Insights into the Quality and Quantity of Briquette Fuels from Bone Wastes

Abstract

In Kenya, bone wastes are accumulating rapidly yet have no immediate potential industrial use. Accumulation of waste bones have adversely impacted land, air and water. There is a need to mop out waste bones from the environment into a valuable product. This research investigated the quality and quantity of briquettes fuel prepared from waste bones. The waste bones were pyrolyzed in a metal kiln. Three briquette samples with 75.00%, 40.00% and 20.00% binder were prepared and their calorific values compared with that of commercial charcoal samples. The bones char and binder (black clay) were characterized by Infrared Spectrometer and their combustion parameters analyzed using standard methods. The average product yield of the bone char from the bone waste was 80.00%. The bone char recorded a moisture content (MC) of 4.17%,ash content (AC) of 40.83%, volatile matter (VM) of 23.67%, fixed carbon (FC) of 31.33% and calorific value (CV) of 18.68 kJ/g. On the other hand, the binder had4.25%MC, 89.50%AC, 5.00%VM, 1.85%FC and calorific value of 2.28kJ/g. The calorific values of the three samples were 6.08 kJ/g (75.00% binder), 12.89 kJ/g (40.00% binder) and 13.91 kJ/g (20.00% binder) respectively. The calorific value of 100% bone char (18.6842 kJ/g) was higher than that of the charcoal samples (12.00-15.52 kJ/g).In conclusion briquettes fuels prepared from bone waste can complement charcoal and combat environment pollution caused by deforestation and accumulation of waste bones.