Abstract
Cashew nut shell (CNS) was utilized for carbonization in developed prototype kiln. Prototype kiln was evalu- ated with direct and indirect methods and characteristics of CNS and CNS char were determined by proximate and ultimate analysis. The maximum CNS temperatures obtained inside the kiln during direct and indirect method were recorded as 452.2℃ and 458.8℃ respectively. Maximum oil percentage, charcoal percentage and ash percentage in direct method were observed as 21.1 per cent, 21.04 per cent and 3.34 per cent respectively whereas 23.8 per cent, 18.3 per cent and 1.27 per cent in indirect method respectively. Hydrogen content in CNS was found about 6 to 7 per cent and nitrogen content in CNS was found about 0.70 to 0.75 per cent. Oxygen content in CNS was observed about 29 to 31 percent. Carbon, hydrogen and nitrogen content of the CNS char were observed in the range of 73 to 76 per cent, 4 to 5 per cent and 1 to 2 per cent respec- tively. It was found that nitrogen content has increased in CNS char after the carbonization of CNS. Oxygen content in the CNS char gets reduced to 13 to 14 percent, which was comparatively very less than CNS. It was observed that indirect method is more suitable for carbonization than direct method for obtaining higher calorific value char and maximum fixed carbon percentage as found in cashew nut shell char as 60 per cent.
Highlights
In Konkan region the cashew (Anacardium occidentale L) is one of the major horticultural crops
The shell comprises some 50% of the weight of the raw nut, the kernel represents 25% and the remaining 25% consists of the natural cashew nut shell liquid (CNSL) (Rajapakse et al 1977; Ramanan et al 2008; Santos and Magalhães 1999) and shell production of cashew nut shells may be estimated to 3,10,000 tones from available stats
Cashew nut shell (CNS) was selected as a biomass for carbonization because CNS was treated as waste in Konkan region and it is abundantly available in this region
Summary
In Konkan region the cashew (Anacardium occidentale L) is one of the major horticultural crops. Solid residues with increasing content of carbon element of higher activation energy (Ro 2009) are formed from organic material usually by pyrolysis in an inert atmosphere. Char preparation by this method will help in self-reliance of cashew processing unit for fuel supply with higher combustion efficiency. Keeping this view, the present study was undertaken
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