Some Thermal Characteristics of Yam Peels Bonded Water Lily (Nymphaea Odorata) Briquettes.

Abstract

The hike in price of cooking gas, kerosene, electricity, and related firewood scarcity is a clarion call for the development of alternative affordable energy source, to the rescue of the low-income earners in Nigeria and abroad. Water lily, which falls into the invasive category of aquatic plants, blooms heavily in the Niger Delta region, all year round due to its endowment with network of rivers and streams. The study investigated the effect of binder concentration on the combustion properties of water lily briquettes. For this study, yam peels were gotten from table top vendors, which were then cleaned, sun-dried and milled to particle sizes 1.18 mm using Disk mill and Tyler sieves. The water lily plants were harvested manually, and treated similar to the yam peels to arrive at particle size of 1.18 mm. Yam peels’ grinds at concentration levels of (B1) 20%  to (B4) 80%  of a constant weight of water lily grinds at steps of 20% were blended together with addition of 200ml of boiled water. The resulting homogenous feedstock was then fed into a steel cylindrical die of dimension 14.21cm height and 2.14cm diameter, and compressed by hydraulic press at pressure level of 5 MPas with dwell time of 20 second before the resulting briquettes were ejected for further studies. From the results of the study, Fixed Carbon ranged from 15.98 to 26.38, volatile matter from 49.7 to 57.9, Ash from 15.7 to 17.8 and calorific value from 24880kj/kg to 25981 kj/kg. The values obtained in this study are above 17000kj/kg threshold minimum calorific value by standard (DIN 51731) for fuel sources, hence they are suitable for household and for small industrial heating applications. Though the combustion properties, generally improved with increase in binder concentration, it could be inferred that the optimum amount of binder recommended for the production of water lily yam peels’ bonded briquettes is at 60% and below, because beyond 60% the ash content increased and the calorific value declined.