THERMAL AND EMISSION CHARACTERISTICS OF CARBONISED AND UNCARBONISED RICE HUSK BRIQUETTE, A COMPARATIVE APPROACH

Production of briquettes from carbonized and uncarbonized rice husk using a locally fabricated hydraulic press was studied. Proximate and Fourier Transform Infrared Spectroscopy (FTIR) analyses, thermal characteristics, and emission properties of the briquettes were determined. Thermal and emission characteristics were determined in real-time measurements during Water Boiling Test (WBT) using Laboratory Emissions Monitoring System (LEMS) equipment. The burning rates of the uncarbonized and carbonized briquettes were 14.35541g/min and 6.478456g/min respectively. The specific fuel consumptions of the briquettes were 96.5502g/L and 80.12107g/L for uncarbonized and carbonized respectively.The energy consumption rate of uncarbonized briquette was 203.4046KJ/min while that of carbonized was 157.6007KJ/min. It took uncarbonized sample average cooking power of 1.598235KW and 0.543518KW for thecarbonized briquette. High power particulate matter of uncarbonized briquette was 13.20391mg/MJ while that of carbonized was 0.510256mg/MJ. High power carbonmonoxide of uncarbonized and carbonized briquette were 0.443276g/MJ and -0.00964g/MJ respectively. Both briquettes were categorized as tier four in line with the International Workshop Agreement (IWA), International Organization for Standardization (ISO) standard specification for stove testing. Keywords: Briquette, Carbon Monoxide, Carbonization, Cassava Starch, Rice Husk