Combustion Behavior of Fuel Briquettes Made from Ulin Wood and Gelam Wood Residues

Abstract

Solid fuel from the briquetting of ulin wood and gelam wood residue was investigated in this work. The effect of compaction pressure (10, 12, and 15 MPa), and briquette formulation were investigated. The ulin wood and gelam wood were blended in the mixing ratios of 100:0, 70:30, 50:50, 30:70, and 0:100, respectively. The size of the particle was fixed of 50 µm. The ulin wood and gelam wood were carbonized under fixed temperature (500oC), and time (120 min). The gelatinized binder (cassava starch) was 20% of the total briquettes weight. The densification was carried out using the briquetting machine (piston-press type) laboratory scale. The compaction pressure briquette had a significant effect on some characteristics of briquette (ash content, moisture content, volatile matter, bulk density, and combustion rate). An increasing in compaction pressure briquettes resulted in low ash content, moisture content, and volatile matter but the reverse is the case for bulk density. However, the mixing ratio slightly affected. High combustion rate (3.18 g/min) achieved at low compaction pressure (10 MPa).