Use of Blends Containing Different Proportions of Straw and Sugarcane Bagasse for the Production of Briquettes

Abstract

Briquettes and pellets can be an option to produce biofuels made by agricultural residues compression. Therefore, this study aims at provide the characterization of the briquettes made by different residual concentrations of sugar bagasse and straw. Concerning this, we determined rapid analysis and mechanical resistance. Our mechanical test determined the briquettes resistance and friability. The results showed better characteristics of bagasse for briquettes formation, such as lower ash and higher fixed carbon content. Considering the compression resistance, the sugar cane bagasse briquettes in a high concentration had better results. Besides, these briquettes were more resistance to break on the tumbling test. However, briquettes produced with both residues showed feasible results. Thus, the use of blends can be a viable alternative for the use of sugarcane residues.Keywords: Biomass; bioenergy; compression; technological property; wastes. ResumoA produção de briquetes e pellets pode ser uma forma de obtenção de biocombustíveis a partir da compactação de resíduos vegetais. O objetivo deste trabalho foi caracterizar a qualidade de briquetes produzidos a partir de blendas de bagaço e palha da cana-de-açúcar. Determinou-se a análise imediata e a resistência mecânica. Os resultados mostraram que o bagaço e a palha apresentaram diferente comportamento no processo de briquetagem, tendo o bagaço melhores características primordiais para formação de briquetes (como menor teor de cinzas e maior teor de carbono fixo). Nos testes mecânicos, os briquetes produzidos com maiores proporções de bagaço (75 % e 100 %) apresentaram melhores resultados de resistência à compressão além de demonstrarem maior resistência à quebra no teste de tamboramento. Concluiu-se que o uso de palha da cana para a produção de briquetes só se torna viável na composição mista. O uso de blendas pode ser uma alternativa viável para o aproveitamento dos resíduos de cana-de-açúcar.

Empirical Studies on Biomass Briquette Production: A Literature Review

“…It is worth mentioning that it is common among researchers to keep some of their production variables fixed, while other parameters have varied in levels to assess their influence on the final properties of the briquettes. This can be seen in the work of Araújo et al [26]; Kpalo et al [29]; Mendoza Martinez et al [13] and Masullo et al [34].…”

“…This process seeks to obtain a fuel with the combination of the best physical and chemical characteristics that each component has [32,33]. Masullo et al [34] for example, used sugarcane bagasse and straw, whose moisture content before briquetting was 12% and observed that the briquettes with a higher proportion of straw showed an increase in the content of moisture after densification, reaching 13.3%. This result indicated the need to reduce the percentage of sugarcane straw in the final composition of the briquettes.…”

“…Despite the diversity of materials composing the briquettes, most of the research made use of hydraulic presses (manual, automated, bench and experimental). As the model in Figure 4, used in at least three of the works [34,40,46]. Piston presses, screw extruders and others were also used.…”

“…According to Table 1, it is possible to observe that the authors who used hydraulic presses had pressure as a common input variable. When it was not possible to measure the pressure, the load in tons responsible for compressing the briquettes was given, as reported Nwabue, Unah and Itumoh [31] and Masullo et al [34]. Despite these patterns, the relationship between process variables, briquetting equipment, raw material and other elements of briquette production is not obvious, as will be discussed throughout this literature review.…”

“…Table 4 shows the levels of biomass that delivered the highest calorific value per briquette. Only the search for Masullo et al [34] did not assess her briquettes for calorific value, but for physical-mechanical characteristics. They came to the conclusion that the 75:25 ratio of bagasse and sugarcane straw, respectively, was the best mixing ratio for their briquettes.…”