Shri AMM Murugappa Chettiar Research CentreTaramani, Chennai –600113.

December 2010

Booklet on

BIOMASS CHARCOAL BRIQUETTING

Technology For Alternative Energy Based Income Generation In Rural Areas

Title : BIOMASSCHARCOALBRIQUETTING TechnologyforAlternativeEnergyBased IncomeGenerationInRuralAreas

Authors : Dr.P.Sugumaran,ProgrammeOfficer Dr.S.Seshadri,Director(R&D) ShriAMMMurugappaChettiarResearchCentre, Taramani,Chennai600113. Email:energy@mcrc.murugappa.org Web:amm-mcrc.orgFinancialSupport: DST-CoresupportProgramme SEEDDivision-SP/RD/044/2007 DepartmentofScienceandTechnology(DST) MinistryofScience&Technology, Block-2,7thFloorC.G.OComplex, LodiRoad,NewDelhi-110003. Publisher : ShriAMMMurugappaChettiarResearchCentre, Taramani,Chennai600113. Email:energy@mcrc.murugappa.org Web:amm-mcrc.org Phone:044-22430937;Fax:044-22430369

Printedby : JRDesigning,PrintingandAdvertisement Solutions,Palavakkam,Chennai-600041. Ph.+91-9962391748 Email:info.jrdp@gmail.com

YearofPublishing: December2010

Contents

I. Introduction 2a. Whatischarcoal? 5b. Howitisprepared? 5c. Whatisbiomasscharcoalbriquetting? 5II. Biomasscharcoalbriquetteproduction 6III. Materialsandmethods 6IV. Materialsrequired 64.1. Biomasscollection 74.2. Carbonizationofbiomass 74.2.1FabricationofCharcoalkiln 74.2.2Carbonizationprocess 94.2.3 Charyield 104.3. Binderpreparationsandmixing 104.4. FabricationofBriquettingmachine 114.5. Briquetting 134.6. Drying,Packingandmarketing 134.8. BiomassBriquettesusedasalternativefuel 13V. Capitalinvestments 13VI. Costbenefitanalysis 14VII. Whowillgetbenefited 14VIII.Advantagesofthetechnology 15IX. CharcoalUses 15X. TechnologyTransfer 16

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Biomasscharcoalbriquetting-Analternativeenergybasedincomegenerationbyruralpeople

I.Introduction

Worldeconomyisdominatedbytechnologiesthatrelyonfossilenergy(petroleum,coal,naturalgas)toproducefuels,power,chemicalsandma-terials.Whiletheuseofconventionalenergylikeoil,coalandelectricityhasincreasedenormouslyinthelast25yearsinASEANeconomies,In-diastillimportscrudeoil&petroleumover111.92milliontonesperyear.This heavy dependence on imported oil leads to economic and socialuncertainties.Currentlythereisastrongworldwideinterestinthedevel-opmentoftechnologiesthatallowtheexploitationofrenewableenergysources,bothforenvironmental(releaseofpollutantsandfossilreservesdepletion)andeconomicalreasons.

Biomass, adomestic energy source isnaturallyabundant andpresentspromisingrenewableenergyopportunitythatcouldprovideanalterna-tivetotheuseoffossilresources.Biomassbeingthethirdlargestprimaryenergyresource in theworld,aftercoalandoil (Bapatetal.,1997), itstillmeetsamajorfractionoftheenergydemandinruralareasofmostdevelopingcountries.Inallitsforms,biomasscurrentlyprovidesabout1250million tonnes oil equivalent (mtoe) of primary energywhich isabout14%oftheworld’sannualenergyconsumption(Halletal.,1991;Wertheretal.,2000].Theuseofbiomassfeedstock(s)forthesubstitutionoffossilfuel(s)hasanadditionalimportancefromclimatechangecon-siderationsincebiomasshasthepotentialtobeCO2neutral.Anumberofresearchanddevelopmenteffortstowardstheconversionofrawbiomassfeedstocksintoimprovedqualityfuels(solid,liquidorgas)throughbio-logicalandthermo-chemicalconversionprocesseshavebeenmadeglob-allyinthelastthreedecades.

