Effect of Briquetting Process Variables on Hygroscopic Property of Water Hyacinth Briquettes

Abstract

The knowledge of water resistance capacity of briquettes is important in order to determine how sensitive the produced briquettes are to moisture change during storage. The relative changes in length and diameter of briquettes during immersion in water for 6 hours were investigated. This was conducted to determine hygroscopic property of produced briquettes under process variables levels of binder (10, 20, 30, 40, and 50%) by weight of residue, compaction pressure (3.0, 5.0, 7.0, and 9.0 MPa) and particle size (0.5, 1.6, and 4 mm of dried and ground water hyacinth). Data was statistically analysed using Analysis of Variance, the Duncan Multiple Range Test, and descriptive statistics. The relative change in length of briquettes with process variables ranged significantly from % to % (binder), % to % (compaction pressure), and % to % (particle size) (). Furthermore, the relative change in diameter of briquettes with binder, compaction pressure, and particle size varied significantly from % to %, % to %, and % to %, respectively (). This study suggests optimum process variables required to produce briquettes of high water resistance capacity for humid environments like the Niger Delta, Nigeria, as 50% (binder proportion), 9 MPa (compaction pressure), and 0.5 mm (particle size).