Abstract

This study was carried out to evaluate the physical and thermal characteristics of briquettes made from a mixture of paper pulp and Mesua ferrea leaves. Paper pulp/ground Mesua ferrea leaves mixtures prepared were of 80–20%, 60–40%, 50–50% ratio and 100–0% mixture which served as a reference briquette. The mixtures were densified at a room temperature of 28 °C under three different compression pressures; 5.1, 10.2, and 15.3 MPa. The characteristics of the briquette samples were assessed in terms of moisture content, density, shatter index and calorific value. The findings revealed the following range of values for all samples; moisture content (5.55–12.33%), density (0.24–0.37 g/cm³), shatter index (79.18–99.9%), and calorific values (15.77–18.99 MJ/kg). Specifically, 100–0% briquettes yielded the highest moisture content and the lowest calorific value as expected. In contrast, the 50–50% briquettes yielded the lowest moisture content, highest calorific value and lowest shatter index. The quality of these briquettes was found to be comparable to biomass briquettes produced from other agricultural waste. The novel contribution of this study was the use of garden waste to develop briquettes with appropriate physical and thermal qualities that could serve as alternate fuel sources for local applications.

摘要

本研究旨在评估由纸浆和 Mesua ferrea 叶子混合物制成的煤球的物理和热特性。制备的纸浆/磨碎的 Mesua ferrea 叶子混合物具有 80-20%、60-40%、50-50% 的比例和 100-0% 的混合物，用作参考型煤。混合物在 28 °C 的室温和三种不同的压缩压力下进行致密化；5.1、10.2 和 15.3 兆帕。根据含水量、密度、破碎指数和热值来评估型煤样品的特性。调查结果揭示了所有样本的以下值范围；水分含量（5.55–12.33%），密度（0.24–0.37 g/cm ³)、破碎指数 (79.18–99.9%) 和热值 (15.77–18.99 MJ/kg)。具体而言，100-0% 的煤球产生了预期的最高水分含量和最低热值。相比之下，50-50% 煤球的含水量最低，发热量最高，破碎指数最低。发现这些煤球的质量可与其他农业废物生产的生物质煤球相媲美。这项研究的新颖贡献是利用花园废物开发具有适当物理和热质量的煤球，可以作为当地应用的替代燃料来源。