost in many areas. A briquette can contain about 15% of

clay. Clay does not add to the heating value of the briquette. If too much clay is added, the

briquette will ignite and burn poorly or not at all. Besides, clay will turn into ash after burning,

which blocks the passage of radiant heat, resulting in the loss of heating value of the charcoal.

Gum Arabic

Gum Arabic, also known as acacia gum, is a natural gum harvested from acacia tree, which is

very common in Africa Sahel, especially Senegal, Sudan, Somalia, etc. Gum Arabic is

successfully being used as binder material for charcoal briquette. It does not emit heavy smoke,

nor is thermal treatment needed.

Molasses

Molasses is a by-product of the sugarcane industry. One ton of briquettes needs about 20-25%

molasses. Briquettes binded by molasses burn well, but have an unpleasant smell during

combustion. To avoid this, thermal treatment can be applied before using the briquette, which

is also called ”curing”.

Wood Tar and Pitch

Wood tar arises during the carbonization process and are recovered from stationary kilns and

retorts. Pitch is a viscous liquid that remains after the distillation of coal tar. Tar is more liquid

while pitch is more solid. Both of them require re-carbonization to avoid the emission of heavy

smoke which may generate adverse health.



Besides, cow dung and paper pulp also can be the binding material for briquettes. Cow dung is

available mainly in rural areas. Waste papers are torn to small pieces and soaked in water to

form a gelatinized paste.

By going through the several journal we came to know that using starch as a binder has more

advantages than other binders. Even though the price of the flour needed to prepare starch is

high, the minimum usage of starch as a binder makes it economical.



1.3 PROPERTIES OF BIOMASS :

Agro Wastes Cal./kg. Ash Content

Babool Wood 4707 K. 0.90%

Bagasse 4700 K. 1.80%

Bamboo Dust 3700 K. 8.00%

Barks Wood 3900 K. 4.40%

Castor Seed Shells 3860 K. 8.00%

Coffee Husk 4200 K. 5.30%

Coir Pitch 4146 K. 13.60%

Cotton Stalks / Chips 4200 K. 3.01%

Forestry Waste 3000 K. 7.00%

Groundnut Shell 4500 K. 3.80%

Jute Waste 4800 K. 3.00%

Mustard Shell 4300 K. 3.70%

Mustard Stalk 4200 K. 3.40%

Paddy Straw 3469 K. 15.50%

Palm Husk 3900 K. 4.90%

Rice Husks 3200 K. 22.20%

Saw Dust 4400 K. 1.20%

Soya bean Husk 4170 K. 4.10%

Sugarcane Waste 3700 K. 10.00%

Sunflower Stalk 4300 K. 4.30%

Tea Waste 4000 K. 6.70%

Tobacco Waste 1100 K. 49.40%

Wheat Straw 4000 K. 8.00%

Wood Chips 4300 K. 1.20%



1.4 COMPARED TO COAL :

The use of biomass briquettes has been steadily increasing as industries realize the benefits of

decreasing pollution through the use of biomass briquettes. Briquettes provide

higher calorific value per rupee than coal when used for firing industrial boilers. Along with

higher calorific value, biomass briquettes on average saved 30–40% of boiler fuel cost. But

other sources suggest that cofiring is more expensive due to the widespread availability of coal

and its low cost. However, in the long run, briquettes can only limit the use of coal to a small

extent, but it is increasingly being pursued by industries and factories all over the world. Both

raw materials can be produced or mined domestically in the United States, creating a fuel

source that is free from foreign dependence and less polluting than raw fossil fuel incineration.

Environmentally, the use of biomass briquettes produces much fewer greenhouse gases,

specifically, 13.8% to 41.7% CO2 and NOX. There was also a reduction from 11.1% to 38.5%

in SO2 emissions when compared to coal from three different leading producers, EKCC Coal,

Decanter Coal, and Alden Coal. Biomass briquettes are also fairly resistant to water

degradation, an improvement over the difficulties encountered with the burning of wet coal.

However, the briquettes are best used only as a supplement to coal. The use of cofiring creates

an energy that is not as high as pure coal, but emits fewer pollutants and cuts down on the

release of previously sequestered carbon.[12] The continuous release of carbon and other

greenhouse gasses into the atmosphere leads to an increase in global temperatures. The use of

cofiring does not stop this process but decreases the relative emissions of coal power plants

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pollution

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Calorie

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coal

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Boilers

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Biomass_briquettes#cite_note-12



2. OBJECTIVES

The main objective of this project is to fabricate a low cost portable briquetting machine for rural

use. There has been a recent push to replace the burning of fossil fuel with biomass. The

replacement of this non renewable fuels with product of biological waste would lower overall

pollution in world. It is high time to take an initiative to turn waste biomass into a source of

energy. The waste biomass like dry leaves, sawdust, rice husk, coffee husk etc.. are gathered and

compressed into briquettes , these briquettes can also be transported and used as fuel to generate

heat. These briquettes are replacement for fossil fuel such as oil and coal and also provide more

calorific value per Kg and these products are available at low cost thus saves 30 to 40% of the

boiler fuel cost. Burning of the these briquettes are more efficient than burning the fire wood.

The objective of this project is also to decrease the volume of shredded waste and thereby

reducing the cost and fuel required in disposal process. In addition to cost saving these

compressed briquettes can also be used as a fuel for starting fires or as an insulating material.

