Water Hyacinth Briquette Making and Energy Evaluation

Water hyacinths (WHs) are becoming a problem in lakes, ponds and waterways in many parts of the world. The method to solve this problem is by processing WH into biomass briquette and using it as an energy source. This study describes the process of conversion of WH into biomass briquette and then its energy evaluation. A hydraulic press is used for making WH briquettes for different pressure levels (12, 40, 60, 80 MPa), composition (100% WH, 75% WH+25% Saw dust, 50% WH+ 50% Saw Dust) and grain size (<5 μm, 5 μm to 1 mm, >1 mm). In total, 16 samples have been prepared and tested for moisture, ash, volatile, fixed carbon and calorific value (Proximate Analysis) content using ASTM Standards. It is found that the calorific value is above 3100 kcal/kg in all the cases which can be accepted as a biomass briquette for cooking and industrial boiler applications. Further, study on factors influencing densification and quality of the briquette is also made.