PRODUCTION OF BRIQUETTE FROM BIOMASS USING CASSAVA STARCH AS A BINDER

PRODUCTION OF BRIQUETTE FROM BIOMASS USING CASSAVA STARCH AS A BINDER

CHAPTER ONE

1.0       INTRODUCTION

1.1       Background of the Study

 Agricultural waste (by-products) management during processing is one of the most serious rural-urban environmental problems in developing countries. Several tonnes of agricultural by-products such as groundnut shell, sugar cane baggasse, rice husk, maize stalk, palm kernel shell and others are generated in Nigeria annually which constitute environmental hazard and when burnt off result in air pollution. The average tonnage of excess baggasse produced per year is over 24,000 tons.(Kaur, Kumar, Singh, & Kundu, 2017)By-products from Agricultural processing can be transformed into more useful products like briquettes, which provide important alternative sources of energy for domestic use (cooking fuel). It is noted that wood in form of fuel wood and charcoal constituted the major source of renewable energy accounting for about 51% of the total energy consumption in Nigeria. Others include natural gas (5.2%), hydroelectricity (3.1%) and petroleum products (41.3%) However, the decreasing availability of wood, coupled with the ever rising cost of kerosene and cooking gas in Nigeria is forcing energy users to consider alternative sources of energy for domestic uses. One energy source that could find ready utilization is the fuel briquette(Grover & Mishra, 1996b). Uses of biomass fuel such as composite sawdust briquette have been found to be a good source of renewable energy for domestic cooking. In seventeenth century, the rural poor often burn dried cow dung because of the acute shortage of wood fuel and wide spread deforestation. The conversion of Agricultural by-products, wood waste and coal dust to high energy value briquettes for cooking and drying have been investigated and found to be feasible.(Grover & Mishra, 1996b)

1.2       Problem Statement

Solid waste management is one of the major problems in Nigeria. This is not only found in the urban areas but also at the rural areas. The major waste generated at the rural areas is agricultural waste or residue (crop by-product). Despite this level of waste generation of fuel for heating, cooking and other purposes is a huge problem; hence the rural folks rely on wood fuel and charcoal.(Grover & Mishra, 1996b). The realization that deforestation and wood fuel shortages are likely to become serious problems in Nigeria has turned attention to other types of biomass fuel. In 1992 it was estimated that about 1.5 million hectares of forest remained in Nigeria, with high rate of deforestation.

Agricultural residues are, in principle, one of the major sources.(Grover & Mishra, 1996a) The use of briquetting for conversion of agricultural residues is comparatively recent, however, and has only been taken up in developing countries in the last few years. Main agricultural residues that are produced are saw dust, coconut shell, groundnut shell, jatropha husk, sugarcane baggase, palm nut shell, rice husk, maize cob and cotton stem. Beside the problem of transportation, storage and operation, open burning of this bio waste with traditional style without control can cause critical air pollution.(Grover & Mishra, 1996a) The use of biomass therefore does not contribute to a buildup of CO2 in the atmosphere. Hence the need at the moment in the densification of this agricultural waste in developing countries is the development of an appropriate briquetting machine suitable to the local communities. For biomass to make a significant impact as fuel for rural communities, it is imperative that an efficient, cost effective and easy to duplicate technology is developed specifically for rural communities..(Moral & Rahman, 2001)

1.3       Aims and Objectives

The aim of this project research is to develop an alternative fuel from biomass using saw dust, rice husk, and groundnut shell using starch as binder through the following objectives;

• To produce and process optimization of briquettes from different agricultural waste with suitable binder.
• To determine the strength, properties and characterization of biomass briquettes.
• To provide manufacturers with an improved technology to turn agricultural and forest residues into a suitable fuel for industrial and institutional use.

1.4       Significance of the Study

This study can give information about the potential of agricultural wastes as a source of making biomass briquettes. In response to the growing concern about the hateful effect of burning biomass residue which causes pollution in the society, this study focuses on the production of biomass briquettes from saw dust, rice husks and groundnut shells. The successes of this study will confirm the efficiency of biomass briquette and the fuel property.

1.5       Scope and Limitations This study will utilize the biomass residue which is collected from the biomass residue dump unit as the raw material for the production of biomass briquette. The analysis of the sample will be done in Nigeria Institute of Leather and Science Technology, Zaria, in Kaduna state. This project will focus on the physical properties, efficiency and the moisture content of the biomass briquette produced. Also this study will be conducted as a lab study, and if successful it will be proceed for large-scale production.