And also for domestic use like cooking, heating water etc in rural areas. The use of biomass

briquettes produces much fewer green house gases, specifically 13.8% to 41.7% CO2 and NOx .



3. LITERATURE REVIEW :

J.T. Oladeji, [1] the findings of his study have shown that, the briquettes produced from rice

husk and corncob would make good biomass fuels. However, from the study, it can be

concluded that, briquette from corncob has more positive attributes of biomass fuel than rice

husk briquette. Finally, the study also concluded that, both briquettes will not crumble during

transportation and storage because the values obtained for their relaxed densities are closed to

the maximum densities of the briquettes from the two residues.

S. H. Sengar , A. G. Mohod , Y. P. Khandetod , S. S.Patil , A. D. Chendake [2] have

observed that the Cashew nut shell, grass and rice husk were used as major biomass in the form

of raw biomass, hydrolyzed biomass and carbonized biomass. Carbonized biomass was found

suitable as compared to raw (as such) and hydrolyzed biomass for briquetted fuel. The

briquettes were prepared on screw press extruder briquetting machine for different

combinations of major biomass. The prepared briquettes after sun drying were subjected to

various tests for assessing the quality of fuel. The suitability of briquetted fuel as domestic fuel

was studied with standard water boiling test. Cashew shell briquettes burnt with good flame in

cook stove and observed 15.5 per cent thermal efficiency. Better results in cashew shell

briquettes related to calorific value, shattering indices test, tumbling test, degree of

densification, energy density ratio, resistance to water penetration and water boiling test as

compared to grass and rice husk briquettes were observed. Calorific value was found more in

cashew shell briquetted fuel as 5154.58 kcal/kg. Net Present Value of cashew shell, grass and

rice husk briquettes were 1935370.8, 2256434.38 and 631948.8 respectively. Payback period

for cashew shell, grass, rice husk briquettes were 8.1, 7.56 and 29.35 months

respectively.Benefit Cost Ratio for cashew shell, grass, and rice husk briquettes were 2.8, 2.93

and 1.51 respectively.

A. Olorunnisola [3] said that the wood in form of fuel wood, twigs and charcoal has been the

major source of renewable energy in Nigeria, accounting for about 51% of the total annual

energy consumption. The other sources of energy include natural gas (5.2%), hydroelectricity

(3.1%), and petroleum products (41.3%) (Akinbami, 2001). The demand for fuel wood is

expected to have risen to about 213.4 x103 metric tones, while the supply would have

decreased to about 28.4x103 metric tones by the year 2030 (Adegbulugbe, 1994). The

decreasing availability of fuel wood, coupled with the ever-rising prices of kerosene and

cooking gas in Nigeria, draw attention to the need to consider alternative sources of energy for



domestic and cottage level industrial use inthe country. Such energy sources should be

renewable and should be accessible to poor. Asrightly noted by Stout and Best (2001), a

transition to a sustainable energy system is urgently needed in the developing countries such as

Nigeria. This should, of necessity, be characterized by a departure from the present subsistence

–level energy usage levels based on decreasing firewood resources, to a situation where human

and farming activities would be based on sustainable and diversified energy forms. An energy

source that meets such sustainability requirements is fuel briquette. If produced at low cost and

made conveniently accessible to consumers, briquettes could serve as complements to firewood

and charcoal for domestic cooking and agro-industrial operations, thereby reducing the high

demand for both. Besides, briquettes have advantages over fuel wood in terms of greater heat

intensity, cleanliness, convenience in use, and relatively smaller space requirement for storage.

Previous studies have shown that waste paper could be mixed with other biomass materials to

produce relatively cheap and durable binder-less briquettes Demirbas and Sahin, 1998; Yaman

et al.2000) Attempts have also been made in the past to create fuel from newspaper by rolling

them up into ‘logs’. However, it was found that the product did not burn well (Arnold 1998). In

the present study, efforts were made to produce binder-less briquettes from a mixture of waste

paper and coconut husk particles at low pressures of these briquettes were also determined.

Idah, P. A , Mopah, E. J. [4] has studied The effect on environment by agricultural and other

industrial wastes is on the increase and is causing a lot of problem. Adequate means of

disposing these wastes are lacking, hence, converting them to other useful products such as

briquettes for domestic fuel is desirable. In this work, the energy values of briquettes made

from some of these agricultural by-products using two binders were assessed. Wastes from rice

husk, maize cob, groundnut shell and sugarcane baggasse were turned to briquettes using two

different types of agricultural by-product binders (banana peel and cassava peel gel). The

briquettes were subjected to energy evaluation test using the Fulton XRY-1B Oxygen Bomb

Calorimeter. The mean bulk densities of the briquettes produced from rice husk, maize cob,

groundnut shell and sugar cane baggasse were 0.75g/cm3, 0.69g/cm3, 0.81g/cm3 and

0.65g/cm3, respectively. The results obtained showed that the average energy values of the

briquettes produced using cassava peel as binder from rice husk, maize cob, groundnut shell

and sugarcane bagasse were 26.612MJ/Kg, 28.255MJ/Kg, 33.703MJ/Kg and 32.762MJ/Kg,

respectively. The corresponding average values for those produced using banana peel as

binders were 29.980MJ/g, 28.981MJ/g, 32.432MJ/g, 31.508MJ/g for rice husk, maize cob,

groundnut shell and sugarcane baggasse, respectively. The results indicate that briquettes



produced from groundnut shell using cassava peel gave the highest energy value of 33.70