Thedecreasingavailabilityoffuelwoodinmostofthedevelopingcoun-trieshasnecessitatedtheeffortsbemadetowardsefficientutilizationofagricultural residues (Grover andMishra, 1996;Tripathi et al., 1998).Rawagriculturalresidueshavemanydisadvantagesasanenergyfeed-stock(Balatinecz,1983).Theseinclude(i)relativelylowcalorificvalue,(ii)difficultyincontrollingtherateofburning,(iii)difficultyinmecha-

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nizingcontinuousfeeding(iv)largevolumeorarearequiredforstorage,and(v),problemsinitstransportationanddistribution.Severalofthesedisadvantagesmaybeattributedtothelowbulkdensityofagriculturalresidueswhichcanbeconvertedintohighdensityfuelbriquettes(Bio-mass charcoal briquettes).Charcoal is a premium fuelwidely used inmany developing countries tomeet household aswell as a variety ofotherneed(Goldstein,1981;Demirbas,2001).Recentimprovementsintechnologyforcharcoalbriquettesproductionwithincreasedefficiencyhasrenewedtheinterestintheuseofcharcoalbriquettesasafuelthatcanbeeasilystoredandtransported(SugumaranandSeshadri,2009).

Agricultural residues constitute one of the important biomass feedstocksinIndia.Ingeneraltheagriculturalresiduescanbedividedintotwogroups;cropresiduesandagro-industrialresidues.ThemajorcropresiduesproducedinIndiaarestrawsofpaddy,wheat,millet,sorghum,pulses,oilseedcrops;maizestalksandcobs;cottonandmustardstalk;jutesticks;sugarcanetrash;leaves;fibrousmaterials;roots;branchesandtwigswithofsizes,shapes,formsanddensities.Theagro-industrialresi-duesarericehusk,groundnutshell,cottonwaste,coconutshell,coirpith,tamarind shell,mustard husk, coffee husk,Cassava peel etc. Someofthecommonagriculturalby-productsavailableinlargequantitiesincludebagasse,ricehusk,groundnutshell,teawaste,Casuarinaleaflitter,silkcotton shell, cottonwaste, oil palmfiber and shells, cashewnut shell,coconutshell,coirpith(Iyeretal.,2002;SugumaranandSeshadri,2009)etc.

MCRCworkingonseveraltechnologieshasdevelopedandexpertiseinbiomasscharcoalbriquetting technologyover thepast fewyears.Thistechnologycanprovetobeoneamongthesolutionsforsupplementingthefuelrequirementsandsocio-economicdevelopmentoftheruralareasbyprovidingemployment toruralpeople. It iscosteffective,environ-mentfriendlyandimproveourairquality,andsupportruraleconomies.Atthesametime,thenaturalforestwouldalsobesaved.Bio-charpro-ductionprogrammecould lead toestablishmentofnewsmallemploy-mentorientedbusinessesinruralareasandraisingtheincomeofpeopleengagedinsuchactivities.

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a.Whatischarcoal?

Charcoalistheblackishresidueconsistingofimpurecarbonobtainedbyremovingwaterandothervolatileconstituentsfromanimalandvegeta-tionsubstances.

b.Howitisprepared?

Charcoal is usually produced by slowpyrolysis, the heating ofwood,bonechar,orotheragriculturalsubstancesintheabsenceofoxygenen-vironmentat450°-510°Cbyusingeitherinakilnoracontinuously-fedfurnacecalledaretort.Theresultingsoft,brittle,lightweight,black,po-rousmaterialresemblescoalandis85%to98%carbonwiththeremain-derconsistingofvolatilechemicalsandash.

c.Whatisbiomasscharcoalbriquetting?

Briquettingis theprocessofconvertinglowbulkdensitybiomassintohighdensityandenergyconcentratedfuelbriquettes.

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II.Biomasscharcoalbriquetteproduction

ThebiomasscharcoalbriquettingtechnologydevelopedatMCRCusesamodifiedkilnandabriquettingmachinethatcanbefabricatedlocallytoproduceBio-charfromvariousbiomasssamples.Thetechnologyin-volvesuseofacosteffectivebindertopreparethebriquettes.

III.Materialsandmethods

Briquettingprocess

Materialsrequired

1.Biomasswaste-Agricultural,industrialorforest

2.Charcoalkiln/drum(150cmx100cm)

3.Briquettingmachine(15kg/hr)

4.Bindingmaterials(eg.starchorcassavaflour)

Biomass collection

Drying

Carbonization

Preparation of Char powder

Binder preparation & Mixing

Briquettes production

Drying & Packing

Marketing

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4.1.Biomasscollection

Collectdifferenttypeofwastebiomasssuchaspaddy,wheat,millet,sor-ghum,pulses,oilseedcrops;maizestalksandcobs;cottonandmustardstalk;jutesticks;sugarcanetrash;leavesorindustrialwastessuchasricehusk,groundnut shell, cottonwaste, coconut shell, coirpith, tamarindshell,mustardhusk,coffeehusk,Cassavapeel,bagasse,teawaste,Ca-suarinaleaflitter,silkcottonshell,cottonwaste,oilpalmfiberandshells,cashewnutshell,coconutshell,coirpithorcommonlyavailableplantslikeProsopistwigs,Ipomoeastem,Lantanacamarastem,coconutfronds,Eucalyptusleavesanddryundersunlight.

