CHAPTER 1: THE PROBLEM AND ITS BACKGROUND

A. Introduction

Huge quantities of agro-residues are produced by many of the developing

countries but they are used efficiently causing extensive pollution to the environment.

The major residues our rice-husk, coffee husk, coconut husk, coconut pith, jute stick,

bagasse, groundnut shells, mustard stalk and cotton stalk. Saw dust, a milling and

furniture shops residue is also available in huge quantity. Problems associated with these

residues are their transportation, storage and handling. Direct burning of loose agro-

residues in conventional gates is associated with very low thermal efficiency and

widespread air pollution. In addition, a large percentage of unbrunt carbonaceous ash has

to be disposed. If these agricultural wastes/ residues can be properly recycled into useful

products, more goods will be made available for human consumption. Likewise,

environmental pollution and other disease related to poor waste handling and

management would be greatly reduce. Solid waste can be of importance when properly

use or processed, among the agricultural wastes/ residue are from sawmills which can be

utilized as solid fuel.

Fuel is defined as natural or artificial organic substance used as source of energy

and raw materials for industries. All kinds of fuel are regards their states or aggregation

are divided into solid liquid and gaseous and as regards their origin into natural artificial

fuels. Rickets belong to the group under natural fuel origin. Briquetting is defined as the

compaction of loose combustible material for fuel making purpose. The products

obtained from the process of Briquetting i known as briquettes. Briquetting technology,

which uses either a dry or a wet process to compress solid waste into different shapes.
Briquetting of biomass can be considered for its economics, reliability and ease of

operation. Hence, Briquetting of sawdust for solid fuel is used for domestic heating in

cooking stove, fireplace and furnace. They also have advantage of cleanliness, ease of

handling and igniting, produce a small volume of smoke and its ash content in rich

photos and phosphate. This hours can be used as fertilizer on an infertile soil. With

briquetting of saw dust, a new fuel source is found which will help in reducing while

damping of sawdust. This will go a long way in reducing cutting of trees for fuel wood

which in the long run will cause desertification.

Cornstarch is recommended as binder for briquettes because they are is

smokeless and often available in local market. Usually, the amount of starch to be used

for charcoal briquettes is 10% of the weight of materials. This means that for every 1 kg

of carbonized materials need 100 g of binder ( corn starch). Nonetheless, aurora charcoal

briquettes product increased the volume of binder as high as 20% of grand materials to

come up with a much better quality. Gelatinized starch by adding one liter of water for

every 1 kilo of biomass.

B. Statement of the problem

Generally, this study aimed to evaluate sawdust briquettes using different

proportion of cornstarch binder

Specially, this study aimed to:

1. Is charcoal is stronger than briquettes when mixed into corn starch?

C. Hypothesis

D. Significant of the study

E. Definition of terms

The following terms were defined to guide the readers in better understanding

this study.

Agro-residues. This refers to the unwanted agricultural wasted such as rice straw,

wheat straw, corn cob, coconut husk, sawdust and ect.

Binder. It refers to the binding medium used to bind the materials for briquettes.

Boiling time. This refers to the duration of the time to boil a 500 ml of water.

Briquettes. A briquettes is a block of compressed coal dust, charcoal dust, sawdust, and

wood chips that is used as a fuel in stove and boilers.

Briquetting- It is the process of converting agricultural waste into uniformly shaped by

block of coal or other burnable material that are easy to use, convey and store

Briquetting machine- it is the machine used to make briquettes.

until no more smoke is observed and turn into ashes

Density- the degree of consistency measured by the quantity of mass per unit volume

Compressive strength- is the resistance of a material to break under compression

Cornstarch- fine-grained flour made from corn, specially used as a thickener in cooking.

Friability- this is the ability of sawdust briquettes to fracture or crumble when under

stress

Hardness- reliability in withstanding pressure, force and stress.

Kindling time- it refers to the time when the briquettes start to ignite until no more

smoke or when fire is observed.

Moisture content - It refers to the quantity of water contained in a material.

Sawdust- it is a fine particles of wood produce in sawing.

II. REVIEW OF RELATED LITERATURE

Altun, et. al., (2001) studied the properties of briquettes using different binders.

