A Review of Technical and Economic Aspects of Biomass Briquetting

Abstract

Growing global demand and utilization of fossil fuels has elevated wealth creation, increased adverse impacts of climate change from greenhouse gases (GHGs) emissions, and endangered public health. In most developing countries, biomass wastes, which include but are not limited to agricultural residues, are produced in large quantities annually. They are either inefficiently used or disposed of indiscriminately, which threatens the environment. It is possible to convert these wastes, through densification, into high-density and energy-efficient briquettes. Densification of biomass into briquettes presents a renewable energy option as an alternative to fossil fuels. This paper reviews biomass briquetting with reference to biomass resources, feedstock pre-processing, briquetting process parameters, briquetting technology, and briquettes quality evaluation parameters. The review also includes the economic aspect of briquetting relating to costs and feasibility.

Knowledge, Attitude, and Practice Regarding Charcoal Consumption among Households in Sanaag Province, North-Eastern Somalia

“…Energy demands have increased significantly recently due to population and urbanization growth, and this has led to higher fuelwood and charcoal consumption [1]. Reports state that about 3 billion people globally rely on fuelwood or charcoal for their daily cooking activities, and these are mostly residents of the developing nations [2,3]. Charcoal is the dark grey residue consisting of carbon produced through a slow process of heating wood in the absence of oxygen otherwise known as pyrolysis [4].…”

Artisan Brick Kilns: State-of-the-Art and Future Trends

“…Bhutto et al [92] presents the pellets potential in Pakistan as renewable energy resources and examine the possibilities of adopting an efficient use of this biomass for brick kilns. Kpalo et al [93] report that the artisan brick industry is a good example of the use of carbonized (charcoal) and non-carbonized (pellets) biomass briquettes.…”

Binderless, All-Lignin Briquette from Black Liquor Waste: Isolation, Purification, and Characterization

“…Inevitable depletion of non-renewable and limited fossil fuel in the future, such as petroleum, coal, natural gas, etc., is an issue, since 80% of world’s energy generation was still dependent on the utilization of these fossil fuels [ 1 , 2 , 3 ]. The concern over this problem and advancing demand for energy with the increase of global human population and development of commercial and industrial activities, are raising awareness on the development of alternative energy source.…”

“…The concern over this problem and advancing demand for energy with the increase of global human population and development of commercial and industrial activities, are raising awareness on the development of alternative energy source. Application of rapidly generated byproducts like municipal solid waste or renewable resources such as biomass are some alternatives that were researched as fuel for energy generation in the future [ 1 ]. Some biomass, for example, spruce sawdust [ 4 ], water hyacinth [ 5 , 6 ], coffee residue [ 7 ], eucalyptus leaves [ 7 ], and lignin [ 8 ] was studied to be developed into fuel in previous studies.…”

“…Lignin is reported to be used as a binder in briquette application [ 1 , 2 , 19 , 20 , 21 , 22 ]. Previous research studies utilized lignin as a binder for anthracite-based briquette [ 23 ], organic municipal solid waste [ 24 ], and wood [ 4 , 25 ].…”