MJ/kg while those obtained from rice husk using cassava peel gave the lowest calorific value

of 26.61MJ/kg and these were significantly different(p ≤ 0.05). The briquette from groundnut

shell is therefore more suitable for starting and maintaining fire for cooking and other domestic

heating. The briquettes from these by-products in terms of energy values are ranked as follows:

groundnut shell > sugar cane baggasse > maize cob > rice husk. The effective utilization of

these agricultural by-products as high grade solid fuel can reduce environmental pollution

resulting from the wastes and also help in minimizing the energy crisis resulting from non-

renewable energy sources like petroleum products as domestic fuel.

Harshita Jain , Y. Vijayalakshmi , T. Neeraja [5] have derived an experimental research

design was adopted to conduct the present investigation. For the present study six biomass

materials namely Charcoal Dust, Saw dust Rice Husk, Dry Leaves, Wood Chips, Groundnut

Shells and two binders namely Cow dung and Starch were identified. The commercially

available briquetting machine of 5 horsepower motor was selected for making the briquettes.

Subjective evaluation of physical properties of briquette i.e. texture, cohesiveness, moisture,

shape, evenness of surface and appearance of surface was conducted by a panel of 6 judges

comprising of staff and PhD graduate students of College of Home Science. The data obtained

from the experimental tests was compiled, tabulated and statistically analyzed by mean and

standard deviation. The data obtained from subjective evaluation was consolidated by averages,

standard deviation. The calorific value of all prepared briquettes was measured by using bomb

calorimeter. The results indicate that briquettes made from charcoal dust and other biomass

materials with starch combinations were found to be best in physical characteristics with

highest scores whereas briquettes made from charcoal dust other biomass materials with cow

dung combinations were found to be highest in calorific value. The results show that when cow

dung is used as binder with charcoal dust and other biomass materials, it was giving higher

calorific value The use of starch as binder with charcoal dust and other biomass materials was

making briquettes smooth in texture, compact, dry, uniform, even without cracks and shiny.

Daham Shyamalee , A.D.U.S. Amarasinghe , N.S. Senanayaka [6] found that the Biomass

briquettes are often used as an energy source for cooking purpose and in some industries like

bricks and bakery. The briquettes are produced by densification of waste biomass using various

processes. In this study manual densification of saw dust was tested with three different

binding agents; dry cow dung, wheat flour, and paper pulp. The samples with cow dung as



binding agent failed with mould detaching and minimum required binder percentage for other

two binders for successful forming were found to be 30%. Density of briquettes with 30%

binder of wheat flour and paper pulp was found to be 373.7 kg/m3 and 289.8 kg/m3

respectively. Natural drying time was evaluated at 86~89% relative humidity and 25~30oC

ambient temperature. The time for achieving 15% moisture content (wet basis) was 55 hours.

Compressive strength of the briquettes was tested for binder percentages of 30%, 40% and 50%

(dry basis) of wheat flour and paper pulp binders. Results indicated that compressive strength

increased with the increase of binder percentage. The briquettes with paper binder exhibited

comparatively high compressive strength compared to wheat flour binder. Calorific values of

briquettes formed having 30% paper binder and 30% wheat flour binder were found as

18.14MJ/kg and 20.04MJkg respectively, whereas the value of pure saw dust was 18.8 MJ/kg.

The briquettes formed with paper pulp gave the minimum energy cost, the value being

0.16Rs./MJ.

Riya Roy [7] has found that the Briquettes produced from ligno cellulosic waste, through a

simple process and low cost are an excellent source of energy and environmentally benign,

ideal for replacing fossil fuels in this day. In the present research, an experimental study was

undertaken for production and quality analysis of different briquettes using dry leaves, wheat

straw & saw dust as the feed stocks & paper pulp, cow dung as binder. These briquettes were

analysed by using proximate analysis. The results were then compared with a commercially

available cow dung briquettes. Results showed that briquettes produced by using these feed

stocks and cow dung as a binder had a calorific value of 5920.40kCal/kg, which was higher

than other briquettes used paper pulp (5874.12kCal/kg) as a binder and also higher than the

commercially available cow dung briquettes (3452.34kCal/kg). Other properties like

percentage of ash content, sulphur content & chloride content were less and also there was an

increased percentage of volatile matter when compared to traditional cow dung briquettes.

Thus produced biomass briquettes can be used as a replacement for the commercially available

cow dung briquettes.

Olawale J. Okegbile, Abdulkadir B. Hassan, Abubakar Mohammed*, Barakat J. Irekeola

[8] have tested effect of starch and gum arabic as binders in the combustion characteristics of

briquette prepared from sawdust of different ratios wa s investigated. Briquettes of sawdust

were produced by mixing with different binders and agglomerate using starch paste and gum

arabic. The mixture wa s compressed at 110kN using manually operated hydraulic briquette



machine and sun dried. Water boiling test was employed to obtain percentage heat uti- lized,

specific fuel consumption and time spent to boil 1kg water. The calorific value, the volatile

matter and flame temperature were determined. Results showed that the briquette formed using

starch as a binder performed better in all aspect than the gum arabic.