4.2.Carbonizationofbiomass

4.2.1FabricationofCharcoalkiln

The largesize-charringkilnordrumisaportablecylindricalstructurewiththetopcutouttoplacethechimney.Thedrumsizeisabout100cmheightand150cmwidthmadeupof16gaugeironsheets.Inthelowerside,twofireportswithadoor(12”heightx20”width)areprovided.Abovethefiringportionanironperforatedsheetwithholesisfixed.Thebottomsideofthedrumisclosedwithironsheetsandprovidedwith4legs(seetheschematicdiagram).

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Advantagesofthekiln

Easy to operate and maintain; easily viewable during carbonization;highercharyield&lessertimeofoperation;Costeffective;Savesextrabiomass

4.2.2Carbonizationprocess

Separate the biomassinto stems, leaves andfruitsandcut them intoshort pieces. Use eachwastes separately forcarbonization.

For carbonization,looselypackthecollect-edbiomassintothekiln.Thekilnwillaccommo-date ~ 100kg dry bio-mass.After loading thebiomass into the kiln,closethetopofthekilnwith metal lid attachedto a conical chimney.Use little amount ofbiomass in the firingportion to ignite in thekilnandclosethedoorstightlytostartthepyrol-ysis process. In the ab-senceofair,theburningprocess is slow and thefire slowly spreads tothebiomassthroughtheholes in the perforatedsheets.

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4.2.3Charyield

Afterthebiomassgetsfullycarbonized(~1-2hrs;dependinguponthebiomass),removethelidandsprinklewateroverthechar.Usetheresul-tantcharpowderforpreparationofbriquettes.Thoughthecarbonizationprocessproduces@30-45%charpowderonanaverage,thecharyieldvariesaccordingtothebiomassused.

4.3.Binderpreparationsandmixing

Abinder isused for strengthening thebriquettes.Thecarbonizedcharpowdercanbemixedwithdifferentbinderssuchascommercialstarch,ricepowder,ricestarch(riceboiledwater)andothercosteffectivemate-rialslikeclaysoilandmixedindifferentproportionsandshapedwiththehelp of briquettingmachine.

For preparation ofbindingmaterialaddstarchtowaterintheratio of 10:1 and al-low it to dispersewithout any clumps.Then heat the solu-tion for 10 minutesanddonotallowittoboil (the final stagecan be identified bythe stickiness of the

Binder preparation

Binder mixing

Charcoal powder

Solution adding

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solution).Afterboiling,pourthetheliquidsolutionontothecharpowderandmixtoensurethateveryparticleofcarbonizedchariscoatedwiththebinder.Thisprocessenhancescharcoaladhesionandproduceidenti-calbriquettes.

4.4.FabricationofBriquettingmachine

Ameatmincermould(ModelNo.32)alongwitha1HPelectricmotorfit-tedappropriatelyisusedasabriquettingmould.Thebriquettingmachineisdividedintotwodifferentportionssuchaslowerandupperportions.

Thelowerportionisfittedwitha1HPsingle-phaseelectricmotorfixedonaflatplatform.Theupperportionhasthebriquettingmould(modelno32,cylindricaltype;10kg/hr)fixedontoawoodenplateplaced1ft.abovethelowerplatform.Boththeplatesarefixedonironanglesandcoveredfullyusingstainlesssteel sheets. Themotor and the bri-quetting mould areconnected using awheel and V-belt.To control the mo-tor,apowerindica-tor and a 5 Ampsswitchwereprovid-ed in the front sideof the briquettingmachine (see theschematicdiagram).

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4.5.Briquetting

Thecharcoalmixturewithbindercanbemadeintobriquetteseitherman-uallyorusingmachines.Forthemechanicaloperation,loadthemixturedirectlyintothebriquettingmould/machinetoformuniform-sizedcy-lindricalbriquettes.

4.6. Drying, Packing and mar-keting

Collectthebriquettesinatray,drytheminsunlightfor2or3daysandpacktheminsealedplasticbagsforsale.

4.8. Biomass Briquettes used asalternativefuel

Charcoal briquettes can be usedas fuel in rural houses for cook-ing, laundering and in boilers inteashopsandTtandoorChulhas insmallhotels.