The binders were tested from the view of resistivity to transportation, loading and storage

by measuring the abrasion index and strength to crushing. The binders used in the

briquetting affect the combustion properties of the briquette. Molasses, carboxyl

methylcellulose (CMC), sulphide liquor, heavy crude oil, sodium silicate, cornstarch,

lime, peridur, and bentonite, cement poly (vinyl acetate) were used as binders. It was

observed that molasses and CMC decreased the residue content at the end of the

combustion period, whereas, heavy crude oil, sulphide liquor and corn starch increased
the calorific values of the samples. Villablanca (2007) stated that the most promising

residues for briquetting are: sawdust, rice hull and coconut pith. In some places, this

residues have little or no alternative use. With a mixture (70% MCC; 30% starch) as

recommended by Dukic' -Ott, et. al. (2009), and the respectively two water volumes (400

mL; 570 mL), the granulation lead for the first case to very friable grains, which

crumbled easily in hand. The quantity of water was no sufficient to ensure a complete

wetting of particles were filled until saturation and so to get grains with more resistance.

Senegal's Department of Water and Forestry (2009), stated that biomass briquettes are

made from agricultural wastes and can replace fossil fuels such as oil or coal. It can be

used to heat boiler in manufacturing plants ad also have more applications in developing

countries. This briquettes are renewable source of energy and can reduce the addition of

fossil carbon to the atmosphere, it can also provide more calorific value per kg and save

around 30-40 percent of boiler fuel costs. Pushpa Jha, et. al., (2010), stated that briquettes

produced from agro-residues are fairly good substitute for coal, lignite and firewood.

Briquettes from saw dust have high specific density of 1400 kg/m3 compared to bulk

density of 210 kg/m3 (approx.) of loose saw dust. Loading/unloading, transportation and

storage costs of agro-residues are drastically reduced if they are converted in the form of

briquettes. Formation of briquettes at the very site of its production stops air pollution to

a large extent. Hence briquetting of saw dust produces renewable and environment.

friendly source of energy. Emerhi (2011), assessed the calorific value of briquettes

produced from mixed sawdust of three tropical hardwood species (Afzelia africana,

Terminalia superba, and Melicia elcelsa) 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. 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 from sample of Afzelia Africana and Terminalia superba bonded with ash had the

least calorific value of 23991 kcal/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. Also the use of mixed wood residue from

the selected species and other hardwood species for briquette production should be

encouraged as this will provide an alternative to firewood for household cheap energy

source. Osarenwinda and Ihenyen (2012), stated that F.P Veshinakov (a Russian

inventor) developed a method of producing briquettes from waste wood, charcoal and

hard coal. Briquettes have high specific densities ranging from 1100- 1200kg/m3 and

bulk densities of 800kg/m3 as compared to lose agricultural residues which have bulk

densities that range from 80kg/m3 - 120 kg/m3. Briquetting is a process of binding

together pulverized carbonaceous matter, often with the aid of binder. The common

forms of briquettes are the coal briquettes and the biomass briquettes. Biomass briquettes

originate from mostly agricultural residues to briquettes, a gamut of advantages is

derivable. These includes: 1) Briquettes provide an easier way of getting energy supply

for cooking and ironing of clothes as the briquettes can be transported easily than the

agricultural residues. 2) Briquettes provide cleaner emission that wood and other dried

plants usually used for obtaining rural energy supply. 3) The raw material for making

briquettes are sourced from materials that would have been chunked, and such it converts
waste to energy. 4) Briquetting increases strength, density, heat emitted per volume of

the biomass (Agbo, et. al. 2013).

