Development of briquette fuel from cashew shells and rice husk mixture

Abstract

In Indonesia, a large amount of biomasses are available from cashew plantations and rice fields and constitute one of the raw material sources for thermal energy. Annually, 130.052 tons of whole cashews can produce cashew shells with a total energy content of 4,933x109 kcal. In addition, 49 million tons of rice is produced annually in Indonesia. From this sum, 7.5-10 million tons of rice husks are obtained with a total energy content of 2.64x1013 kcal. The purpose of this research is to review the briquette of biomass made from a mixture of cashew shells and rice husks with polyvinyl acetate (PVA) as the adhesive. The mixture ratio of cashew shells and rice husks is varied with a range of 75:25, 50:50, and 25:75 % weight. Briquettes are made in a cylinder mold and pressed using a hydraulic press machine. The pressing pressure varies from 2.500, 5.000, and 7.500 kg/m2. Results show that a briquette with a mixture ratio of 75:25 % shows good pressure tenacity. A model is used to relate density with briquetting pressure. This model shows that the briquette has low compressibility at 0.13. Enhancement of the heating value for the briquettes is also carried out using the torrefaction treatment. The torrefaction process produces biomass briquettes made from a mixture of cashew shells and rice husks with a heating value on par to sub-bituminous coal according to the ASTM D 388 standard classification with a heating value of 6.712 kcal/kg.