Abstract
WASTE TO WEALTH: CONVERSION OF SAWDUST TO USEFUL ENERGY
Oriaku E. C.*, Onu C. C., Odenigbo J. O., Ibeagha D. C., Adizue U. L.,
Aburu C. M.
ABSTRACT
One of the obvious problems of developing countries is generation of insufficient energy to sustain enough economic activities that will catalyze industrial growth. Nigeria is in a serious energy crisis. Frantic efforts are being made both by the government and the private sector in order to run out of the dilemma. Researches on the alternative renewable energy sources which encompass wind, solar, biomass, hydro etc., are ongoing to compliment fossil energy. Biomass energy is harnessed from organic material wastes, such as agricultural waste, lumber scraps, forest debris, wood processing waste etc. In this work, sawdust of (Oje timber) tree sourced from Enugu east timber shade in Enugu state Nigeria was collected, sieved and carbonized at five different temperatures of 400oC, 500oC, 600oC, 700oC and 800oC. The carbonized products were briquetted using cassava starch as binder. The briquettes were dried and calorific values determined in bomb calorimeter. The results showed that the Sawdust briquettes had higher calorific values than briquette from charcoal, palm kernel shell, carbonized palm kernel shell, rice bran and palm kernel shell briquette and un-carbonized sawdust. The carbonized briquette at 500oC produced the highest calorific value of 6835.76cal/g (28.614MJ/kg). The briquettes will be a good source of energy for industrial heating in boilers, furnaces, ovens and also for domestic application.
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