Evaluation of Fuel Properties of Six Tropical Hardwood Timber Species for Briquettes
Evaluation of Fuel Properties of Six Tropical Hardwood Timber Species for Briquettes
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Date
2014
Authors
Mitchual, J Stephen
Frimpong-Mensah, K
Darkwa, N. A
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Publisher
International Scholarly and Scientific Research & Innovation
Abstract
The fuel potential of six tropical hardwood species
namely: Triplochiton scleroxylon, Ceiba pentandra, Aningeria
robusta, Terminalia superba, Celtis mildbreadii and Piptadenia
africana were studied. Properties studied included species density,
gross calorific value, volatile matter, ash content, organic carbon and
elemental composition. Fuel properties were determined using
standard laboratory methods. The result indicates that the gross
calorific value (GCV) of the species ranged from 20.16 to 22.22
MJ/kg and they slightly varied from each other. Additionally, the
GCV of the biomass materials were higher than that of other biomass
materials like; wheat straw, rice straw, maize straw and sugar cane.
The ash and volatile matter content varied from 0.6075 to 5.0407%,
and 75.23% to 83.70% respectively. The overall rating of the
properties of the six biomass materials suggested that Piptadenia
africana has the best fuel property to be used as briquettes and
Aningeria robusta the worse. This study therefore suggests that a
holistic assessment of a biomass material needs to be done before
selecting it for fuel purpose.
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Citation
Mitchual, S. J., Frimpong-Mensah, K., & Darkwa, N. A. (2014). Evaluation of fuel properties of six tropical hardwood timber species for briquettes. Journal of Sustainable Bioenergy Systems, 2014.