OPTIMIZATION OF CALORIFIC VALUE OF BRIQUETTES FROM MIXTURE OF RICE HUSK AND SAWDUST BIOMASS USING TAGUCHI APPROACH
Briquettes from biomass with higher calorific value is important towards the production of eco-friendly solid fuels. This study focuses on the optimization of calorific value of briquettes made from mixture of rice husk and sawdust biomass using Taguchi method. The rice husk and sawdust biomass were dried and carbonized in a muffle furnace at temperature of 270°c for an average of 20 mins. The carbonized feedstocks were sieved into 0.6, 0.8 and 1.0 mm particle sizes and further briquetted at 90:10, 80:20,70:30 rice husk to saw dusk mixing ratio and using 3 MPa, 4 MPa and 5 MPa compacting pressure. The result of the analysis showed that the effects of particle size, compacting pressure and mixing ratio on the calorific value were ranked 1, 2 and 3 in the order of effect. The optimal design gave a calorific value of 22826 J/g which represents a 27.76% increase relative to the worst original design of 17867 J/g. The use of catalyst during carbonization is recommended to improve the quality of better eco-friendly bio fuel briquettes.
Authors : U. C. Agomuo, A. M. Evuti, I. I. Ozigis and A. H. Abba
Category : Open Access Volume (Issue) : 5(2) Date Uploaded : 26th May 2020