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List of Tables

Table no.
1 2 3 4 5 6

Description

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Availability of agricultural waste in India 6 Ash content of few types of biomass. 12 Traditional Energy Used in developing countries. 15

Consumption of biomass in selected Asian countries.. 16 Estimated biomass saving potential...... 16 Parts of machine.. 28

List of Figures
Figure
1 2 3 4 5 6

Title

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screw press system 16 Piston press system17 Crushing system.29 Mixing system30 Extrusion system....30 Complete assembly of briquetting machine... 33

ABBREVIATIONS
KMTNC CO2 NOX SO2 EKCC CDM GHG BETs MPa t/h IREDA MNEs USAID HP MT King Mahindra Trust For Nature Conservation Carbon Dioxide Nitrogen Oxide Compounds Silicon Dioxide Eastern Kentucky Coal Consultants Clean Development Mechanism Green House Gas Briquetting Energy Technologies Mega Pascal Tones per Hour Indian Renewable Energy Development Agency Ministry of Non-Conventional Energy Resource United States Agency for International Development Horse Power Metric tonne

NOMENCLATURE

Symbols V B t P N T WT D M d1

Stand for Tensile stress in N/m2 Density in kg/mm3 Velocity in m/sec Width of belt Thickness of pulley Power r.p.m Torque in Nm Tangential load per arm Diameter of pulley Maximum bending moment Hub diameter

CHAPTER-1 INTRODUCTION
1.1 PROJECT BACKGROUND:Agriculture has for several years formed the backbone of Indias economy, contributing approximating 30.2% of the gross domestic product employing over 77% of the population above 10 years of age. Developing countries like India produce large quantities of agro-residues such as rice husks, coffee husks, bagasse, groundnut shells, cotton stalks, cow dung and sawdust as milling residue is also available in large quantities, but they are used inefficiently causing extensive degradation to the environment. Briquetting could solve this transportation, storage, handling and environmental degradation problems associated with agro residues. Briquetting is a mechanical compaction process for increasing the density of bulky material. Briquettes are a good substitute to firewood and charcoal for domestic cooking and agro-industrial operations, thereby reducing the high demand for both. Besides, briquettes have advantages over fuel wood in terms of greater heat intensity, cleanliness, convenience in use, and relatively smaller space requirement for storage. However, Briquetting agro-residues need a Briquetting machine. The existing machines are scarcely available to rural people, use electricity and the cost of fuel is high, bulky and expensive. They need skilled man power to operate and maintain them. Many people in India still adopt the traditional method of Briquetting using hands. This method of Briquetting is associated with a number of problems; Time consuming, Tedious, Accuracy is compromised, requires a great deal of skill and effort to briquette, low production and wastage. This project seeks to come up with a fast briquetting technique, which can be employed by those involved in briquette making. Fast briquetting results into increased output per day to meet the briquette demand plus minimized amount of hand working.

Table 1- Availability of agricultural waste in India CROP RESIDUE AVAILABILITY (MT/year) Coffee Fronds, husk, shell 560,000 5% used commercially Coconut Hull, husk, ground 100,000 8% used commercially Corn Cob, Stover, stalks, leaves Cotton Stalks 236,000 120,000 2% used commercially 70% used commercially Nuts Hulls 50,000 12% used commercially Peanuts Shells 32,000 5.5% used commercially Rice Hull, Straw, stalks 210,215 No commercial use REMARK

Agriculture crops

Mixed

agricultural

500,000

No commercial use

crops, not limited to crop waste Mixed type Agricultural crops 100,000 No commercial use

and waste including non-organic wastes Sugarcane Bagasse 425,000 20% used commercially Animal Dung 515,000 No commercial use

1.2 PROBLEM STATEMENT


The available Briquetting machines are expensive, use electricity and require high technology in terms of operation and maintenance, and yet most of the targeted population (rural areas) have no electricity and cannot afford the available expensive machines. The traditional way of making briquettes by hand is labor intensive and the briquettes made are not uniform, as the pressure exerted on them by hand is not uniformly distributed. Loose biomass is associated with low energy densities. Combustion properties limit use of agro-residues as fuel. Deforestation and wood fuel shortages are becoming pressing problems in India and as such, attention has to be paid to other types of biomass fuel, which include agro-residues, but for effectiveness the agro residues have to be compressed thus need for a briquetting machine.

1.3 JUSTIFICATION
If the local population accepts the prototype of the improved briquetting machine, the benefits below shall be achieved; a. The amount of briquettes made per unit time or per day shall be increased. b. Since the machine shall use no fuel, no electricity, then no cost will be incurred in paying the bills associated with the energy sources mentioned. c. Less effort will be required to operate it. The machine will be affordable to the local population, will not require skilled personnel to operate and maintain it, and will produce uniform briquettes.

1.4 SCOPE
This project will be limited to the design of a briquetting machine. Briquettes mainly composed of agricultural waste, charcoal dust and cow dung used in both rural and urban areas. Its designed to compact and compress the mentioned agro-residues to a cylindrical briquette of 35mm.

