Pine Briquette Efficiency

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International Conferenceon Electronics and Communication Engineering, 20th, May 2012, Bangalore, ISBN:978-93-81693-29-2

122

Improving the Combustion Characteristics of Pine

Needle Charcoal Briquettes

Vinita Bharti & Mamta Awasthi

Department of Energy & Environment, NIT, Hamirpur, H.P.177005E-mail : [email protected], [email protected]

Abstract - Forest fires are the annual phenomenon in Himachal Pradesh as the forests are dense and catch fire easily due to naturaland man-made reasons. Himalayan forests are rich in Pine trees (Pinus roxburghii Sarg.) and the pine needle is one of the reasons toenhance the forest fire. There is a necessity to handle this forest waste efficiently. This paper attempts to explain the briquettingtechnology of pine needles and the results showed that a significant improvement in calorific value.

Keywords - pine needles, charcoal briquetting technology, proximate analysis, calorific value, water boiling test.

I. INTRODUCTION

India is extremely dependent on the use of fossilfuels, mainly coal and petroleum. The dependency iseven more evident in the semi-urban areas. On the onehand, several small-scale industries such as brick kilnmanufacturers, industrial boilers, and food processingand pharmaceutical industries use coal forthermal/heating purposes, which results in highgreenhouse gas emissions, which are responsible forclimate change. On the other hand, institutional kitchensuse expensive and polluting LPG (liquefied petroleumgas). However, the rural population in India does not

have access to reliable energy. The main source ofenergy for this section of the society is the use offirewood. The people living in rural areas burn firewoodinefficiently (mainly for cooking), which causes indoorair pollution and releases harmful black smoke. Millionsof tons of biomass gets generated from forest residuesespecially pine needles in himachal Pradesh [4]. Thesepine needles if not removed from the ground can causelot of damage to the environment. Firstly due to theirhighly inflammable nature, they often become the causefor forest fires in the Himalayan forests. Pine tree trunkis heat resistant, hence in case of a forest fire [4, 5], pinetrees survive the fire but in the process destroy thegrowth of other plant species whose produce provide

sustenance to villagers and thus also disturb theecological balance of the region. Secondly, dry pinefoliage stops water from being absorbed by the soil andthus causes the depletion of ground water table [4].Thirdly, fallen dry pine foliage acts like a carpet on theforest floor and blocks the sunshine reaching ground andthereby stops the growth of grass which the cattle feedupon. Although dry pine needles and other forest

residues have high caloric value, this biomass cannot beused directly due to its low bulk density and highmoisture content.

BIOMASS CHARCOAL BRIQUETTINGTECHNOLOGY:

Biomass briquetting is the process of convertinglow bulk density biomass into high density and energyconcentrated fuel briquettes. The biomass charcoalbriquetting technology developed at MCRC [3] uses themodified kiln and a briquetting machine that canfabricate locally to produce bio-char from variousbiomass samples. The technology involves use of a costeffective binder to prepare the briquettes.

Biomass charcoal Briquetting process:

Experimental

II . MATERIAL AND METHOD:

Sample collect were pine needle (Pinus roxburghii)

from Hamirpur district, himachal Pradesh India.

Preparation of the biomass:

The biomass collected were air dried for ten days toreduce moisture content of the material. The material cutinto small pieces (2mm-size). These materials were than


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Improving the Combustion Characteristics of Pine Needle Charcoal Briquettes


processed for the determination their proximate analysisin chemistry department of the NIT Hamirpur.

Proximate Analysis of the Material:

The moisture content, ash, volatile matter, and fixedcarbon of the pine needles were determined by using

standard method ASTM D-3173. The calorific value ofpine needles and briquette samples was determinedusing microprocessor bomb calorimeter of modelCC01/M3.

Preparation of the briquette samples:

Material required: forest wastes (pine needles),binding materials (brown clay and rice starch), Charcoalkiln/drum and Briquetting mould/machine.

Carbonization: For carbonization, loosely pack thecollected biomass into the kiln. The kiln willaccommodate ~100kg dry biomass. After loading thebiomass into the kiln close top of the kiln with metal lidattached to a conical chimney. Use little amount ofbiomass in the firing portion to ignite in the kiln andclose the doors tightly and fired for 45 minutes to1hr(depending upon the biomass) using biomass [3]. In theabsence of air, the burning process is slow and the fireslowly spreads to the biomass though the hole in theperforated sheets. In this method 30 % of carbonizedchar can be obtained [3].

Fig1: carbonizer drum

Table 1: Time cycle of one batch carbonization

Process duration

Loading 30 minutes

carbonization 60 minutes

Cooling 5 hours

Unloading 30 minutes

Total processing time 7 hours

Binder preparation and mixing: A binder is used forstrengthening the briquettes. The carbonized charpowder can be mixed with different binders (100 kg ofchar +5kg of starch) such as commercial starch, ricepowder, rice starch (rice boiled water) and other cost

effective materials like brown clay soil. Binder mixedwith water and boiled for 20 minutes [3]. After boilingthe liquid solution is poured into char powder and mixedto ensure that every particle of carbonized charcoalmaterial is coated with binders. It enhances charcoaladhesion and produce identical briquettes.