Ogwu, I.Y, Tembe, E.T, and Shomkegh, S.A.[9] have Compared performance in calorific

value was determined from the binary and tertiary combination of briquettes produced from

biomass materials (sawdust) of Afzelia africana, Daniella oliveri and Rice husk at 20% 30%,

and 40% starch binder levels. From the proximate analysis of the samples, it was observed that

there were significant differences (p<0.05) between the densities, Percentage Ash content,

Percentage Volatile matter and Percentage Fixed carbon of the samples. A progressive increase

in heating value was observed among briquettes produced as the starch level increased.

Briquettes produced at the tertiary combination of Afzelia africana + Daniella oliveri + Rice

husk biomass recorded the highest heating value of 4827.20kcal/kg at 40% starch level while

Daniella oliveri + Rice husk briquettes at binary level recorded the least heating value of

4586.72kcal/kg at 20% starch level. Among the various starch levels the tertiary combination

had the least Ash content of 4.30% at 40% starch level while Daniella oliveri + Rice husk

briquettes at 20% starch level had the highest Ash content of 9.29%. It is therefore

recommended that 40% starch level be used for briquettes production .

Emerhi, E. A.[10] have found that the calorific value of briquettes produced from mixed

sawdust of three tropical hardwood species bonded with different binding agents (starch, cow

dung and wood ash). Sawdust from each of the species was mixed with the binder in ratio of

70:30 for cow dung and wood ash and 70:15 of starch. The sawdust where mixed in a ratio

50:50 for each briquette combination produced. Combustion related properties namely

percentage volatile matter, percentage ash content, percentage fixed carbon and calorific value

of the briquettes where determined. All processing variables assessed in this study were not

significantly different except for percentage fixed carbon at five percent level of probability.

The result shows that briquette produced from sample of Afzelia africana and Terminalia

superba combination bonded with starch had the highest calorific value of 33116kcal/kg while

briquette produced from sample of Afzelia Africana and Terminalia superba bonded with ash

had the least calorific value of 23991kcal/kg. Since the aim of briquetting is to produce

briquette that will serve as good source of fuel and support combustion, the best briquette was

produced when sawdust was mixed with starch.



4. METHODOLOGY

The project is done in 2 phases

DESIGNING

FABRICATION

4.1 DESIGINING :

Initially we selected the size (radius = 7cm) of the briquette as a constant factor and based on

this we started to design a briquetting machine. In order to obtain a briquette of radius 7cms

we needed to design a cylinder of the same diameter, where the raw material are compressed.

And this cylinder has piston at the bottom ( connected to the plunger of jack) and closing plate

at the top of the cylinder, both piston and closing plate should withstand the high pressure

applied by the jack. In order to make the briquette highly compact we need to apply high

pressure, so thickness of the cylinder is made large to withstand this pressure. Here the screw

jack is used to apply the pressure and based on the amount of pressure the capacity of the jack

is selected. And here we are using 2 ton capacity jack.

In this project our aim is to produce 4 to 5 briquette for one completely filled hopper, so

hopper is designed by considering the 5 times the volume of cylinder and this calculation is

done in detail in further section.

After designing the hopper and cylinder now its time to consider the size of the raw material

to be compressed. By going through the several journal we came to know that the raw

material of size in between 3 to 5mm can be easily bounded and has a high calorific value.

Since it is not possible to obtain the raw material of the size we needed readily from the mill

so the need for the grinding unit became the major factor.

In grinding unit it consists of Blade, Sieve plate and Motor. In order to obtain the raw material

of the required size the blade and sieve plate have to be designed. Based on the size of the raw

material sieve of 5 mm is selected. To grind the raw material speed at which blade rotates

became important factor, so we took the motor of 10,000 RPM . Because we noticed that at

high speed material can be grinded very easily to the required size. And we designed a blade

made of stainless steel, because this has high strength.



After grinding now time to carry the raw material to the cylinder , to do this the carrying unit

have been designed. Here we have used a sliding type carrying unit, which can slide along

the guide ways.

Figure 1 Front view



4.2 FABRICATION :

Fabrication of the machine is divided into Three separate units to make it portable

1.GRINDING UNIT

2.CARRIER UNIT

3.COMPRESSING UNIT

4.2.1. GRINDING UNIT :

This unit consists of a Hopper, Motor, Grinder Blade, Sieve plate .

The hopper is placed on the hollow circular disc and is supported by two vertical stands which is

placed diametrically opposite to each other. The blade grinder and sieve plate is placed inside the

hopper. The motor required to rotate the grinding blades is mounted on the vertical support

provided on the hollow disc.

MACHINE ELEMENTS OF GRINDING UNIT :

4.2.1.1 Hopper :

This is where the raw material (saw dust , coffee husk etc) is fed into the machine. It is made of

mild steel, and is conical in shape. It is placed on the hollow circular disc, which acts as

supporting member and also the hollow in the disc guides the grinded materials to the box placed

under the disc. The size of the hopper is designed such that by one completely filled hopper we

are able to produce 4 to 5 briquettes, which can increase the production rate.