CHAPTER-2 LITERATURE REVIEW 2.1 History


Briquetting is a mechanical compaction process for increasing the density of bulky materials. This process can be utilized for forming fine or granular agro residues into a designed shape. Briquetting improves the handling characteristics of the materials for transport, storing etc and can help in expanding the use of biomass in energy production, since densification improves the volumetric calorific value of a fuel, reduces the cost of transport and can help in improving the fuel situation in rural areas. Raw materials for Briquetting include waste from wood industries, loose biomass and other combustible waste products. Though inefficient, the burning of loose biomass created enough heat for cooking purposes and keeping warm. The first commercial production plant was created in 1982 and produced almost 900 metric tons of biomass. In 1984, factories were constructed that incorporated vast improvements on efficiency and the quality of briquettes. They used a combination of rice husks and molasses. The King Mahindra Trust for Nature Conservation (KMTNC) In 1925, Japan independently started developing technology to harness the energy from sawdust briquettes, known as "Ogalite". Between 1964 and 1969, Japan increased production fourfold by incorporating screw press and piston press technology. The member enterprise of 830 or more existed in the 1960's. The new compaction techniques incorporated in these machines made briquettes of higher quality than those in Europe. As a result, European countries bought the licensing agreements and now manufacture Japanese designed machines.

2.2 Present Status


The use of biomass briquettes has been steadily increasing as industries realize the benefits of decreasing pollution through the use of biomass briquettes. Briquettes provide
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higher calorific value per dollar than coal when used for firing industrial boilers. Along with higher calorific value, biomass briquettes on average saved 3040% of boiler fuel cost. But other sources suggest that cofiring is more expensive due to the widespread availability of coal and its low cost. However, in the long run, briquettes can only limit the use of coal to a small extent, but it is increasingly being pursued by industries and factories all over the world. Both raw materials can be produced or mined domestically in the United States, creating a fuel source that is free from foreign dependence and less polluting than raw fossil fuel incineration. Environmentally, the use of biomass briquettes produces much fewer greenhouse gases, specifically, 13.8% to 41.7% CO2 and NOX. There was also a reduction from 11.1% to 38.5% in SO2 emissions when compared to coal from three different leading producers, EKCC Coal, Decanter Coal, and Alden Coal. Biomass briquettes are also fairly resistant to water degradation, an improvement over the difficulties encountered with the burning of wet coal. However, the briquettes are best used only as a supplement to coal. The use of cofiring creates an energy that is not as high as pure coal, but emits fewer pollutants and cuts down on the release of previously sequestered carbon. The continuous release of carbon and other greenhouse gasses into the atmosphere leads to an increase in global temperatures. The use of cofiring does not stop this process but decreases the relative emissions of coal power plants. The Legacy Foundation has developed a set of techniques to produce biomass briquettes through artisanal production in rural villages that can be used for heating and cooking. These techniques were recently pioneered by Virunga National Park in

eastern Democratic Republic of Congo, following the massive destruction of the Mountain Gorilla habitat for charcoal. Pangani, Tanzania, is an area covered in coconut groves. After harvesting the meat of the coconut, the indigenous people would litter the ground with the husks, believing them to be useless. The husks later became a profit center after it was discovered that coconut husks are well suited to be the main ingredient in bio briquettes. This alternative fuel mixture burns incredibly efficiently and leaves little residue, making it a reliable source for cooking in the undeveloped country. The developing world has always relied on the burning biomass due it its low cost and availability anywhere there is organic material.
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The briquette production only improves upon the ancient practice by increasing the efficiency of pyrolysis. Two major components of the developing world are China and India. The economies are rapidly increasing due to cheap ways of harnessing electricity and emitting large amounts of carbon dioxide. The Kyoto Protocol attempted to regulate the emissions of the three different worlds, but there were disagreements as to which country should be penalized for emissions based on its previous and future emissions. The United States has been the largest emitter but China has recently become the largest per capita. The United States had emitted a rigorous amount of carbon dioxide during its development and the developing nations argue that they should not be forced to meet the requirements. At the lower end, the undeveloped nations believe that they have little responsibility for what has been done to the carbon dioxide levels. The major use of biomass briquettes in India is in industrial applications usually to produce steam. A lot of conversions of boilers from FO to biomass briquettes have happened over the past decade. A vast majority of those projects are registered under CDM (Kyoto Protocol), which allows for users to get carbon credits. The use of biomass briquettes is strongly encouraged by issuing carbon credits. One carbon credit is equal to one free ton of carbon dioxide to be emitted into the atmosphere. India has started to replace charcoal with biomass briquettes in regards to boiler fuel, especially in the southern parts of the country because the biomass briquettes can be created domestically, depending on the availability of land. Therefore, constantly rising fuel prices will be less influential in an economy if sources of fuel can be easily produced domestically. Coal is the largest carbon dioxide emitter per unit area when it comes to electricity generation. It is also the most common ingredient in charcoal. There has been a recent push to replace the burning of fossil fuels with biomass. The replacement of this nonrenewable resource with biological waste would lower the carbon footprint of grill owners and lower the overall pollution of the world. Citizens are also starting to manufacture briquettes at home. The first machines would create briquettes for homeowners out of compressed sawdust, however, current machines allow for briquette production out of any sort of dried biomass.
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Arizona has also taken initiative to turn waste biomass into a source of energy. Waste cotton and pecan material used to provide a nesting ground for bugs that would destroy the new crops in the spring. To stop this problem farmer buried the biomass, which quickly led to soil degradation. These materials were discovered to be a very efficient source of energy and took care of issues that had plagued farms. The United States Department of Energy has financed several projects to test the viability of biomass briquettes on a national scale. The scope of the projects is to increase the efficiency of gasifies as well as produce plans for production facilities. Biomass is composed of organic materials; therefore, large amounts of land are required to produce the fuel. Critics argue that the use of this land should be utilized for food distribution rather than crop degradation. Also, climate changes may cause a harsh season, where the material extracted will need to be swapped for food rather than energy. The assumption is that the production of biomass decreases the food supply, causing an increase in world hunger by extracting the organic materials such as corn and soybeans for fuel rather than food. The cost of implementing a new technology such as biomass into the current infrastructure is also high. The fixed costs with the production of biomass briquettes are high due to the new undeveloped technologies that revolve around the extraction, production and storage of the biomass. Technologies regarding extraction of oil and coal have been developing for decades, becoming more efficient with each year. A new undeveloped technology regarding fuel utilization that has no infrastructure built around makes it nearly impossible to compete in the current market. M.B Oumarou and Oluwole F.A [1] has presented the design and construction of a suitable machine that can compress wood waste and agricultural waste materials into briquette which can be used as fuel would therefore be a solution to the problem of environmental resources conservation. Generally briquette processing machine are relatively large, heavy and costly. What needed is a small, light, simple and cheap press which can be constructed with local materials available locally. Considering the fact that a manual operated press required the person, who pulls or pushes down the level

