Carbonization effect on EFB briquettes prepared with different type of binders

Biomass energy is gaining public interest as a result of the environmental impacts and depletion of fossil fuel resources. Thus, biomass briquettes have emerged as an attractive option due to its huge renewable energy potential. The biomass briquettes are used for thermal applications because it can produce complete combustion as it has consistent quality and high burning efficiency. However, the quality of the briquettes can be added by application of carbonization treatment method. Carbonization of biomass is a waste treatment process in which a biomass is heated in an oxygen-free or oxygen-limited environment. In this study, carbonized EFB was blended with binders and densified into briquettes. The mixing ratio of binders to carbonize EFB were fixed at 20%. The effect of the carbonization treatment on the briquette properties and combustion characteristics was studied through proximate and ultimate analysis while high heating value (HHV) was analyses by using bomb calorimeter. To explore the potential of carbonized EFB briquettes, the results were compared to untreated EFB briquettes. Results indicate briquette TS2 as the optimum formulation since it owned moderate physicochemical properties. In addition, the briquette had highest HHV of 23.62 MJ/kg which is approximately 30% higher than briquette prepared from untreated EFB. Overall, carbonized EFB blended with tapioca starch was found to improve the briquette quality and enhance the possibility to use as syngas production.