According to Sastry, et. al., (2013), a good quality of briquette should produce

sufficient amount of heat, burn without smoke to promote indoor air quality, and must be

convenient for the user. The quality of a briquette can be measured from its calorific

value, density, compressive strength, ash content, volatile matter content, ignition time

and burn time among others. Chinyere, et. al., (2014) evaluated the briquettes from

sawdust and corn starch binder. The briquettes were produced mechanically with a

hydraulic operated briquetting machine using sawdust and corn starch as binder. This

was achieved by mixing 30ml, 40ml, and 50ml of corn starch with 100g, 150g and 200g

of sawdust with 75ml, 100ml, and 125ml of water in different combinations for

agglomeration to produce the briquettes. The briquettes were evaluated in terms of

calorific value, boiling time, fuel consumption rate, fuel efficiency and cooking

efficiency. The results showed that as the volume of the binder increases there was a

decrease in the boiling time and fuel consumption rate while there was an increase in

calorific value, fuel efficiency and cooking efficiency. Bam, et. al., (2015), concluded

from the foregoing that: (i) Cassava, Guinea-corn and Maize additives improve the

properties of River Benue foundry sand with cassava and Maize showing more response.

(ii) It is better to use liquid starch (boil in hot water) gelatinized condition than using the

flour directly. (iii) That these additives increase the dry compressive strength, shatter

index and plasticity. (iv) That these additives decrease the permeability, expansion and

refractoriness. Cuaresma (2015), stated that starch is the most common binder though it

is usually expensive. It doesn't have to be 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.
Methodology

1. Procurement of Materials

Sawdust was collected at a furniture shop located at Pinzon Subdivision, San

Fabian, Echague, Isabela. Corn starch was purchased at the public market of Echague,

Isabela. The briquetting machine used was designed and fabricated by Dr. Joel M.

Alcaraz, former dean of the College of Engineering, Isabela State University, Echague,

Isabela.

2. Processing Operation

a. Preparation of Raw Materials

The collected sawdust was sifted to remove the unwanted materials such as

stones, leaves, twigs, wood chips and etc.

b. Preparation of Binder

The binder was gelatinized by cooking it with water in equal weight of the

sawdust. The percentage of binders that was used were 20%, 25%, and 30% by weight of

the sawdust.

c. Mixing

The gelatinized corn starch and sawdust were mixed manually. The time was

monitored to ensure its consistency. One (1) kg of sawdust was mixed with one (1) liter

of water.
 d. Briquetting

The production of the briquettes was done at the Equipment Manufacturing

Cluster (EMC) using the briquetting machine designed and fabricated by Dr. Joel M.

Alcaraz.

e. Drying

The briquettes were sun dried for fourteen (14) days due to rains.

3. Data Gathering

The data gathered were as follows: a. Briquette Quality The quality of briquettes

was evaluated by determining the following:

a. 1. Moisture Content. It is the quantity of water contained in the sawdust

briquettes. It computed using the formula where: Moisture Content = Wi-Wf Wi -x 100

Wi= initial weight of the briquette, kg Wf= final weight of the briquette, kg

a. 2. Density. The density of the briquettes was determined immediately after

sun drying. The mass was obtained using a digital weighing scale,while the volume was

determined using the Digital Vernier Caliper. It was calculated using the formula where:

D= M D= density of the briquette, kg/m³ M= mass of the briquette, kg V= volume of the

briquette, m³

a. 3. Compressive Strength. The compressive strength of the briquettes was

observed using a Universal Testing Machine (UTM).

The burning performance of the briquettes was evaluated in terms of kindling

time, time to boil a 500 mL of water, burning duration, odor, smoke, and quality of flame

using ordinary charcoal stove.

b.1. Kindling Time

The kindling time was recorded by the time the briquettes were ignited until a

sustainable fire or flame and no smoke was observed. The briquettes were ignited using

seven (7) pieces of bond paper with equal sizes.

b.2. Boiling Time

Using an ordinary charcoal stove, the initial temperature of the water was

recorded and monitored until it reached its boiling point. The recording of the time was

started when the briquettes were sufficiently kindled and then the Pyrex beaker was

placed on the stove up to the time when the water started to boil and the thermometer

reached 100°C.

b.3. Burning Duration

The time was recorded the moment the sawdust briquettes started to blaze until it

extinguished and nothing was left but ashes.

b.4. Smoke, Odor, and Flame Color

The smoke, odor, and flame color were observed when the briquettes were

ignited until they extinguished.

In this study, the data gathered were analysed using Analysis of Variance

(ANOVA) in a Completely Randomized Design (CRD) single factorial experiment.