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to exert a great force up to about twice every minute it became clear that gradual exhaustion causes diminishing performance. There is also a tendency to produce briquettes of irregular size or compaction, depending on compressing system. If filling the mould is done manually, apart from producing irregular sizes and low rate of production per machine it will require a number of machines to achieve an output. Biomass residues normally have much lower ash content (except for rice husk with 20% ash) but their ashes have a higher percentage of alkaline minerals, reasonable especially potash. These constituents have a tendency to devolatalise during combustion and condense on tubes, especially those of super heaters. These constituents also lower the sintering temperature of ash, leading to ash deposition on the boilers exposed surfaces. Table2: Ash content of few types of biomass. Biomass Corn cub Jute stick Sawdust (mixed) Pine needle Soya bean stalk Bagasse Coffee spent Coconut shell Sunflower stalk Jowar straw Olive pits Arhar stalk Lantana camara Subabul leaves Tea waste Tamarind husk Ash content (%) 1.2 1.2 1.3 1.5 1.8 1.8 1.9 1.9 3.1 3.2 3.2 3.4 3.5 3.6 3.8 4.2
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Biomass Coffee husk Cotton shells Tannin waste Almond shell Areca nut shell Castor stick Groundnut shell Coir pith Bagasse pith Bean straw Barley straw Paddy stalk Tobacco dust Jute dust Rice husk Deoiled bran

Ash content (%) 4.3 4.6 4.8 4.8 5.1 5.4 6.0 6.0 8.0 10.2 10.3 15.5 19.1 19.1 22.4 28.4