Fig. 2: Binder preparation and carbonized charcoalmixed with the binder

Briquettes: The charcoal mixture is made into briquetteseither manually or using machines. Pour the mixture

directly into the briquetting mould/ machine to formuniform sized cylindrical briquettes.

Fig3: Briquette samples

Table 2: Char and binder material used in biocoalbriquettes

sample char Binding material

S1 1kg 500g clay

S2 1kg 333g clay

S3 1kg50g rice starch +100g

clay

S4 1kg 50g starch

Characterization of the samples:

Ignition time: Each briquette sample was ignited at thebase in a drought free corner. The time required for theflame to ignite the briquette was recorded as the ignitiontime using stop watch.

Water Boiling Test: This was carried out to compare thecooking efficiency of the briquettes. It measured thetime taken for each set of briquettes to boil an equalvolume of water under similar conditions. 185g of eachbriquette sample was used to boil one Liter of waterusing small stainless cup and domestic briquette stove[9]. During this test, other fuel properties of the


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briquettes like burning rate and Specific fuelconsumption was also determined. Also, the level ofsmoke evolution was observed. Burning rate is the ratioof the mass of the fuel burnt (in grams) to the total timetaken (in minute).

Burning rate =Mass of fuel consumed (g) / Total timetaken (min.) (1)

The specific fuel consumption indicates the ratio of themass of fuel consumed (in grams) to the quantity ofboiling water (in liter).

Specific fuel consumption =Mass of fuel consumed (g)/ total mass of boiling water (liter) (2)

Efficiency of the briquette was calculated from theformula:

= Mw.i X Cp.w X (Te-Ti) +Mw.evap X Hl / MfX hf

(3)

Where,

hf - calorific value of fuel, kj/kg.

Mf - mass of fuel burned, kg.

Mw.i - initial mass of water in the cooking vessel, kg.

Ti - initial temperature of water in C

Te - temperature of boiling water in C

Mw.evap - mass of water evaporated, kg.

Hl - latent heat of evaporated at 100 C in kj/kg.

Cp.w - specific heat of water, kj/kg C

I I I. RESULTS AND DISCUSSIONThe results of proximate analyses of the pine needle

and biomass charcoal briquettes are shown in table 3.From the results, it is clearly show that the biomasscharcoal briquette sample S4 using starch as a binderhas higher calorific value (6447kcal/kg) low Ashcontent (15.2%) and high volatile matter (73.21%) thanbiomass charcoal briquette samples using clay as abinder. The briquette sample S1 has high ash content.the high ash content of sample S1 is an indication that itcontains more mineral (non combustible) matters.

Table 3: The result of proximate analysis of rawmaterial (pine needle) and biocoal briquette samples

SamplePineneedle

S1 S2 S3 S4

Moisturecontent (%)

11.98 6.2 5.9 5.1 4.6

Ash content(%)

5.4 32.6 29.3 19.2 15.2

Volatilematter (%)

67.07 50.7 55.4 67.41 73.21

Fixedcarbon (%)

15.55 10.5 9.4 8.29 6.99

Calorificvalue

(kcal/kg) 4811 4970 5687 6343 6447

The result of ignition time in fig.4 showed that theignition time of the briquettes decrease with increase inbiomass concentration. The biomass charcoal briquettesample S1took the longest time to ignite 430.00 second.It results in greater use of ignition material andconsequently more smoke. But with incorporation ofbiomass, the ignition time dropped progressively. Theignition time of biomass charcoal Briquette using starchas a binding material was shorten than that of biomasscharcoal briquette using clay as a binding material.

S1 S2 S3 S4100

200

300

400

500

S1- pinechar+clay(1kg+500g)

S2- pinechar +clay(1kg+333g)

S3-pinechar +clay +starch

(1kg+100g+50g)S4- pinechar +starch

(1kg+50g)

Ignitiontime(Second)

Briquette samples

Ignition time

Fig 4: The effect of binding material consentration onthe ignition time of briquettes

Fig 5-6 show the result of the parametersdetermined during the water boiling test. Briquette usingclay as a binder takes more time for water boiling thanbriquette using starch as a binder. The reason is thehigher percentage of clay than starch in Briquettes andthe non-combustible character of the clay in comparisonto the starch. Clay is mineral matter, does not burn. Thiscan result in problems with cooking and fire extinction,as it blocks the stoves air ventilation. The stove needs

to be shacked often in order to clean it. The briquettesample S1 took longest time to boil water (45 min)while the sample S4 took the shortest time (30 min) .Theburning time of briquette using starch as a binder morethan briquette using clay as a binder.


