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Production and characterization of environmentally friendly charcoal briquettes obtained from agriculture waste: case of Cameroon

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Abstract

In this paper, three types of charcoal briquettes, respectively, from banana peel, corn husk and their mixture for cooking applications in Cameroonian’s households were produced, characterized and compared to firewood charcoal. Cassava starch was used as binder. The determination of fixed carbon, volatile matter and ash contents was performed according to the D1762-84 standard procedure. A Thermo Scientific FLASH 2000 Organic Elemental Analyzer was used to find the composition of organic elements (hydrogen, carbon, nitrogen and sulfur) of the charcoal briquettes samples. Based on the elemental composition analysis results, the higher heating value (HHV) was computed. The results showed that the average HHV of briquettes ranged between 16.42 and 16.64 MJ/kg for banana peel, from 16.80 to 16.92 MJ/kg for corn husks and from 16.87 to 17.24 MJ/kg for their mixture. The elemental ratios for H/C and O/C were evaluated as well. The Van Krevelen diagram showed that the values were below 0.7 and 0.4, respectively, for all the briquettes, considered good in terms of stability. The kilogram of the proposed charcoal obtained from agriculture waste costs around 0.42 Dollar while that of firewood charcoal is sold at around 0.68 Dollar in Cameroon markets.

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Acknowledgements

The authors would like to thank Prof. Dr. Ir. Frederik Ronsse from the department of biosystems engineering of Universiteit Gent in Belgium for his contribution in the characterization of charcoal briquettes.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. URISIE, University Institute of Technology Fotso Victor, University of Dschang, P.O Box 134, Bandjoun, Cameroon

    P. Tiam Kapen, E. Yadjie & G. Tchuen

  2. UR2MSP, Department of Physics, University of Dschang, P.O Box 67, Dschang, Cameroon

    P. Tiam Kapen, E. Yadjie & G. Tchuen

  3. BEEMo. Lab., Higher Institute of Science and Technology, Université Des Montagnes, P.O Box 208, Bangangte, Cameroon

    P. Tiam Kapen

  4. Kemit Ecology, Mairie douala 2e, Cameroon

    M. Nandou Tenkeu

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  1. P. Tiam Kapen
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  2. M. Nandou Tenkeu
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  3. E. Yadjie
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  4. G. Tchuen
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Correspondence to P. Tiam Kapen.

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Editorial responsibility: Samareh Mirkia.

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Kapen, P.T., Tenkeu, M.N., Yadjie, E. et al. Production and characterization of environmentally friendly charcoal briquettes obtained from agriculture waste: case of Cameroon. Int. J. Environ. Sci. Technol. 19, 5253–5260 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/s13762-021-03497-7

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s13762-021-03497-7

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