S.C Bhattacharya [2] has presented that Global primary commercial energy consumption has grown at an average annual rate of about 2% per year over the last two hundred years; during 1990-2000, the consumption increased by 11%. Currently, conventional commercial energy sources - coal, oil, natural gas, nuclear and hydropower - account for 85-90% of global primary energy consumption; fossil fuels account for approximately ninety per cent of the conventional commercial energy consumption. Since developing countries are at initial stages of industrialization, their energy consumption has been growing at greater rates compared with developed countries. Thus, during 1990-2000, conventional energy consumption of the developing countries of the Asia Pacific region increased by 27 per cent compared with 11 per cent growth of the world consumption. The trend of growth in global energy consumption is expected to continue in the future primarily because of the expected growth in world population and the expected economic growth of the developing countries. It is likely that the current pattern of energy consumption, which is characterized by continued growth and heavy dependence on fossil fuels, cannot be sustained in the future because of two major constraints. One of these is the environmental impact of using fossil fuels, particularly climate change and the other is the depletion of the reserves of fossil fuels. Since the biggest source of greenhouse gas (GHG) emission is the combustion of fossil fuels, one of the most effective approaches to the mitigation of GHG emission would be reducing consumption of these fuels through their substitution by renewable energy. The same approach is also vital for reducing the rate of depletion of fossil fuels, particularly oil, the proved reserve of which at the end of 2000 was about 40 years of consumption at the prevailing level. Biomass is the fourth largest source of energy worldwide and provides basic energy requirements for cooking and heating of rural households in developing countries. Use of biomass fuels is also well established in certain commercial establishments and industries. In developed countries, biomass energy use in developed countries is mainly for space heating and power generation. The biomass fuels could potentially provide a much more extensive energy service than at present if these were used efficiently. Besides efficiency improvements of existing energy systems, putting huge quantities of biomass, mostly in the form of agricultural residues and wastes, which are currently disposed by burning or dumping, could potentially increase the energy supply from
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biomass substantially. Significant additional increase in biomass energy supplies should be possible through energy plantation. Utilization of biomass residues and wastes is often difficult due to their uneven and troublesome characteristics. This drawback can be overcome by means of densification, i.e. compaction of the residues into products of high density and regular shape. Densification has aroused a great deal of interest worldwide in recent years as a technique of beneficiation of residues for utilization as energy source. A number of modern BETs are still in early stages of development and commercialization. Most of these face a wide range of barriers, which must be removed for promoting and facilitating their commercialization. The prevailing low price of oil in the international market has seriously eroded the financial viability of many RE systems. In fact, this has already adversely affected many on-going renewable energy programs, resulting in significant scaling down in some cases, for example, the ethanol program in Brazil. The situation is further aggravated by subsidy given to fossil fuels in many countries. It has been pointed out those worldwide government subsidies for conventional energy was US$ 250-300 billion per year in the mid-1990s (de Moor and Calamai, 1997). In India, the Government spent about US$ 1.5 billion annually for subsidizing kerosene in the late 1990s (Forsyth, 1998). Subsidy for fossil fuels distorts market in favour of these fuels; for example, this gives diesel generators an unfair advantage over gasifier engine systems. The major barriers to biomass energy in developing countries appear to include: 1. Information - since there is a lack of understanding of using biomass for energy in many countries; 2. Risk - mainly those associated with unproven fuel supply and conversion technologies; 3. Financial - since the cost of energy from biomass is normally higher compared with fossil fuels; 4. Market characteristics -mainly arising out the network involving farming/forestry communities and power producers; and 5. Insufficient policy support for energy crops.

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The pace of commercialization of biomass energy technologies and future use of biomass energy will depend on action taken to remove the barriers as mentioned above. In developing countries, future biomass energy use is likely to be characterized by improvements in efficiency and environmental performance of traditional energy devices. Some of the traditional biomass energy users are likely to switch over to commercial energy, particularly for cooking. On the other hand, climate change and other environmental concerns and related developments are expected to promote utilization of cheap biomass, particularly wood- and agro-processing residues. Further utilization of these as well as plantation biomass is likely as the climate change debate intensifies and/or the prices of fossil fuels show signs of escalation. Table 3: Traditional Energy Used in developing countries Country Traditional fuel (% of total energy use) Estimated increase in traditional energy consumption between (In %) 1980 Brazil China India Malaysia Nicaragua Peru Philippines Sri Lanka Sudan Tanzania Source of data: World Bank (2002) 35.5 8.4 31.5 15.7 49.2 15.2 37 53.5 86.9 92.0 1998 28.7 5.7 20.7 5.5 42.2 24.6 26.9 46.5 75.1 91.4 15.0 14.6 11.3 11.6 27.6 124.0 13.2 21.6 19.4 31.8

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Table 4: Consumption of biomass in selected Asian countries (Bhattacharya and Salam,2002 ) Country Base year Domestic sector Industrial and commercial sector Amount (Mt) China India Nepal Pakistan Philippines Sri Lanka Vietnam 1993 1991 1993 1991 1995 1993 1991 458.0 231.5 15.1 48.5 18.6 10.0 29.1 Percentage % 94 78 98 78 70 87 91 Amount (Mt) 29.4 65.9 0.3 14 8.1 1.5 2.9 Percentage % 6 22 2 22 30 13 9

Table5: Estimated biomass saving potential (Million tonnes year) through efficiency improvements in the selected countries (Bhattacharya, 1999). Country Base year Type of biomass

Fuel wood

Agriresidues

Animal dung 2.9 32.3 0.8 8.3 44.3

Charcoal

China India Nepal Pakistan Philippines Sri Lanka Vietnam Total

1993 1991 1993 1991 1995 1993 1991

51.6 69.5 3.1 17.5 7.6 2.6 15.8 167.7

77.2 20.8 1.2 7.3 2.3 0.5 3.9 113.2

0.5 0.3 0.1 0.9

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CHAPTER 3 THEORY 3.1 DIE PRESSURE RANGES OF BRIQUETTING MACHINES


There are three die pressure ranges of briquetting machines namely;

a) The high-pressure machine where the pressure reaches values more than 100
MPa. This type is suitable for the residues of good lignin content. At this high pressure the temperature rises to about 200- 250C, which is sufficient to fuse the lignin content of the residue, which acts as a binder and so, no need of any additional binding material.

b) The medium pressure machine,

with a pressure ranges between 5 MPa to 100

MPa, which results in lower heat generation. This type of machines requires in most of the cases the use of an additional heat source to melt the internal lignin content of the feedstock and eliminate the use of an additional binder.

c) The low-pressure machine

that work at pressure less than 5 MPa and room

temperature. This type of machines requires the addition of binding materials, and is considered to be the most suitable type for the carbonized materials due to the lack of the lignin material due to the carbonization process and the low energy requirement for this type of machines.

