An Effect of Blending Ratio on Mechanical and Thermal Properties of the Sawdust-Cocoa Pod Briquettes

Abstract

The present work aims to utilize wastes of sawdust and cocoa pod as the raw materials of low pressure densified briquettes and to investigate an effect of blending ratio on mechanical and thermal properties of the briquettes. The weight ratio between sawdust and cocoa pod are 3:1 (SD75CP25), 1:1 (SD50CP50), and 1:3 (SD25CP75). The compaction process is performed at room temperature and under low compacting pressure of 0.1 MPa. The quality of the briquettes is evaluated in terms of their mechanical properties (relaxed density, stable density, water resistance index, and compressive strength), and their thermal properties (higher heating values). The results indicate that waste of sawdust and cocoa pod have the potential as the raw material of low pressure densified sawdust-cocoa pod briquettes. Based on the stable density and the higher heating value, the SD50CP50 briquette has the best properties in the present work. The stable density and the higher heating value of the SD50CP50 briquette are 452.74 kg/m3 and 16.34 MJ/kg, respectively. The values are comparable to the values of other densified briquettes obtained by other researchers.