Abstract
The purpose of this study was to investigate influence of physico-chemical parameters on fuel briquette properties produced from a mixture of cassava and plantain peelings, and corn cob. FTIR and XRD of each biomass was determined and fractional factorial design used in classifying influence of physico-chemical parameters on degradation rate and strength of briquette. The results show that the three biomasses have similar infrared spectra. The mains functional groups present are; OH alcohol, C-H, C-O and C-C. These could produce hydrogen bond during densification. XRD reveals presence of cellulose and starch in the three biomasses. Cassava peelings have the highest amount of starch compared to others. Thus, cassava peelings can play the rule of binder. Results also reveal that for degradation rate of briquette, the average absolute error (AAE) ranged from 0.00% to 2.82% and varies between 0.00% to 2.88% for strength. These AAE are closer to zero and can be considered negligible compared to observed responses. This demonstrates the reliability of the models. Besides, adjusted R<sup>2</sup>, absolute average deviation (AAD), bias factor and exactitude factor obtained are in accordance with interval indicated for validation of model. The influence of evaluated parameters for degradation rate of briquette in descending order of importance are: the briquetting mass, moisture content, briquetting pressure, time before demoulding, diameter of mould, particle size and briquetting temperature. For strength, pressure and particle size are the most influential parameters followed by briquetting time, moisture content, diameter of mould, briquetting mass and briquetting temperature. The influence levels of the different parameters on the strength and degradation rate of briquette simultaneously show that particle size, moisture content, briquetting pressure and briquetting mass are the most important. However, they act in opposite directions for degradation rate and strength of briquette.<div><br></div>
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