Physicochemical and porosity analysis of rice husk bio briquettes with water hyacinth as a binder

Abstract

The physical properties such as morphological structure and porosity of bio-briquettes significantly affected their burning characteristics and other various physical performance related to the handling during the distribution and storage. The chemical properties of fuel materials critically determine the heat content that potentially converted being useful energy. Investigating the inorganic ingredients is also necessary to properly handle residual materials resulting from the burning process. This paper presents the study of the morphological characteristics and porosity of rice husk bio-briquettes (RHB) with water hyacinth as a binder. The WH-bound RHB was formed using a metal tube mold with a diameter of 35 mm and a height of 100 mm. The RH and WH were blended with a mass ratio of 70/30 (wt,%), then water was added to the blended material at an amount of 10% of total mass and stirred evenly using a mixer at a constant speed. The final blended material was then inserted into the mold and pressed by 4 MPa. Chemical element composition was obtained from scanning electron microscopic (SEM) images and then identified using an energy dispersive X-Ray analyzer (EDX). The result indicated that RHB’s major compositions were carbon, oxygen, silicon, potassium, chlorine, and magnesium, the percentages of which were 44.55; 39.67; 11.96; 2.44; 0.92, and 0.46 wt.%, respectively. The RHB’s porosity was 0.6713%, which would probably affect the density and resist index.