Assessment of briquettes produced from sugarcane residues

Abstract

In Uganda, sugarcane garden residues (peeling and leaves) have no commercial value yet are produced in very large numbers and the methods for their disposal are still a challenge. Waste from sugarcane garden residues is not readily bio-degradable and so this make its disposal challenging. One common disposal method is open burning which causes environmental pollution and enhancement of greenhouse gases. Other common house hold waste such as peelings from cassava could act as binding material in the development of briquettes. With the availability of these materials, it is important to find possible ways of converting them into sustainable energy using low technology to encourage households to make their own briquettes at a low cost. This study determines the potential of sugarcane peelings and leaves bio-char for briquettes and the effects of using food waste such as cassava peeling flour, sugar molasses and clay as a binder. The main objective of this study is to develop carbonized sugarcane residues briquettes using different organic waste binder material. These residues were carbonized in a step-down kiln at temperatures ranging between 400 °C – 500 °C to form the bio-char. The organic binders were mixed with the bio-char before they were compacted at a pressure <7Mpa into briquettes. The physical properties of these briquettes were obtained using Thermo gravimetric analysis and other characteristics such as determining the mechanical integrity using the drop strength method, and ability to cook determined by water boiling test. It was found that the dry sugarcane residues bio-char had a low ash content of about 11.8% which made the briquettes has a high ash content ranging from 7.8 to 26 %.