Characterization of Biobriquettes Produced from Vineyard Wastes as a Solid Biofuel Resource

Abstract

The large amount of biomass waste generated by vineyard pruning causes many environmental concerns. The production of briquettes represents an alternative to obtaining a value-added product. The transformation of vineyard wastes into briquettes could produce a densified product having high energy potential. The study investigates the production and chemical, structural, and thermal characterization of briquettes. The thermogravimetric analysis (TGA) shows that the briquettes have different stages of decomposition depending on temperature, such as drying, heating, devolatilization, and char aggregation. All the briquettes are decomposed around 600 °C. The analysis by X-ray diffraction (XRD) shows the crystallinity of briquettes. The pollutant emissions resulted from briquettes burning were measured as 444.7 mg N−1m−1 nitrogen oxide (NOX), 157.0 mg N−1m−1 sulphur dioxide (SO2) and 2165.0 mg N−1m−1 carbon monoxide (CO). The flue gases are below the admitted limits, with the exception of carbon monoxide content due to the incomplete combustion and high lignin content. Therefore, it can be concluded that briquettes produced from vineyard wastes have similar properties to briquettes produced from wood. This study demonstrates the potential of the obtained briquettes to replace the wood or charcoal through a desulphurization method.