Biomass: Turning Agricultural Waste to Green Power

Abstract

People have an essential need of energy to cook. Presently, in developing countries, this requirement is met by directly burning wood derived products in fires and stoves. Many of the developing countries produce huge quantities of agro residues but they are used inefficiently causing extensive pollution to the environment. In rural areas, areca leaves are usually cut and dumped at the bottom of the areca trees or used as temporary roofing material. In order to explore the significance of areca leaf as an alternative for fuel, in this experimental work, areca sheet briquettes were prepared using size of 1700μ and above with sawdust as additives and wheat flour as binder. The various parameters of areca sheet briquettes were established using IS1448-7 for finding the GCV as well as proximate and ultimate analysis using IS 1350. According to the test results of the analysis, briquettes of areca sheet of 1700μ and above with sawdust as additive exhibited gross calorific value of 14.82MJ/kg. The moisture content is 5.37% and the percentage content of ash, volatile matter, and fixed carbon was 13.97%, 78.88%, and 2.48%, respectively. The percentage content of hydrogen, nitrogen, sulphur, and oxygen from the ultimate analysis are 6.67%, 0.52%, 0.60%, and 18.48%, respectively. The results thus obtained were then compared with the commercially available saw dust briquettes and the comparison results were quiet satisfactory. Hence, it can be concluded that briquettes produced from areca sheets of 1700μ and above, with sawdust as additive would make a good biomass briquette.