Figure 2 : Hopper

[ Dimensions of hopper : Larger diameter = 32 cm, Smaller diameter =23 cm and

Length=35cm. Material : Mild steel ]



4.2.1.2 Motor :

Here we have used an AC motor of 750Watts , 230 Volts and 18000 RPM (with no load ). And

we have used a regulator to control the speed of the blade which is connected to the motor, as

required on the amount of raw material to be grinded inside the hopper. The motor is placed on

the circular disc with the legs as shown.

Figure 3 : Motor with legs

[ Motor specification : Ac motor 750 Watts, 230 Volts and 18000rpm, weighs1.8Kg ]

4.2.1.3 Blade :

This acts as a grinding member, and is made up of stainless steel. Based on the power input

from regulator the blade rotates at certain RPM and grinds the raw materials, which then passes

through the sieve plate.

Figure 4 : Grinding blade



[ Dimensions of blade : Width = 1.5cm and length = 25cm. Material : Stainless steel ]

4.2.1.4 Sieve plate :

Through which the grinded raw material passes and collected in the sliding member. The size

of sieve 5mm. This dimension is taken by referring journals, which says that the sieve size

between 3mm to 5mm is best suited for good compactness. Here the sieve plate made by

cutting the sieve in circular shape and placed in between the two thin hollow disc with nut and

bolt arrangement .

Figure 5 Sieve plate



4.2.2 CARRIER UNIT :

This unit is consists of guide ways and sliding member.

Guide ways are used to guide the sliding member through it , so that the sliding member can

move easily in the specified path to carries the grinded raw materials from the hopper to the

cylinder ( compressing unit). The guide ways are attached to the thick hollow disc to which the

legs are attached to that act as a support.

Sliding member is rectangular box ,it is used to carry the raw material from the hopper to the

cylinder.

4.2.2.1 Guide ways :

It is used for the easy movement of sliding member and also guide sliding member in specified

path to carry the grinded raw materials from hopper to the cylinder. The arrangement of guide

ways are as shown in the figure. It has a thick hollow circular disc at the top , which is used to

act as a supporting unit for the hopper and the motor. The hopper is directly placed on disc , but

motor is placed at a certain height from the disc with small legs provided at the four corner .

Guide ways are also made up of mild steel.

Figure 6 : Guide ways



4.2.2.2 Sliding member :

It is a rectangular box(23*23*23) used for carrying the grinded raw material from hopper to

the cylinder. The top portion of the box is kept open to fill grinded raw material to the box .

And the bottom portion has a small circular hole which is used to fill raw material to the

cylinder.

It also has a stopper connected to one end of rectangular box ,which does not allow the grinded

raw material to move out of the hopper. Because as the sliding member moved from initial

position i.e under the hopper to cylinder position, the raw material may move out of the hopper,

so to avoid the wastage of grinded raw material the stoppers are used.

It is made up of mild steel and is as shown in the figure

Figure 7 : Sliding member



4.2.3 COMPRESSING UNIT :

It consists of a Telescopic jack, cylinder and a piston.

The hydraulic compressor drives the piston inside the cylinder, here are we using a special type

of jack which upon rotation move the piston in and out of the cylinder. The piston and cylinder

are machined to the close dimensional tolerance so that the piston moves easily inside the

cylinder.

The grinded raw materials are input to the cylinder , these materials inside the cylinder are

compressed into briquettes upon the application of force by the jack. Thus formed briquettes are

taken out by pulling the plate at the top of the cylinder. The whole unit is supported by a rigid

frame provided for jack.

4.2.3.1 Telescopic jack :

It acts as compressing unit and is as shown below. Here we are using a special type jack, which

upon the clockwise rotation of the handle moves the piston out of the jack and compress the raw

material in cylinder. And upon anti-clock wise rotation moves the piston inwards.

Figure 8 : Telescopic jack

[ Telescopic jack specification : 2 Ton capacity , plunger can extrude to maximum of 25cm

height ]



4.2.3.2 Cylinder :

Here the grinded raw materials are compressed into a briquettes . Its houses the piston at one

end and the closing plate at other end. Upon application of force by the Telescopic jack on the

piston (with closing plate in closed position), the raw material are compressed into briquettes .

Cylinder is made up of mild steel with steel coating

Figure 9 : Cylinder with Piston

[ Dimension of cylinder : Outer diameter = 9 cm

Inner diameter = 7 cm

Length = 20 cm

Material : Mild Steel with coating ]



4.3. VOLUME CALCULATION OF HOPPER

Initially we took diameter of the briquette as constant factor and based on this we started to

design a machine. We aimed at producing a briquette of 7 cm diameter , to do so we needed a

cylinder of same diameter with 20cm length i.e cylinder of diameter 7cm (r = 3.5 cm) and

length 20cm ( h = 20 cm ) . And also thickness of the cylinder is also major factor because ,

since we are applying a high pressure the cylinder must withstand this pressure , so we took the

cylinder of 1 cm thick. So after compressing the powdered raw material in the cylinder we will

get a briquette of 7cm diameter and 7cm height. Based on this we have done dimension

calculation for hopper.

Volume of cylinder = π × r × r × h

Volume of cylinde = 3.14×3.5×3.5×20

= 769.69 cc

When the raw material grinded in the by blade in the hopper, the volume of raw material added

to hopper will be reduced to approximately 1/3rd of its initial volume after grinding , so to get

the volume raw material required need multiply volume of cylinder by 3.

