Heat Energy From Value-Added Sawdust Briquettes Of Albizia Zygia

Abstract

Sawdust accumulation and disposal at the various sawmills have always created an environmental problem. From some sawmills along Eleweran, Abeokuta the sawdust of a major hardwood species, Albizia zygia was singled out and collected during conversion at the head rig. The sawdust collected in 30 livestock feed sacs were later transported to Celina Industries where they were densified into briquettes at a pressure of 2000MPa at 4500C and heat intensity of 300% for the production of heat energy and a comparative analysis of the physical properties between the sawdust briquettes and the solid wood of the same species were carried out. The results obtained showed that the briquettes produced using 100% sawdust of Albizia zygia had a lower moisture content of 7.10% than the solid wood (23.76%) of the same species. Also, the heat value and the percentage dry matter of the briquettes were 4.723Kcal-1 and 92.90% respectively which were much higher than the values obtained for the heat value (4.014Kcal-1) and percentage dry matter (76.24%) of the solid wood of the same species. It was concluded that stable briquettes with higher calorific value can be produced from the sawdust of Albizia zygia.