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0 10 20 30 40 50

0

20

40

60

80

100

Temperature

(degreeC)

Time (minute)

S1-pinechar+clay(1kg+500g)

S2-pinechar+clay(1kg+333g)

S3-pinechar+clay+starch(1kg+100g+50g)

S4-pinechar+starch(1kg+50g)

Fig 5: temperature evaluation during the high powerphase- cold start of the water boiling test for different

briquette samples

S1 S2 S3 s4

50

55

60

65

70

75

80

S1-pinechar+clay

(1kg+500g)

S2-pinechar+clay

(1kg+333g)

S3-pinechar+clay+starch

(1kg+100g+50g)

S4-pinechar+starch

(1kg+50g)

Burningtime(minute)

Briquette samples

Burning time

Fig 6: The effect of binding material consentration onthe burning time of briquettes

Table 4: Some fuel characteristics during the boilingphase

Sample

Burningrate

(g/minute)

Specific fuelconsumption

(g/liter)

Efficiencyof briquette

(%)

S1 2.5 170 29

S2 3.0 155 30

S3 6.7 110 35S4 10.3 100 38

Burning rate indicate the mass of fuel burned per minuteduring the boiling phase. The specific consumptionindicates the mass of fuel required to produce one literof boiling water. Table 4 describes fuel characteristics ofbiocoal briquettes during water boiling test. As a result

of the comparison of both characteristics for the 4 testedbiocoal briquette samples, we can say that Biocoalbriquettes made with starch burns faster and are moreefficient than biocoal briquettes made with clay.Briquette sample S4 burn and boil water faster and lessquantity (100g/liter) of them were required to produce

one liter of boiling water compared to other briquettesamples .the briquette sample S4 has the higherefficiency (38%) than other biocoal briquette samples.On the other hand, briquette sample S1 has the leastcooking efficiency (29%). It burns slowly withoutflame, took the longest time to boil the water and muchquantity (170g/liter) of it was needed to boil water. Thisis because of the fact that the briquette burns slowly, asa result, lots of the heat released was lost before thewater boils. The burning rate (how fast the fuel burns)and the caloric value (how much heat released) are twocombined factors that controlled the water boiling time.This explained why sample S4 was able to boil waterand burn faster than other Samples. This means that the

calorific value alone is not a single factor controllingcooking efficiency but burning rate is equally important.

CONCLUSIONS:

The results from this study have shown that thebiomass briquettes bonded with starch are very efficientthan biomass briquette bonded with clay depend on thefollowing factor its ability to: ignite easily without anydanger, generate less smoke, high calorific value,generate less ash as this will constitute nuisance duringcooking and to be strong enough for safe transportationand storage.

The technology has a great potential for converting

waste biomass into a superior fuel for household use, inan affordable, efficient and environment friendlymanner.

REFERENCES:

[1] Mande Sanjay, Lata Kusum, Preparation ofcharcoal briquettes from field and forestresidues, Asia-Pacific forum for environmentand development (APFED), 2004, 2-3

[2] Font R., Conesa J.A., Molto J., Munoz M.,Kinetics of pyrolysis and combustion of pineneedles and cones, J . Anal. Appl. Pyrolysis 85(2009), 276286

[3] Sugumaran p., Seshadri s., Biomass charcoalbriquetting, Shri AMM Murugappa ChettiarResearch Centre taramani, Channai-60011, 1-12

[4] Access to Clean Energy, a glimpse of off gridprojects in India, www.undp.org.in/sites/default/files/reports_publication/ACE.pdf


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[5] Quarterly magazine on biomass energy, publishedunder the undp-gef biomass power project ofministry of new and renewable energy (MNRE),government of India. Published by winrockinternational India (WII), issue 2 DEC 2009

[6] Himalayan forest research institute, shimla,hfri.icfre.gov.in

[7] P.D. Grover & S.K. Mishra, biomass briquettingtechnology and practices, regional wood energydevelopment programme in Asia gcp/ras/154/net,Field Document No.46, 1-43

[8] Sugumaran P, Seshadri S, Evaluation of selectedbiomass for charcoal production, journal ofscience & industrial research, Vol.68,August2009, 719-723

[9] Kim H., kazuhiko and masayoshi S., Bio-coalbriquette as a technology for desulphurdizing andenergy saving, In T. Y amada ed. Chapter34,

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[10] Onuegbu T.U., Ekpunobi U.E., Ogbu I.M.,Ekeoma & Obumselu F.O., comparative studiesof ignition time and water boiling test of coal andbiomass briquettes blend, I JRAS 7 (2),vol.17issue2, May2011, 153-159

[11] Bogale Wondwossen, preparation of charcoalusing agricultural wastes, Ethip .J . Educ. & Sc.,vol.5 no.1 September 2009, 82

[12] ASTM standard E711-87, Standard test methodfor gross calorific value of refuse derived fuelby the bomb calorimeter. Annual book of ASTMstandard,11.04. ASTM International,http//www.astm.info/standard/E711.htm 2004

[13] Eriksson, S. and M. Prior, the Briquetting ofAgriculture of Agricultural Wastes for Fuel,F.A.O. Publication, 1990.

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Pine Briquette Efficiency

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