And since we are aiming to produce 5 briquettes for one completely filled hopper then again

multiply volume by 5.

so we get

Volume as = 769.69×3×5

= 11545.35 cc



So to get this volume we need to build a hopper of dimension as shown below.

By trail and error method we decided the dimension of the hopper

( r1 =16cm r2 = 13.5cm, h = 18cm )

Volume of hopper = 1/3×π(r1×r1 + r1×r2 + r2×r2) ×h

= 1/3×3.14× (13.5^2 + 13.5×16 + 16^2) ×18

= 12,332.32 cc

( It is almost close to 11545.35 cc )

So by considering the hopper of dimension ( r1 =16cm r2 = 13.5cm, h = 18cm ) ,the required

volume of raw material can be grinded in the hopper and manufacturing of 4 to 5 briquettes can

be easily done.



5.CONSTRUCTION OF BRIQUETTING MACHINE :

The arrangement of all the component of briquetting machine is as shown in the figure. It

consists of a hopper, blade, motor, sieve plate, guide ways, sliding member, cylinder and a

Telescopic jack.

The conical shaped hopper is placed on the hollow circular disc with a nut and bolt

arrangement. The dimension of the hopper is found by the volume calculation given at the

section 4.3. Inside the hopper it consists of a motor with a grinding blade, which is used to

grind the raw material inside the hopper. The motor is covered with plastic material in order to

avoid the entry of dust particle into the motor. The regulator is used to vary the speed of the

motor based on amount of raw material in the hopper . In-between the motor assembly and the

blade the sieve plate is placed, which allows only the grinded raw material to pass through it.

The size of sieve is 5mm, which is made by cutting the mesh in a circular shape and held

rigidly in between two hollow circular disc. And it is also very important to note that the sieve

size between 3mm to 5 mm is best suited ( from journals ).

The hopper with motor and a sieve is placed o hollow circular disc which acts as a supporting

member. Then the guide ways are connected to the this at bottom, which is used to guide the

sliding member . This guide ways are closed with thin sheet metal at the bottom in order to

keep the grinded raw material in the sliding member till it reaches the cylinder because the

sliding member has a hole at the bottom , so that this materials may get emptied .

The sliding member is a rectangular box with a top surface open and hole at its bottom . Top

surface kept open in order to fill the materials to the sliding member so that it can be carried

along guide ways and fill the cylinder by the small hole at its bottom. And it also has a

stopper, which is made by a thin sheet metal connected to one end of the box at the top

portion.

Here Cylinder acts as a compressing unit which is placed at the end of the guide ways i.e

opposite to the hopper. The top surface of the cylinder remains open during the filling raw

material to cylinder by the sliding member through the small hole at bottom. After complete

filling of the cylinder the top portion is closed by locking mechanism, and the compressive

force is applied to the raw material in the cylinder to form a briquette. At the bottom of

cylinder Telescopic jack is placed, which acts as compressing unit.



The piston is welded to the plunger of the jack and is inserted at the bottom. This whole

assembly is placed on the four legs.

The whole arrangement is as shown in the figure

Figure 10 : Final assembly



6. WORKING PRINCIPLE OF BRIQUETTING MACHINE :

Here we are using Saw dust, Coffee husk, Dry leaves and Rice husk etc as a raw materials .

These raw materials are gathered and are added to the hopper in required ratio to get the

compact briquette. After filling the raw materials the top portion of hopper is closed this is

because due to high speed of the blade the raw material may move out. These raw materials are

grinded by the blade , which is driven by the motor. Here the regulator is used to regulate the

speed of the blade so that the grinding operation can be controlled. That is by using high speed

rotation the raw materials are finely grinded and so on for the medium speed. These grinded

raw materials are allowed to pass through the sieve plate , which is placed in between the blade

and motor ( size of sieve 5 mm ).

After complete grinding of the raw materials in the hopper the motor is switched off. These

grinded raw materials are stored at the bottom of hopper and sliding member. Sliding member

is a rectangular box with top portion open and having small hole at the bottom. This sliding

member is dragged along the guide ways to fill the grinded raw material in the sliding member

to the cylinder through the small hole at its bottom. While filling the cylinder with grinded raw

materials the bottom portion of the hopper is closed by the stopper. And also the bottom

portion of cylinder is closed by the piston.

After complete filling of the cylinder with raw materials, the sliding member is moved back to

its initial position. Now the top portion of the cylinder is closed by the locking mechanism.

Then the lever of Telescopic jack is rotated in clock wise direction to move the piston upwards

and to compress the raw materials into briquette. Now the locking cap at the top of the cylinder

is opened and the lever of jack is further rotated to move the briquette out of the cylinder. Then

the lever is rotated in anti clockwise direction to move the piston to its initial position for

preparing another briquette and this process further repeated to manufacture a briquette in

continuous manner.



7. TESTING AND RESULTS :

By taking the briquette manufactured by the industry and the briquette manufactured by our

machine the calorific value have been calculated and are compared as follows .