3.2 BRIQUETTING TECHNOLOGIES


There are two common types of Briquetting presses (technologies) employed in developing countries screw press and piston press technologies.

a) SCREW PRESS TECHNOLOGY


In the screw-presses, pressure is applied continuously by passing the material through a screw with diminishing volume. There are cylindrical screws with or without external heating of the die and conical screws. However, if the die is not heated then temperatures may not rise sufficiently to cause lignin flow and a binding material may have to be
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added. This can be molasses, starch or some other cheap organic material. It is also possible to briquette carbonized material in a screw-press and in this, as lignin have been destroyed; a binder has to be employed. Some low-pressure piston machines may also require the use of binders though this is unusual. If the die is heated then the temperature is normally raised to 250-300 C, which produces a good quality briquette from virtually all organic feeds provided the initial moisture is below about 15%. The briquettes from screw machines are often of higher quality than from piston units being harder and less likely to break along natural fracture lines. Screw presses are usually sized in the range 75-250 kg/in though larger machines are available. The capital costs of screw machines may be a little less than piston units though because of size differences it is difficult to make direct comparisons. However, their maintenance costs are usually much higher because of the considerable wear on the screws, which have to be re-built rather frequently. They also have a higher specific energy demand than piston machines.

Fig.1: Screw press system

The merits and demerits of this technology are:


a. The output is continuous and the briquette is uniform in size. b. The outer surface of the briquette is partially carbonized facilitating easy ignition and combustion. This also protects the briquettes from ambient moisture. c. A concentric hole in the briquette helps in combustion because of sufficient circulation of air.
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d.

The machine is light compared to the piston press because of the absence of reciprocating parts and flywheel.

e. The machine parts and the oil used in the machine are free from dust or raw material contamination. f. The power requirement of the machine is high compared to that of piston press.

b) PISTON PRESS TECHNOLOGY


In the piston press, pressure is applied discontinuously by the action of a piston on material packed into a cylinder. Piston-presses can be driven either by mechanical means from a massive flywheel via a crankshaft or hydraulically. The mechanical machines are usually larger, ranging in size from 0.15 to 0.3t/h, whilst hydraulic machines normally range up to 0.25t/h though some models are somewhat larger. Mechanical presses generally produce hard and dense briquettes from most materials whilst hydraulic presses, which work at lower pressures, give briquettes, which are less dense and are sometimes soft and friable. Hydraulic piston press is different from the mechanical piston press in that the energy to the piston is transmitted from an electric motor via a highpressure hydraulic oil system. This machine is compact and light. Because of the slower press cylinder compared to that of the mechanical machine, it results in lower outputs. Piston presses are reliable, once they have been installed properly with dies shaped correctly for the raw materials used. Problems arise if the die has not been shaped correctly or if the feeding mechanism has not been sized for the material to be used. Below are the advantages and disadvantages of the piston press technology. a. There is less relative motion between the ram and the biomass hence, the wear of the ram is considerably reduced. b. It is the most cost-effective technology. Some operational experience has now been gained using different types of biomass. c. The moisture content of the raw material should be less than 12% for the best results. d. The quality of the briquettes goes down with an increase in production for the same power.
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e. Carbonization of the outer layer is not possible. Briquettes are somewhat brittle.

Fig.2: Piston press system

3.3 BIOMASS DENSIFICATION


Utilization of agricultural and forestry residues is often difficult due to their uneven and troublesome characteristics. This drawback can be overcome by means of densification, i.e. compaction of the residues into products of high density and regular shape. Densification has aroused a great deal of interest worldwide in recent years as a technique of beneficiation of residues for utilization as energy source. Depending on the type of equipment used, densified biomass can be categorized into two main types: briquettes and pellets. Briquettes are of relatively large size (typically 5-6 cm in diameter and 30-40 cm in length) while pellets are small in size (about 1 cm in diameter and 2-4 cm in length). Densified biomass produced in developing countries is mostly in the form of briquettes, which are used directly to substitute fuel wood or for carbonizing to produce briquetted charcoal; use of pellets so far appears to be insignificant. Because of small and uniform size, pellets are particularly suitable for automatic auger-fed combustion systems; densified biomass used in developed countries is mostly in the form of pellets.

