Ultimate Analysis of Charcoal Briquette Produced using Banana and Locust Bean Peels as Binders

Abstract

This study aims to evaluate the ultimate analysis of charcoal dust briquette (CCD), banana peels (BNP) and locust bean peels (LBP) as sustainable alternatives to conventional fuels. The objective of this work is to analyse the ultimate (composition) of the briquettes. The study involved producing charcoal dust briquettes with varying concentrations of BNP and LBP as binders, followed by detailed analysis of their composition. The methodology entailed the preparation of the briquettes from charcoal dust (CCD) with BNP and LBP as binders in different ratios. The ultimate analysis assessed elemental composition including the percentage of carbon, hydrogen, nitrogen, oxygen, and sulphur content and their average values are: 57.4% ± 3.9% (BNP) and 58.6% ± 1.8% (LBP), 5.4% ± 0.7% (BNP) and 4.7% ± 1.7% (LBP), 4.1% ± 1.3% (BNP) and 4.8% ± 1.6% (LBP), 26.9% ± 4.2 % (BNP) and 26.2% ± 4.2% (LBP) and 6.1% ± 2.5% (BNP) and 5.7% ± 3.0% (LBP) respectively. The ultimate analysis revealed higher carbon content and energy potential in LBP briquettes, making them a more viable alternative for energy production.  LBP-based briquettes demonstrate significant advantages over BNP-based briquettes in terms of energy content and performance. The produced samples are not suitable for domestic application but rather industrial usage were sulphur and Nitrogen capture mechanism as in place to reduce the release of such oxides to the atmosphere. The study recommends prioritizing LBP in briquette production and further optimizing the briquette manufacturing process to enhance quality and efficiency. There is a need for further studies on the cause of high sulphur and nitrogen content and the variation of pressure, particle size distribution, and densification temperature.