Formulae for water equivalent of calorimeter :

𝑾 =𝐇 × 𝐌

𝐓×(CT + CF )

Formulae for Calorific value of fuel sample

CV = 𝐓 × 𝐖 − (CT + CF )

Specification :

T - Final temperature rise of water in degree Celsius

M - Mass of the sample in grams

H - Known calorific value of benzoic acid in Cal / gm =6464Cal/gm

W - Water equivalent of the Calorimeter in Cal / deg

CVs - Calorific value of Fuel Sample

CVf - Calorific value of Fuse wire = 2.33 Cal /cm

CVt - Calorific value of the Thread wire = 2.1 Cal / cm

Calculation

Initial temperature = 28.1 OC

Rise in temperature = 28.80 OC

Difference in temperature = 0.7 OC

LF - Length of the Fuse wire = 10 cms

LT - Length of the Thread = 10 cm

CF - Heat liberated by the Fuse wire in Cal = 2.33 × LT.

= 2.33× 6

= 13.98 Cal

CF - Heat liberated by Thread in Cal = 2.1 × LT

= 2.1 × 10

= 21Cal



7.1 Industry sample ( 60% of sawdust, 30% of coffee husk and 10% coir pitch ):



Difference in temperature = 0.7 OC.

CV = T × W − (CT + CF )

CV( industrial ) = .7× 6699.97 − (21 + 13.8 )

= 4655.179 Kcal / kg

7.2 With Starch as binder ( 90% of saw dust, 6% of wheat flour and 4 % water )


Final temperature = 30.02 OC

Rise in temperature = .72 OC

CV ( with starch ) = T × W − (CT + CF )

= .72 × 6699.97 − (21 + 13.8 )

= 4789.17 Kcal / kg

7.3 Without starch as binder ( 49% of saw dust, 49 % of coffee husk and 2%

water ) :

Initial temperature = 30. 7 OC

Final temperature = 31.43 OC


CV (without starch) = T × W − (CT + CF )

= .73 × 6699.97 − ( 21 + 13.8 )

= 4856.17 Kcal / kg

From the above calculations it is found that the calorific value of Briquette with and without

binder are almost nearer, choosing any one of them is suggested.



BRIQUETTES PRODUCED :

(a) (b)

(c) (d)

(a).Briquette produced from dry stick without binder .

(b).Briquette produced from sawdust without binder.

(c).Briquette produced from sawdust and coffee husk without binder.

(d).Briquette produce from sawdust, Coffee husk and Wheat flour as

binder.



8. ADVANTAGES OF BIOMASS BRIQUETTING :

Briquettes produced from briquetting of biomass are fairly good substitute for coal, lignite,

Firewood and offer numerous advantages

This is one of the alternative methods to save the consumption and dependency on fuel

wood.

Densities fuels are easy to handle, transport and store.

They are uniform in size and quality.

The process helps to solve the residual disposal problem.

The process assists the reduction of fuel wood and deforestation.

It provides additional income to farmers and creates jobs.

Briquettes are cheaper than coal, oil or lignite once used cannot be replaced.

There is no sulphur in briquettes.

There is no fly ash when burning briquettes.

Briquettes have a consistent quality, have high burning efficiency, and are ideally sized

for complete combustion.

Since briquettes can be domestically made from plants and animal wastes, they are

consequently less expensive to produce, and thereby sold at lower prices.

Compacting biomass waste into briquettes reduces the volume by 10 times, making it

much easier to store and transport than loose biomass waste

The compression process allows the briquettes to burn for a lot longer than if it was

loose in its original condition.



9. SOCIAL BENEFITS OF USING BIOMASS BRIQUETTE :

A tree saved is more than a tree grown

The above Bio-Message is very clear. We need not spend more energy and money to

grow more trees if we could avoid using them.

Thus, all ecological disaster arising from deforestation can be checked.

Saves the environment from pollution, all conventional fuel pollutes the atmosphere.

Avoids using conventional resources like coal which means that future generation will

not be deprived of its utility.

10. DISADVANTAGES OF BIOMASS BRIQUETTING

Undesirable combustion characteristics often observed e.g., poor ignitability, smoking,

etc.

Tendency of briquettes to loosen when exposed to water or even high humidity weather



11. APPLICATION OF BIOMASS BRIQUETTES :

Biomass Briquette are widely used for any type of thermal application like steam generation in

boilers, in furnace & foundries (It can be used for metal heating & melting where melting point

is less than 1000d/cel.), for heating purpose (Residential & Commercial Heating for winter,

heating in Cold areas and Hotels, Canteens, Cafeterias and house hold kitchen appliances etc),

drying process and in gasification plant replacing conventional solid fuels like Coal and

Firewood and liquid fuels like Diesel, Kerosene, Furnace Oil (FO), etc.

Briquettes is a forth coming fuel of the world. An upcoming use of Briquettes is in Bio-

Gasifires for Thermal Applications and Electricity Generation. It’s a high quality asset towards

economical, ecological, & advanced environmental company policy

Briquetted fuel can be used by the industrial, commercial and household sectors. It is ideally

suited for use in the following areas:

Boilers (sugar mills, paper mills, chemical plants, Cement, food

processing units, oil extraction units etc.) using fuel for

steam generation and heating.

Forges and

Foundries

For metal heating and melting.

Brick kilns and

Ceramic Units

For firing of furnaces.

Residential

Heating

For winter heating in cold areas and in restaurants, canteens

etc.

Gasification The gas can be used to generate power, and eventually

replace coal based producer gas systems and oil firing in

furnaces.