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a) DENSIFICATION TECHNOLOGIES
Two common types of briquetting presses employed in developing countries are heated die screw press and piston press. It appears that heated-die screw press technology was invented in Japan in mid-1940s. By now, the technology has spread to most of its neighboring and nearby countries, particularly Korea, China, Taiwan, Vietnam, Thailand, Malaysia, Philippines, Bangladesh, etc. where heated-die screw-press briquetting machines are used almost exclusively. Also, the design of screw-press briquetting machines appears to have evolved and been adapted to suit local conditions in different countries. The piston press technology is the dominant technology in India, Brazil and Africa. While these are locally made in India and Brazil, the African machines appear to be mostly imported. Compared to piston-press machines, heated-die screw press machines have smaller capacity but produce stronger and denser briquettes. Screw press technology is therefore more suitable if the briquettes are to be carbonized to obtain briquetted charcoal. Besides, conventional binder less briquetting, low-pressure cold briquetting using binder has also been tried in some places. Most noteworthy among these is the carbonization-briquetting process, in which biomass is first carbonized and the resulting charcoal is briquetted using a suitable binder. The process has been tried for cotton stalk in Sudan and coffee husks in Kenya; limited use of this technique has been reported in India and Nepal. Briquetting of bagasse using molasses as binder has been reported to have had limited success in Sudan. Another low-pressure binder less briquetting process involves mixing pulverized chopped and decomposed biomass with water into a pulp. The pulp is pressed inside a perforated pipe to get 4-inch diameter cakes, which are sun-dried to get briquettes (Stanley, 2002). The basic press is made on site and the product is normally of lower density compared with conventional briquettes. A non-profit organization, Legacy Foundation, is currently involved in dissemination of the technology. Briquette made from a mixture of pulverized coal, biomass and slaked lime has been introduced by a Japanese company in two Asian countries, China and Indonesia. The briquettes, called coal-biomass briquettes are produced by using a rollpress. It is claimed that the use of the desulfurizing agent (slaked lime) and biomass results in cleaner combustion of the briquettes in stoves and less of ash compared with coal or coal briquettes (Kobayashi, 2002). As indicated earlier, pelletizing is the major
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densification technology employed in developed countries. Capacity of these plants is much larger, being in the range 1-30 tons per hour.

b) RAW MATERIALS FOR BIOMASS DENSIFICATION


The most common raw materials for heated-die screw-press briquetting machines are saw dust and rice husk. Some other raw materials, e.g., coffee husk, tamarind seeds, tobacco stems, coir pith and spice waste have also been used in India (Vempaty, 2002). Sawdust is practically the only raw material used for producing briquettes, which are subsequently carbonized; it is the dominant raw material in Malaysia, Philippines, Thailand, and Korea. On the other hand, rice husk is the only raw material used in Bangladesh. Piston press briquetting machines use a wide range of pulverized raw materials; in India, these include saw dust, ground nut shell, coffee husk sugar cane bagasse, cotton stalks, sun flower stalks, spent coffee waste etc. Peanut shell and cotton stalk appear to the most important raw materials in Africa. The raw material mostly used in developed countries is sawdust and wood wastes.

c) STATUS OF BIOMASS DENSIFICATION IN INDIA


About 70 biomass briquetting machines were installed in India by 1995; since then briquetting has been gaining acceptance slowly but steadily. Two types of briquetting presses are common in India, piston presses and heated-die screw presses. The capacity of piston presses normally lies in the range 400-2000 kg/hr (Vempathy, 2002); the number of machines of this type installed so far is about 150. Heated-die screw-press briquetting machines are also available commercially; the number of machines of this type installed so far is about 60. One manufacturer offers preheated biomass briquetting systems. Indian Renewable Energy Development Agency Limited (IREDA) is a Public Limited Government Company established in 1987, under the administrative control of Ministry of Non-Conventional Energy Sources (MNES) to promote, develop and extend financial assistance for renewable energy and energy efficiency/conservation projects. IREDA support for briquetting in the form of loans since its inception till March 2001 was INR 174 million (47 INR ~ I USD). The largest plant financed by IREDA has a capacity of
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12.2 tonnes per hour. With assistance of USAID, three briquetting plants have been set in Rajasthan state of India. These plants use mustard stalk as the raw material and combined capacity of about 45,000 tonnes per year; 12-14 briquetting factories with a capacity to produce 200,000 tons per year are being planned.

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CHAPTER-4 METHODOLOGY
Briquetting process is a process of compaction of residues into a product of higher density than the original raw material. In developing countries such as Malaysia, Philippines, and Thailand, biomass briquettes are mostly carbonized to obtain briquetted charcoal. The briquette carbonization production process consists of a carbonization stage and a compaction stage. In the carbonization stage, a biomass material such as wood is heated (Approximately 450 c) but is not given enough oxygen for the material to burn. This stage produces charcoal. In compaction stage, the charcoal is crushed into very small size as a carbonized powder. Then the powder and some binder are completely mixed at a predetermined mixing ratio. After that the mixture is brought into the molding machine to form the briquettes. The briquettes are dried and cooled. Each step of the process is detailed as follows:

Carbonizing: The raw material is carbonized by less air combustion in


carbonization furnace with low temperature approximately 450c

Crushing: Carbonized material is crushed into very small size by using crushing
into very small size by using crushing machine.

Mixing: Approximate proportions of raw materials and binder are mixed


thoroughly into the mixing container

Briquetting: The mixture is pressed or produced into finished products.


Briquetting machine is used for briquetting charcoal fine into charcoal briquettes.

