Briquettes & Pellets:

forms of solid fuel

biomass briquetting

What is Biomass Briquetting?

Fuel derived from compacting the biomass
into dense block is known as Briquette. It
is cheaper and requires no other raw
material and produce heat equivalent to
other fuel. Now a days biomass briquetting
is used by the same industries where the
low-density biomass is produced. Jute
waste, groundnut shell, coffee husk, coir
pith and rice husk is used for Briquetting.
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to fight the deforestation

To reduce the dependence
of the forest as a
resource for energy, the
Dept of Energy (DoE) in
Malawi [Africa]
launched a project
called Promotion of
Alternative Energy
Sources Programme
(PAESP) in 2006, to
encourage the use of
energy sources other
than firewood and
charcoal.

Illustration 1: A typical
biomass briquette made
of compressed paper and
sawdust.

Alternative energy
source considered in
this project is the
biomass briquette (see
illustration 1).
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biomass briquettes in Malawi.

The briquette evaluation was made in
terms of physical and chemical
characteristics (like material content, size,
weight, energy content), costs for the fuel
and usability in household cooking stoves.
The feasibility of the production method for
each briquette type was also evaluated.

The briquettes were compared with the
characteristics of firewood and charcoal.

Agro-residues and agro-industry

residues-1

Agricultural or agro-industrial biomass is
generally difficult to handle because of its
bulky and scattered nature, low thermal
efficiency and copious liberation of smoke
during burning. It will be useful to
compress them into manageable and
compact pieces, which have a high thermal
value per unit weight.
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Agro-residues and agro-industry

residues-2

Biomass residues and by products are
available in abundance at the agro
processing centres (rice husk,
bagasse, molasses, coconut shell,
groundnut shell, maize cobs, potato
waste, coffee waste, whey), farms
(rice straw, cotton sticks, jute sticks).
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marketing base for biomass

briquettes

Small-scale industries are the major
marketing base for biomass briquettes.

Rubber industries, textile dyeing units,
leather processing units, small boiler units,
tobacco processing units, brick kilns and
the domestic sector are potential market.

Users of huge amount of wood and loose
biomass can switch over to briquettes
profitably.
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briquetting or pelleting

The process is called
biomass briquetting
or pelleting.

Compressed biomass
briquettes are
usually cylindrical in
shape with a
diameter between 30
to 90 mm and length
varying between 100
to 400mm.

Briquetting consists
of applying pressure
to a mass of particles
with or without a
binder and
converting it into
compact aggregate.
Ram type and screw
type machinery are
used for the
manufacture of
briquettes.
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Briquetting technology

Ram type consists of a plunger or rod
which forces the material received
from a hopper into a die, which is not
usually heated by external means.

The screw type machine employs a
screw auger which forces the material
into a pipe heated by electricity.

The choice of the type of machinery
depends on many factors.
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Ram type [piston type]

briquetting machine

Ram type consists
of a plunger or rod
which forces the
material received
from a hopper into
a die, which is not
usually heated by
external means.
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Ram type briquetting press

Common in India, alternate to screw
type.

Material is compressed in horizontal
press, made into a cylindrical
continuous log; Cut to pellets later.

Log diameter is 50 mm for a 500 kg
per hour machine and 90 mm for a
1500 kg / hr machine
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Screw type
briquetting machine

The screw type
machine employs a
screw auger which
forces the material
into a pipe heated
by electricity.
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Screw type
briquetting Press

The material is extruded under
compression continuously in the form of
a log, under screw.

These logs are partially carbonized and
free of volatile compounds.

They can supplement charcoal / lignite
as solid fuel for small scale uses.

Wear of screw is a problem and
designers of machine have solved this.
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Preparing biomass for pellet

making

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15

PELLETISING

Biomass material is compressed through

many holes by giving very high pressure
from rollers to the material.

PELLETISING: High pressure,

smaller size

In pelletising, the biomass material
is compressed through many holes by
giving very high pressure from rollers to
the material.

The stick is continuous but the size of
pellet is smaller (6-25 mm in diameter)
than briquettes.

Pelletizing is more efficient and
recognized as a good method because of
low investment.
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PELLETISING: Ring and Flat Die

Pelletizing, though introduced very
recently, is considered to be most wanted
method due to its high bulk density.
Ring and Flat Die are two types found in
this category.
The Ring die method is mostly used for
making animal feed, which has high bulk
density.
The flat die is used for low bulk density.
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Muthaiya Chettiar Research

Centre, Chennai

charcoal briquetting

Muthaiya Chettiar Research Centres

method of charcoal briquetting

1. Locally available biomass (e.g.,

casuarina leaf litter, sugarcane trash,
rice husk, coir pith, groundnut shells,
etc)
2. Carbonizing chamber (furnace )
3. Binder (starch or cassava flour)
4. Mini Briquetting machine (10kg/hr)
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1.Collection of biomass: Collect the locally available

biomass, sort them, chop the large-size raw materials into
smaller pieces and dry at sunlight.
2. Carbonization: i. Designing the Furnace
Outer drum : A 200lits. metal oil drum with the top cut out
and a 12" width x 10" height hole cut in the lower side
Two iron rids (8) has to be fixed at the bottom of the metal
drum running parallel from one side to the other side. This
iron rods act as base to support the stainless steel inner
drum.
Inner drum : A 100lits stainless steel drum with proper lids
and six (3/8") holes at the bottom. The inner drum is placed
into the larger drum.
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MCRCs method of charcoal briquetting

[continued]

ii. Carbonizing the biomass

The biomass is tightly packed into
the inner drum and fired for
45minutes to 1hr (Depending upon
the biomass) using biomass.
After firing, the carbonized biomass
in the inner drum has to collected and
weighed. In this method 30 % of
carbonized char can be obtained.
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3. Preparation of binder
The binder material is used for strengthening the
briquettes For every 100 kg of total weight of
carbonized charcoal powder, prepare a binder
mixture by adding 5 to 6 kg of starch or cassava
flour to 60 - 100 litres of water (based on the
weight of the raw materials)
4. Mixing
Mix such that every particle of carbonised charcoal
material is coated with binder. It will enhance
charcoal adhesion and produce identical briquettes.
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5. Briquetting. The charcoal mixture

is made into briquettes either

manually or using machines. Pour the

mixture directly into the briquetting
mould / machine to form uniform-sized
briquettes.

6. Drying and Packaging
Collect the briquettes in a tray, dry
them under the sunlight, pack them in
plastic bags and seal
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General Characteristics of
briquettes
Moisture : 7.1%-7.8%
Volatile Matter : 13.0%-13.5%
Fixed Carbon : 81.0%-83.0%
Ash : 3.7%-7.7%
Sulfur : 0.0%
Heating Value : 7,100-7,300 kcal/kg
Density : 970kg/m3
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