Agriculture Heating Green houses , Nurseries and Chicken coops.



12. SCOPE FOR FUTURE WORK :

The machine fabricated require some human effort for compressing the raw material. The

requirement of human effort can be eliminated by using a less capacity motor to actuate the

telescopic jack gradually for compressing the feed stock. This increases the compression

pressure which helps in obtaining the good quality briquettes. And also this high pressure

causes raw material to bind stiffly and this may also lead to elimination of using binder.

By some minor changes in the compressing unit, the cylinder piston arrangement and inverted

position of jack will allow the operator to apply maximum pressure as much as possible. And

by using this mechanism fabrication cost can be reduced.

Any type of feed stock can be used apart from the saw dust, coffee husk, dry leaves and other

biological and non-biological waste can be compacted toreduce waste management cost and

facilitates the easy transportation of the same.



13. CONCLUSION :

A large volume of agricultural by products being generated in India and which constitute

environmental hazards. Call for effective utilisation of those high grade biomass material for

solid fuel called briquette . Hence it can be concluded that the waste material like dry leaves

,wheat straw, saw dust, etc are feed stocks for the biomass briquette . Generally dry leaves and

wheat straw are burnt to reduce waste , which causes several pollution to environment, but if

wisely handled these wastes can then could be a better option for briquetting. Hence for an

agricultural country like India that produces huge amount of agricultural waste every year, use

of these waste as a briquette can be economically viable, sustainable and environment friendly

solution.

And also as machine concerned , it can be concluded that by using simple mechanism with

widely available machine element the machine cost could be lowered and makes fabrication

economical and portable.



14. REFERENCES

[1]. Oladeji, J.T.2010. “Fuel Characterization of Briquettes Produced from Corncob and Rice

Husk Resides”.Pacific Journal of Science and Technology. 11(1):101-106.

[2]. S. H. Sengar , A. G. Mohod , Y. P. Khandetod , S. S.Patil , A. D. Chendake ,

"Performance of Briquetting Machine for Briquette Fuel", International Journal of Energy

Engineering, Vol.2 No.1, 2012, pp. 28-34. doi: 10.5923/j.ijee.20120201.05.

[3]. A. Olorunnisola “Production of Fuel Briquettes from Waste Paper and Coconut Husk

Admixtures”. Agricultural Engineering International: the CIGR Ejournal. Manuscript EE 06

006. Vol. IX. February, 2007

[4]. Idah, P. A1, Mopah, E. J2 1,2Department of Agricultural and Bioresources Engineering,

Federal University of Technology, P.M. B. 65, Minna, Niger State, Nigeria.

[5]. Harshita Jain1 , Y. Vijayalakshmi2 , T. Neeraja3 1M.Sc. Scholar, Department of

Resource Management and Consumer Sciences, College of Home Science, Hyderabad-500001,

2Associate Professor, Department of Resource Management and Consumer Sciences, College

of Home Science, Hyderabad -500001, 3 Professor, Department of Resource Management and

Consumer Sciences, College of Home Science, Hyderabad -500001,

[6]. Daham Shyamalee 1, A.D.U.S. Amarasinghe 1, N.S. Senanayaka 2

1Department of Chemical and Process Engineering, University of Moratuwa Moratuwa, Sri

Lanka

2 Department of Mechanical Engineering, The Open University of Sri Lanka, Nugegoda, Sri

Lanka

[7]. Riya Roy M.Sc. (Environmental Science), Asutosh College, University of Calcutta,

Kolkata, West Bengal, India.

[8]. Olawale J. Okegbile, Abdulkadir B. Hassan, Abubakar Mohammed*, Barakat J.

Irekeola

Department of Mechanical Engineering, Federal University of Technology, Minna, Nigeria

[9]. Ogwu, I.Y1, Tembe, E.T2., and Shomkegh, S.A.3



1 and 2. Department of Forest Production and Products University of Agriculture Makurdi

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[10].Emerhi, E. A Department of Forestry and Wildlife, Delta State University, Awai Campus,

Asaba, Nigeria

[11] P.D.Grover, Agriwaste feed processing for energy conversion”, Proc. International

Conference 26-27, Bangkok, April 1996, 177-195.

[12] Khoa, TranMinh, S.C.Bhattacharya, Amur Ghulam Qambar, Study of agriwaste as a

source of energy in Vietnam, International Energy Journal, 21, 1999, 69-75.

[13] N.P.Singh, Agriwaste programme in India: an overview Proc. International Conference,

26-27 New Delhi, February 1996, 65-72.

[14] S.C. Bhattacharya, R.Bhatia, M.N .Islam, N.Shah, Densified biomass 8, Thailand,

1985, 255-266.

[15] A.K.Tripathi, P.V.R Iyer., T.C Kandpal., Questionnaire based survey of agriwaste

briquetting in India, MNES, International Journal of Ambient Energy 2(1) New Delhi, Jan

2000, 31-40.

[16] Filiz Karaosmanoglu, Biobriquetting of rapeseed cake, Energy Sources 22(3), 2000, 257-

267.

[17] P.D.Grover, S.K Mishra,., Regional Wood Energy Development Programme in India,

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[18] A Koopmans, Proc. of the International Workshop on Biomass briquetting 23 Bangkok,

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