Drying: The briquettes were dried under sunlight

The important manufacturing process of the charcoal briquette production is crushing, mixing and briquetting, which requires three machines in the production process. This research is to develop a biomass briquetting machine which includes crushing, mixing and briquetting process in a machine. In this way, production area and production cost of biomass briquettes can be reduced by using the newly designed machine. It is a simple energy and money saving device made out of locally available materials. There are several methods available for briquetting biomass. In developing countries, the well24

known briquetting method that is suitable for small-scale applications is the screw-press briquetting. The raw material from the hopper is conveyed and compressed by a screw in the briquetting machine. This process can produce denser and stronger briquettes compared with piston presses.

Fig.3: Process overview

4.2 Developing machine


The compact briquetting machine has been designed with the aim of eliminating individual machines, reducing material handling, manpower and space, and improving productivity. The important matter is that the obtained briquette quality should be in an acceptable range. We design the compact screw-press biomass briquetting system which combines three functions including crushing, mixing and briquetting in a single unit. The briquetting machine designed has a capacity of about 90 kg/hr and is driven by a 0.5 HP electrical motor.

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The briquetting system as the proposed design (a compact machine and one worker): carbonized material is transferred to a compact machine and then the binder is added into the mixing container. Briquettes are extruded out at the die exit. Finally, the briquettes are then cut and dried before sending to its store. In doing so, it helps to reduce worker, material handling, transfer time, space and production time. That leads to improve its productivity.

a) Crushing system: hammer mill is used to crush carbonized material into


carbonized powder. Carbonized powder is then sieved during grinding, at 1.13 kg/min. Size of carbonized powder obtained from this system is less than 1.7 mm.

Fig.3 crushing system

b) Mixing System: Carbonized powder and cassava starch as a binder are mixed
homogeneously by rotating stirrer in a container. After that, the mixed material is then sent into a briquetting process.

Fig.4: mixing system

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c) Extrusion system: In a briquetting process, the mixed material is extruded by a


screw extruder which acts as a continuous feeder and driven by motor. The volume of the material is decreased as it is transferred from the hopper to the die exit. This is achieved by decreasing the diameter of the threaded shaft and cylinder gradually starting with a uniform diameter at the feeding position and decrease gradually to a minimum value at the die position. Figure shows the design of the screw.

Fig.5 extrusion system After finishing the development of such a machine, the capacity and functional testing of the machine are performed. In testing, the briquettes are produced continually by the machine fabricated at full capacity and an appropriate ingredient ratio of the mixture is 50% carbonized powder, 40% cassava starch and 10% water. It is found that the machine can produce the briquettes at high production rate. It is also found that the machine can work appropriately as designed.

Fig.6: Complete assembly of briquetting machine


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Table 6: PARTS OF MACHINE Serial no. 1. Part Name Structure Amount 1 Serial no. 9. Part Name Mixing handle 2. 3. Crushing sys Bearing 1 7 10. 11. Motor Mixing container 4. Charcoal fine chamber 5. 6. 7. 8. Mix. cover Cylinder Feeder Extruder 1 1 1 1 13. 14. 15. 16. 1 12. Crushing pulley Pulley Pulley Mix. Pulley Pulley 2 1 1 1 1 1 1 Amount 1

d) Characterizing property of the briquettes


Heating value: According to the ingredient ratio it is assumed that our machine will give approximately 2000-3000 calories per gram.

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CHAPTER 5 DESIGNING List of component S.No. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 Name Frame Crusher Cover Hammer mill Siever Mixing chamber Stirrer Hopper Extruder cover Extruder Shaft Pulley Bearing Motor No. off 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 4 5 8 1

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1. FRAME:
For any machine it is very important to have a solid and firm base. For our machine we have taken Cast Iron as a frame material and L section of thickness 5 mm and width 30 mm.

Material: Cast Iron Section: L Type Thickness: 5 mm Width: 30 mm

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CRUSHER COVER:

Sheet: steel Thickness: 3 mm

HAMMER MILL:

Blade material: steel

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SIEVER:

Material: steel Sheet thickness: 2 mm

FINE CHAMBER:

Material: tin
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MIXING CHAMBER:

Material: tin Thickness: 3 mm

STIRRER:

Material: Cast Iron

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HOPPER:

Material: Tin

EXTRUDER COVER:

Material: tin
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EXTRUDER:

Material: Aluminum Fabrication: casting

PULLEY 1:
a) Diameter = 100 mm

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Fabrication: casting Dimensions of pulley:


t=

v2

=7200*(DN /60)2 =7200 * (*0.1* 1500/60)2 =444132.2 N/m2 Width of belt (b) = 20 mm Face of Pulley = 1.25b = 1.25*20 =25mm Thickness of Pulley (t) = (D/300) + 2 mm to (D/200) +3 mm =2.91 mm No. of arms = Solid P= power = (2NT /60) Let P =1.5 Hp T = (1.5 *60) / 2*1500 T=7.12 Nm WT= 2T/R = 284.8 N M = 2T =14.24 Nm Dimensions of Hub Diameter of Hub (d1) =1.5 d +25mm = 62.5 mm Or d1=2d =50 mm Length of Hub (L) = = 39.275mm

