A greener option, Biomass briquettes are a bio fuel substitute to coal and charcoal. Briquettes are mostly used in the developing world, where cooking fuels are not as easily available. There has been a move to the use of briquettes in the developed world, where they are used to heat industrial boilers in order to produce electricity from steam. The briquettes are co fired with coal in order to create the heat supplied to the boiler.

Biomass briquettes also have applications in developing countries. Biomass briquettes are a renewable source of energy & avoid adding fossil carbon to the atmosphere.

A number of companies in India have switched from furnace oil to biomass briquettes to save costs on boiler fuels. The use of biomass briquettes is predominant in the southern parts of India, where coal & furnace oil are being replaced by biomass briquettes. A number of units in (India) are also using biomass briquettes as boiler fuel. Use of biomass briquettes can earn Carbon Credits for reducing emissions in the atmosphere. Laxness India & a few other large companies are supposedly using biomass briquettes for earning Carbon Credits by switching their boiler fuel. Biomass briquettes also provide more calorific value/kg & save around 30-40 percent of boiler fuel costs.

A popular biomass briquette emerging in developed countries takes a waste produce such as sawdust, compresses it & then extrudes it to make a reconstituted log that can replace firewood. It is a similar process to forming a wood pellet but on a larger scale. There are no binders involved in this process. The natural lignin in the wood binds the particles of wood together to form a solid. Burning a wood briquette is far more efficient than burning firewood. Moisture content of a briquette can be as low as 8-12%, whereas green firewood may be as high as 65%.

Sawdust briquettes have developed over time with two distinct types: those with holes through the canter, & those that are solid. Both types are classified as briquettes but are formed using different techniques. A solid briquette is manufactured using a piston press that compresses sandwiched layers of sawdust together.

Briquettes are made from agricultural waste, forest waste. This is employed as an alternate for coal, firewood & furnace oil & mainly used by:

1. Tyre Retreading Units

2. Boiler for raising steam in chemical, Textile processing industries

3. Tea processing units

4. Hotels & restaurants for raising steam

5. Dryers & ovens for generation of hot air & many areas where firewood, Leco & Coal used

6. Reheating Furnaces like Steel, Aluminum etc.

Briquettes have high density (1200Kg/m3) & bulk density (800Kg/m3) compared to 60 to 180 Kg/m3 of loose bio mass. Loading/Unloading & transportation cost are much less & storage requirements is drastically reduced. Compared to firewood or loose bio-mass, briquettes give much higher boiler efficiency because of low moisture & density.

Briquettes produced from briquetting of bio-mass are fairly good substitute for coal, lignite, firewood & offer numerous advantages.

Briquettes are cheaper than oil, coal or lignite. High Sulfur content of oil & coal, when burnt, pollutes the environment. There is no sulfur in briquettes. Bio mass briquettes have a higher practical thermal value & much lower ash content (2-10% compare to 20-40% in coal). Burning of Briquettes is completely pollution free as the output is only CO₂. Briquettes have a consistent quality, have high burning efficiency, & are ideally sized for complete combustion. Combustion is more uniform compared to coal, & boiler response to changes in steam requirements is faster due to higher quantity of volatile matter in briquettes. Briquettes are clean to handle & can be packed in bags for ease of handling & storage.

The use of biomass briquettes has been steadily increasing as industries realize the benefits of decreasing pollution through the use of biomass briquettes. Briquettes provide higher calorific value per dollar than coal when used for firing industrial boilers. Along with higher calorific value, biomass briquettes on average saved 30–40% of boiler fuel cost. But other sources suggest that co firing is more expensive due to the widespread availability of coal and its low cost. However, in the long run, briquettes can only limit the use of coal to a small extent, but it is increasingly being pursued by industries and factories all over the world. Both raw materials can be produced or mined domestically in the United States, creating a fuel source that is free from foreign dependence and less polluting than raw fossil fuel incineration.

Environmentally, the use of biomass briquettes produces much fewer greenhouse gases, specifically, 13.8% to 41.7% CO2 and NOx. There was also a reduction from 11.1% to 38.5% in SO2 emissions when compared to coal from three different leading producers, EKCC Coal, Decanter Coal, and Alden Coal. Biomass briquettes are also fairly resistant to water degradation, an improvement over the difficulties encountered with the burning of wet coal. However, the briquettes are best used only as a supplement to coal. The use of co firing creates an energy that is not as high as pure coal, but emits fewer pollutants and cuts down on the release of previously sequestered carbon. The continuous release of carbon and other greenhouse gasses into the atmosphere leads to an increase in global temperatures. The use of co firing does not stop this process but decreases the relative emissions of coal power plants.

Material with high moisture content are dried. The raw materials then mixed as per standards. The mixed raw material are fed to conveyors. The conveyor takes the material to chamber of briquetting press. Then the material is compressed by the press by forcing it through the die with tapered bore. The compression raises the temperature of material, softening the lightening which is inherent in every biomass. The aligning come into the force & binds the material together. Briquettes formed are shape of logs, which are pushed through cooling tracks under slight pressure for cooling & transport to packing point, where the briquettes are packed & stored for dispatch.

Agricultural wastes are generated millions of tons every year. These are either none used of burnt inefficiently in their loose form causing air pollution. Handling & transportation of these materials is also very difficult due to their low density. That wastage can easily be converted into high-density fuel (Briquettes) with the help of Biomass Briquette Plant.

Whereas in nearby locality huge quantity of Groundnut shells & Saw dust is available this has got high calorific value.

UNIQUE ECO FUELS,

No.52/2, NALLUR VILLAGE,

MANNADIPET COMMUNE,

PUDUCHERRY-605107. INDIA

Email: info@uniqueecofuels.org