Investigation of physical and thermal properties of fuel briquettes made of bagasse

Abstract

Biomass densification, which is also known as briquetting of sawdust and other agro residues, has been practiced for many years in several countries. The purpose of the present study was to produce fuel briquettes using heat-dried bagasse and to improve their physical properties and thermal value through using varying proportions of bagasse powder as the filler material and lignin as the natural binder. The results showed that lignin had a significant desirable effect on the entire properties of the prepared briquettes. In contrast, as a cellulose-based filler, bagasse powder was also able to significantly improve the thermal energy of the briquettes through increasing the briquettes’ density and mitigating porosity and moisture content. On this basis, according to the obtained results it can be stated that the process of heat-drying, using lignin as the binding element, and using cellulose-based powders, such as bagasse, as the filler are all suitable alternatives to increase the energy yielded by briquettes biomasses.