Development Of A Low Cost Biomass Briquetting Machine For Rural Communities.

ABSTRACT

The demand for energy is becoming a critical challenge for the world as the population continues

to grow. This calls for Sustainable energy production and supply such as renewable energy

technologies. Renewable energy technologies are safe sources of energy that have a much lower

environmental impact than conventional energy technologies. In this paper, the sawdust briquette

machine is designed. Sawmill waste is a big problem especially in urban cities in Nigeria. These

wastes are burnt openly which is causing environmental pollution. The wastes can be converted to

wealth thereby providing jobs for many unemployed citizens. This paper deals with the design and

fabrication of a briquetting machine, the machine is successfully tested and briquettes has been

produced using cas;ava starch as binder and Ash. The sawdust and cassava starch briquettes are

produced by manually operated piston press with the use of hydraulic jack. The strength of

briquettes is investigated by the compression, combustion, durability tests and also the water

boiling test, the cassava starch is blended with the sawdust and Ash in the ratio of 80: 15:5 (sawdust:

cassava starch: Ash). This study shows that sawdust, Ash with cassava starch as binding agent has considerably increased the strength of the briquettes.