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
2014-02-21
Authors
Mitchual, J Stephen
Frimpong-Mensah, Kwasi
Darkwa, Nicholas A.
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Publisher
Journal of Sustainable Bioenergy Systems
Abstract
The fuel potential of six tropical hardwood species namely: Triplochiton scleroxylon, Ceiba pen tandra, 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 stan dard 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 bio mass materials suggested that Piptadenia africana has the best fuel property to be used as bri quettes 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.