Development and Characterization of Briquettes made from Unsalable Banana Peel Wastes: A Preliminary Evaluation

Abstract

This study aims to evaluate and characterize the potential use of bio-briquette made from banana peel waste as an alternative energy source. For the binding and mixing procedures, the study used three treatments utilizing banana starch as binder agent at predetermined proportions. During the evaluation and characterization, it was found that the moisture content ranges from 71% to 75% and there was no significance difference (P-Value=1). The compressive strength of the briquettes produced ranges from 38.01 MPa to 38.39 MPa. Furthermore, the ignition time were 14.79±0.51s, 16.95±1.07s and 18.78±0.03s and there was no significance difference (P-Value=1). Additionally, the fracturability were 9.8+1.78, 14.00+1.63 and 14.90+ 1.66 and there was no significance difference (P-Value=1). The result shows that developed bio-briquettes using banana wastes are potential for production and utilization and can replace the existing and available renewable energy sources in the market. The developed briquettes are suitable for domestic and industrial use.