PULLEY 2:
Diameter: 160 mm Fabrication: casting
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Dimensions of pulley:
t=

v2

=7200*(DN /60)2 =7200 * (*0.16* 1000/60)2 =505323.745 N/m2 Width of belt (b) = 20 mm Face of Pulley = 1.25b = 1.25*20 =25mm Thickness of Pulley (t) = (D/300) + 2 mm to (D/200) +3 mm =3.165 mm No. of arms = Solid P= power = (2NT /60) Let P =1.5 Hp T = (1.5 *60) / 2*1000
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T=10.68 Nm WT= 2T/R = 854.4 N M = 2T =21.36 Nm Dimensions of Hub Diameter of Hub (d1) =1.5 d +25mm = 62.5 mm Or d1=2d =50 mm Length of Hub (L) = = 39.275mm

PULLEY 3:
Diameter =60 mm Fabrication: casting

Dimensions of pulley:
t=

v2

=7200*(DN /60)2 =7200 * (*0.06* 1000/60)2 =71061.15 N/m2 Width of belt (b) = 20 mm Face of Pulley = 1.25b = 1.25*20 =25mm Thickness of Pulley (t) = (D/300) + 2 mm to (D/200) +3 mm =2.75 mm

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No. of arms = Solid P= power = (2NT /60) Let P =1.5 Hp T = (1.5 *60) / 2*1000 T=10.68 Nm WT= 2T/R = 854.4 N M = 2T =21.36 Nm Dimensions of Hub Diameter of Hub (d1) =1.5 d +25mm = 62.5 mm Or d1=2d =50 mm Length of Hub (L) = = 39.275mm

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PULLEY 4:
Diameter= 200 mm Fabrication: casting

Dimensions of pulley:
t=

v2

=7200*(DN /60)2 =7200 * (*0.2*250/60)2 =49348.02 N/m2 Width of belt (b) = 20 mm Face of Pulley = 1.25b = 1.25*20 =25mm Thickness of Pulley (t) = (D/300) + 2 mm to (D/200) +3 mm =3.33 mm No. of arms = 4
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P= power = (2NT /60) Let P =1.5 Hp T = (1.5 *60) / 2*250 T=42.73 Nm WT= 2T/R = 213.65 N M = 2T/n =21.365 Nm Dimensions of Hub Diameter of Hub (d1) =1.5 d +25mm = 62.5 mm Or d1=2d =50 mm Length of Hub (L) = = 39.275mm

PULLEY 5:
Diameter= 315 mm Fabrication: casting

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Dimensions of pulley:
t=

v2

=7200*(DN /60)2 =7200 * (*0.315*166/60)2 =53985.8 N/m2 Width of belt (b) = 20 mm Face of Pulley = 1.25b = 1.25*20 =25mm Thickness of Pulley (t) = (D/300) + 2 mm to (D/200) +3 mm =3.812 mm No. of arms = 4 P= power = (2NT /60) Let P =1.5 Hp T = (1.5 *60) / 2*166 T=64.36 Nm WT= 2T/R = 204.32 N M = 2T/n =32.18 Nm Dimensions of Hub Diameter of Hub (d1) =1.5 d +25mm = 62.5 mm Or d1=2d =50 mm Length of Hub (L) = = 39.275mm

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FUTURE SCOPE
Our machine which combines three functions including crushing, mixing and briquetting in a single unit is able to improve the production cost and productivity. A small light weight fuel briquette machine has been successfully designed and we are expecting to produce 200 briquettes per hour and it will reduce the cutting down of trees for fuel-wood purposes, thereby preventing deforestation and erosion. The product (briquette) which we will obtain from the machine can be used as alternate to fuel-wood in domestic cooking and small-scale industries. The machine will enable agricultural waste to be removed from the environment, thereby preventing environmental pollution. Due to availability of limited resources we have used extra material for more factor of safety which will cost us more but our design is as safe as any other already existing in market and expecting to be more efficient. In India briquetting technology was introduced in late 80s thereafter there is very slow and study development in this field. This is only due to lack of knowledge of the citizen of India. But now the time has come to take it seriously if we want to save our valuable natural resources. Our machine is expecting to be capable of producing highly intensified and pressurized briquettes which will be very efficient in terms of energy. Further modification can be done on the basis of load used and the size of the briquettes being manufactured. Binder is very important for efficiency improvement and for densification of the briquettes so for effective improvement the effect of the binder content on the combustion potentials of the briquette needs to be investigated further.

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REFERENCE
1. M.B Oumarou and Oluwole F.A [1]Mechanical Engineering Department, University of Maiduguri, Bornu State 2. Bhattacharya, S.C. (2002).[2] A Global Review with Emphasis on Developing Countries, paper presented in First World Pellets Conference, Stockholm, Sweden. 3. Bhattacharya, S. C. Augustus, L. M. and Rahman Md. M. (2002). A Study on Improved Biomass Briquetting, combines three functions including crushing, vol.6 (2), 2002. 4. P.D. Grover & S.K. Mishra et al April 19969- biomass Briquetting: technology and practices. 5. https://www.google.com/briquettingmachine/ 6. http://www.tnau.ac.in/ 7. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/briquetting machine/

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APPENDIX
1. Complete views of briquetting machine

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