Mechanical Handling Characteristics of Briquettes Produced from Water Hyacinth and Plantain Peel as Binder

Abstract

Aims: The effect of process variable on shattering index and compressive strength characteristics of the water hyacinth briquettes were evaluated. Methodology: The experimental design for this study was 5 x 3 x 4 Randomized Complete Block Design. This study involved three particle sizes of dried and ground water hyacinth (D 1, D 2, D 3) at levels 0.5, 1.6 and 4mm, pressure (P 1, P 2, P 3 , P 4) at level 3.0, 5.0, 7.0 and 9.0MPa with plantain peels were used as binder (B 1, B 2-B 3, B 4, B 5) in the ratio of 10, 20, 30 40 and 50% by weight of residue. They were arranged in Randomize Complete Block Design with three replications per experiment. Results: The shattering index and compressive strength of the briquettes produced from Research Article Davies and Abolude; JSRR, Article no. JSRR.2013.007 94 this densification variables competed favourably with charcoal. The mean shattering index ranged between 0.62±0.02 (B 1) to 0.96±0.01 (B 5) and variation of the values were significant (P