Cooking tests conducted usinga non-pressurized cooker (Saraicooker,ARTI)showsthat200-250gofbriquettesisenoughtocookfoodinabout45-60minutes.Theheatwasstablefor2hours.Feedbacksur-veyconductedatThiruvidanthai,Kovalam,MahabalipuramandnearbyvillagesinTamilnaduindicatethatthebiomasscharcoalbriquettesshowshigherenergy,quickheatinginlesstimewithlesssmokeandcomparabletothewoodcharcoal.

V.Capitalinvestments 1.Charcoalkilnwithchimney1nos.~Rs.20,000/- (Size:150cmwidthx100cmheight) 2.Briquettingmachine1no-~Rs.20,000/- (Model:prototype,1hpmotor,10kg/hr) TotalinvestmentmaximumRs.40,000/-only

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VII.Whowillgetbenefited• Un-employedpeopleinruralareas• Selfhelpgroups(SHGs)-men&women’s• Farmers• Ruralenterprises

VI.Costbenefitanalysis

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VIII.Advantagesofthetechnology

1. Smokeless:Thecharcoalbriquettesburnwithoutmuchsmokeduringignitionandburning.

2. LowAshcontent:Minimumresidualashformedislessthan5%oftheoriginalweightofthecharcoal.

3. Calorificvalue:~6243.58Kcal/Kg (woodcharcoal -6592.52Kcal/Kg).

4. Odourless:Containsminimumevaporativesubstancesthuseliminat-ingthepossibilityofodour.

5. Sparkless:Nosparksareproducedlikewoodcharcoal.

6. Lesscrack&betterstrength:Helpsburnforalongertime.

IX.CharcoalUses

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X.TechnologyTransfer

ThetechnologyonBiomasscharcoalbriquettesproductioncanbetrans-ferred to unemployed people in rural areas and rural entrepreneurs.MCRCcanprovidenecessaryassistanceinsetting-upofaBiomasschar-coalbriquettesproductionfacility.However,theendusershouldunder-takemarketstudyattheirowncostandestablishtheirownmarket.

ForMoreInformation,Contact:

ShriAMMMurugappaChettiarResearchCentre(MCRC)Taramani,Chennai600113Fax:+91-44-22430369

Email:energy@mcrc.murugappa.orgWeb:www.amm-mcrc.org

References

1. AntalMJ,GrønliM. Theart, science, and technologyof charcoalproduction.Ind.Eng.Chem.Res.2003;42:1619-1640.

2. BalatineczJJ.Thepotentialofdensificationinbiomassutilization.In:CoteWA,editor.Biomassutilization.London:PlenumPress;1983.p.181–9.

3. BapatDW,KulkarniSV,BhandarkarVP.Designandoperatingexpe-rienceonfluidizedbedboilerburningbiomassfuelswithhighalkaliash.In:PretoFDS,editor.Proceedingsofthe14thinternationalcon-ferenceonfluidizedbedcombustion,VancouverASME,NewYork,NY,1997.p.165–74.

4. BardE.ExtendingtheCalibratedRadiocarbonRecord.Science,2001;292:2443-2444.

5. BudavariS.MerckIndex.WhitehouseStation,NJ:Merck.1996;1316.

6. ElmenhorstWR.Kilnfordryingandrevivifyingboneblack.USPat-ent.1880;235:942

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7. GroverPD,MishraSK.Biomassbriquettingtechnologyandpractic-es.FoodandAgricultureOrganization(FAO),UNDocument,No.46;1996.

8. HallDO,Rosillo-CalleF,WoodsJ.Biomass,itsimportanceinbalanc-ingCO2budgets.In:GrassiG,CollinaA,ZibettaH,editors.Biomassforenergy, industryandenvironment,6thE.C.conferenceElsevierScience,London,1991.p.89–96.

9. SmisekM,CernyS.ActiveCarbonManufacture,PropertiesandApplications,ElsevierPub.,Comp.,NewYork.1970;562-563.

10.SugumaranP,SeshadriS.Evaluationofselectedbiomassforcharcoalproduction.J.Sci.Indu.Res.2009;68(8):719-723.

11.Tripathi AK, Iyer PVR, Kandpal TC. A techno-economic evalua-tionofbiomassbriquettinginIndia.BiomassBioenergy1998;14(5–6):479–88.

12.WertherJ,SaengerM,HartgeE-U,OgadaT,SiagiZ.Combustionofagriculturalresidues.Prog.EnergyCombust.Sci.2000;26(1):1–27.

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Photographs

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Trainingprogrammephotos

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ForMoreInformation,Contact:

ShriAMMMurugappaChettiarResearchCentre(MCRC)Taramani,Chennai-600113.Fax:+91-44-22430369

Email:energy@mcrc.murugappa.orgWeb:www.amm-mcrc.org