Investigation on the Effects of Addition of Binder and Particle Size on the High Calorific Value of Solid Biofuel Briquettes

The effects of biomass particle size and addition of binder on the high calorific values (HCVs) of five (5) selected biomass briquettes is studied. Analyses of the experimental results show that finely grinded particles (about 1.75mm and 2.00mm) had low calorific values as the grinding resulted in a loss of some heat and made the sample vulnerable to air oxidation.Addition of gum Arabic binder greatly inceases the high calorific value of all samples followed by starch and top-glue binder tend to decerease the HCVs for the range of biomass tested in the order 25.3201> 23.2985>20.0023 respectively.Thus indicating gum Arabic and starch improves the caloric value while top glue and polyvinyl Chloride (PVC) decreases the calorific value of the samples. An extensive investigation on the PVC dissolved in Toluene compound(organic) as chemical binder was observed to decrease the calorific values of all the briquette samples except those made of coconut shell and rice husk. Keywords: Biomass, Biofuel, Binder, Briquette, High heating value