Yes, believe it or not, there is a publication out there called Biomass magazine.
Come to think of it, why wouldn’t there be? After all we do have a Cowboy & Indian magazine, Garden & Guns magazine, and OMFG! No. It’s not what you’re thinking. It’s the Official Meetings Facilities Guide.
Either way, an article in the November edition of Biomass magazine has boosted our IQ of biomass briquettes.
We’ve extracted below the section of greatest interest to us.
By the way, according to one of those online dictionaries, “feedstock” refers to “the raw material that is required for an industrial process.“
Research at Boise State University in Idaho, explored both the caloric content and shape to optimize burn efficiency of the biobriquettes. The energy content of briquettes ranged from 4.48 to 5.95 kilojoule per gram (kJ/g) depending on composition, whereas the energy content of sawdust, charcoal and wood pellets ranged from 7.24 to 8.25 kJ/g. Biobriquettes molded into a hollow-core cylindrical form exhibited energy output comparable to that of traditional fuels. The study demonstrates that low-energy content feedstocks can be composted, pressed and combusted to produce heat output commensurate with higher energy content fuels.
A calorific donut stands up to charcoal.
This is an interesting statement considering the highest calorific value they report for the briquette is almost 6KJ, while the lowest for sawdust, charcoal, and wood pellets is 7.25. That’s roughly a 1.25 spread. The authors suggest the spread is low enough to bundle briquettes in the same calorific range as charcoal and wood pellets.
From conversations we’ve had with members of the stover community, conventional hockey-puck briquettes with a hole in the center, currently being produced using a Bryant press, are not well suited for burning in a clean cookstove, such as a rocket stove.
One significant variant is that the briquette tested by the researchers included air vents (adapted from Kobus Venter of Vuthisa Technology in South Africa) that apparently helped greatly increase temperatures during combustion.
Calorimetric Results
"It depends what your definition of briquette is..."
Combustion Analysis
When approximately 100 g masses of wood and wood pellets were rapidly ignited, the result was an average increase in temperature of 500 mL of deionized water of between 57 and 64 degrees Celsius, respectively. The charcoal sample was the slowest to ignite, resulting in the smallest water temperature increase, a change in temperature of 17 C, although it burned for the longest duration. In comparison, it was found that briquette combustion was optimized by airflow grooves and a 150 second ignition time in an air-rich environment. These conditions mimic the combustion of multiple briquettes at one time, which is their intended use.
You may need a couple of these to ignite that charcoal
From our own limited understanding, this analysis suggests that the longer you hold a match to the fuel, the hotter it will get once it’s combusting properly.
So why isn’t there more research being done to design a stove that works best with fuel briquettes?
The briquette with a hole through the middle , burns hotter, due to a “venturi” effect. Our DEMECO briquette is 2 1/2 inches wide, and suitable for most stoves and boilers. JohnO
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Why is this site called – the charcoal project – when its actually are promoteing briquettes………a bit confusing, but on the right track…………..
Could you John provide us some samples for Haiti to be tested in the TLUD ND “PekoPe”?
Kim,
Great article. Briquettes are tricky. Many people have tried to crack this huge problem but failed due to non-adoption. A wise and successful investor in Africa once told me that it’s incredibly difficult to change how people ‘cook, have sex and raise children.’ I think whatever the solution is to the charcoal problem, it has to integrate seamlessly with current cooking methods and must be economically favorable to users.
best,
Jason Aramburu
founder
re:char
http://www.re-char.com
Dear Otto,
It’s called The Charcoal Project because we seek to find solutions to the impact of unsustainable and inefficient traditional solid biomass fuels, such as woodfuels, charcoal, and animal dung. “The Biomass Project” just didn’t have very inspiring ring to it.
Rgds,
Kim
Absolutely, Jason. We agree with you whole-heartedly. Briquettes should be cheap, easy to use, and easily available in urban areas. That’s the entrepreneurial nut that needs to be cracked!
I don’t know why the briquette project in Haiti was failed. There may be several weaknesses in promoting briquettes. If I am given a chance, I love to involve in briquette program in Haiti. Anyway, I am very much encouraged to see a piece of compact briquette in Clinton’s hand.
We are in this process since 2003 in Nepal. I introduced compact briquettes in Cambodia, Afghanistan, and India.
For more information, please contact me PCIA Forum in Lima.
sir I m doing research on biomass briquettes. My research title is “preparation of biomass briquettes and testing its efficacy”. please help me in review writing. suggest me some sites where i will get articles for guidance.
Thanks
Dear Harshita,
I suggest you look at Legacy Foundation online (Legacyfound.org) and contact Aprovecho.org for additional information.
Rgds,
TCP
I am a briquette producer in the US. I have shipped close to 30 tons of briquettes in large a small/puck configurations to Haiti.
I flew in to see how the “tests” were going. I was not encouraged as it is difficult to use just a part a couple pucks to try and cook with in family setting. Commercially in the laundries and bakeries they would work fine.
To date it is very difficult to try and motivate from traditional methods.
AND there is the issue of moisture and storage. We are changing production to pellets for export so maybe my next endeavor will be the implementation of the more efficient stove.
Les
Hi! I’m Karj from Philippines. We were doing a project feasibility study as a partial requirement in our course Management Consultancy. And our product is about paper charcoal. Hope you can help us.
I want to ask the machine you use in making the briquette charcoal with a hole in the center. I just read that it burns more hotter when it has a hole in the center.
Hi, Karj. Thanks for your query. Yes, it appears that in combustion tests, briquettes with holes in them do burn hotter because they allow the oxygen to flow and expose more surface area of the briquette to combustion. There are manual and semi-industrial machines that make these. The Chinese manufacture a briquette with several holes in them but I believe their machinery is quite more expensive than the simple hydraulic presses that are most common. I recommend you do a google search for Petterson or Mini-Bryant presses. You can also find documentation at the Legacy Foundation website: legacyfound.org
Keep us posted on how your project develops!
Best regards,
Kim
Thanks for your reply. It was really a big help for our study
Is it okay if we mix the waste paper and rice hull and straw in making the charcoal?
Karj,
To be honest, we don’t develop ourselves the formula for carbonizing biomass as every situation is different due to the variety of ingredients. However, you can ask the question on a google group on briquettes (google it). You can also contact Isaac Owor, our expert adviser in Uganda, at envirocoalug at hotmail dot com
Please keep us posted on the outcome!
Rgds,
Kim
Okay. I’ll try to google it. Thanks for your response
Hi everyone,
my query is more from industrial point of view…
You may have heard of Tyre Pyrolysis plants where in they recycle waste tyres in to Oil, Steel and Carbon Black.
Oil and steel got their own uses but carbon black is full of impurities have less no. of takers.
I have read on internet if carbon black powder is processed in briqutte form it yeild upto 6200KJ… which is equivalent to A grade coal…
I want to reconfirm it with your expert panel and if you can help me get more information on same I would be grateful.
Regards
Ravi Rathi
India
I am looking for supplier of paper charcoal or paper charcoal briquette.
Can you email to me the names, postal addresses and the email addresses of those suppliers and/or
manufacturers. My email address is: j.umipig@yahoo.com
I would appreciate your immediate reply.
Regards
Juan
I am looking for supplier of paper charcoal or paper charcoal briquette.
Can you email to me the names, postal addresses and the email addresses of those suppliers and/or
manufacturers. My email address: j.umipig@yahoo.com
I would appreciate your immediate reply.
Regards
Juan
Dear Juan,
Thank you for your email. Unfortunately, we don’t keep track of paper charcoal briquettes manufacturers.
Regards,
Kim