Biomass Briquettes

Biofuel Substitute to Coal and Charcoal.

Biomass briquettes are a biofuel substitute to coal and

charcoal. Briquettes are mostly used in the developing
world, where cooking fuels are not as easily available.
There has been a move to the use of briquettes in the
developed world, where they are used to heat industrial
boilers in order to produce electricity from steam. The
briquettes are cofired with coal in order to create the heat
supplied to the boiler.

07-04-2020 • BIOMASS PRODUCTS

Biomass Briquetting: Introduction
Many of the developing countries produce huge quantities of agro
residues but they are used inefficiently causing extensive pollution to
the environment. The major residues are rice husk, coffee husk, coir
pith, jute sticks, bagasse, groundnut shells, mustard stalks and cotton
stalks. Sawdust, a milling residue is also available in huge quantity.
Apart from the problems of transportation, storage, and handling,
the direct burning of loose biomass in conventional grates is
associated with very low thermal efficiency and widespread air
pollution. The conversion efficiencies are as low as 40% with
particulate emissions in the flue gases in excess of 3000 mg/ Nm³.

In addition, a large percentage of unburnt carbonaceous ash has to

be disposed of. In the case of rice husk, this amounts to more than
40% of the feed burnt. As a typical example, about 800 tons of rice
husk ash are generated every day in Ludhiana (Punjab) as a result of
burning 2000 tons of husk. Briquetting of the husk could mitigate
these pollution problems while at the same time making use of this
important industrial/domestic energy resource.

Biomass densification, which is also known as briquetting of sawdust

and other agro residues, has been practiced for many years in
several places in India. As of April 1969, there were 638 plants in all
over the country engaged in manufacturing sawdust briquettes,
known as 'Ogalite', amounting to a production of 0.81 MTY. The fact
that the production of briquettes quadrupled from 1964 to 1969 in
India speaks for the success of this technology.

With a view to improving the briquetting scene in India, the Indian

Renewable Energy Development Agency (IREDA) - a finance granting
agency - has financed many briquetting projects, all of which are
using piston presses for briquetting purposes. But the fact remains
that these are not being used efficiently because of their technical
flaws and also due to a lack of understanding of biomass
characteristics. Holding meetings with entrepreneurs at different
levels, providing technical back-up shells and educating
entrepreneurs have to some extent helped some plants to achieve
profitability and holds out hope of reviving the briquetting sector.
Need to Start:
“In order to understand where we are with our energy resources and
consumption patterns today, it's worth taking a look back at how
human energy use has changed over time.”

The history of human energy use is shaped by energy densification!

For thousands of years, biomass was almost the only constant
available and controllable energy source. Wood served as the
preeminent form of energy until the mid- to late-1800s, even though
water and wind mills were important to some early industrial
growth. Coal became dominant in the late 19th century before being
overtaken by petroleum products in the middle of the last century, a
time when natural gas usage also raised quickly. Thus, the energy
content per unit (mass or volume) of the resources increased
steadily.

Almost all forms of energy, fossil fuels, wind or biomass, were or are
driven by solar energy. When managed sustainable, i.e. harvest does
not exceed growth, biomass is a renewable energy. Through the
mechanism of photosynthesis solar energy is bound into chemical
energy in the plants. Thereby it gets usable for humans in form of
eating or burning.
Briquetting or pelletizing is the process to improve the characteristics
of biomass as a renewable energy resource by densification.
Densification means less volume needed for the same amount of
energy output. Figure 1 visualises the magnitude of the differences
of bulk density. Each column has the same energy content and
represents the volume needed to obtain the equivalent energy of
one litre of fossil heating oil. Wood pellets have the highest energy
content per volume within the solid biomass examples here listed.

Figure 1: Energy per volume of renewable resources compared to

fossil oil and coal

The need of processing and densifying of biomass are not only

limited to the higher energy content.
Both of the techniques, briquetting and pelletizing, are based on
compacting the raw material to yield certain advantages:

 High volumetric energy density

 Favourable dosing characteristics
 Lower water content in the fuel and therefore greater storage
stability (less biodegradation)
 Option to use additives to change the chemical/material
properties
 Less dust produced when handling
 High homogeneity of the fuel

Next to adapted cooking behaviors and improved cooking

appliances, the fuel can play one important role in improving the
overall situation of households. Biomass briquettes can be produced
out of many field or process residues and burning them in cooking
appliances instead of traditional fuels as logged and collected wood
or charcoal can be an interesting alternative for business makers but
also for fuel clients. Biomass briquetting are by no means limited to
its use in modern industrial plants or solid fuel boilers. Indeed, in
developing countries a far bigger percentage of the population cover
their energy needs with biomass alone, where their primary need is
for heat energy for cooking and heating.
Features of Biomass Briquettes:

The tannery industry is renowned for the huge amount of toxic solid
and liquid waste generated from the cleaning, fleshing, splitting,
tanning, shaving and buffing of raw materials. Biomass briquettes are
a proven way of generating energy from waste. This study
investigates the development and characterization of biomass
briquettes from tannery solid wastes (TSWs). TSWs, which comprise
hair, flesh, chrome shavings and buffing dust, were collected from a
tannery in Kano, Nigeria, to formulate and characterize six
briquettes. Scanning electron microscopy and proximate analysis
were carried out on the samples. The six briquettes, comprising
varying ratios of hair, flesh, chrome shavings and buffing dust, were
molded and characterized. Thermal efficiency, durability and
compressive strength, among other properties, were determined for
the six briquette formulations. The briquettes developed had calorific
values between 18.632 and 24.101 MJ/kg. Durability of the
briquettes ranged from 98.12% to 99.77%. The energy values were
within the range of 17.462–24.101 MJ/kg, which was comparable to
other fuel sources such as sub-bituminous coal (20.000–24.730
MJ/kg). This shows that TSWs can be used for fuel briquette
production, which is a source of sustainable energy generation. It is
environmentally friendly, cost effective and affordable compared to
fossil fuel.
Scope:

In 21st century as per the worst Situation of Environment due to

Global Warming, there is an enormous requirement to face the
challenges by preventing Green House Effect through Biomass
Briquetting Machine which replaces non-conventional Fuels into
Environment Friendly Bio-Fuel.

Bio Fuel can be produced by using easily available Biomass Waste

like, Saw Dust, Corn Husk, Bagasse etc. with the help of Briquetting
Machinery. Briquetting Machines Manufacture Solid Bio Fuel called
Biomass Briquettes or White Coal which is totally Eco-Friendly, Non-
Polluting with no Sulphur Contain will nurture our Earth.

Briquetting Machines used Technology to manufacture Biomass

Briquettes. It’s called Binder less because it is not using any chemical
to form solid Bio Fuel from loose form of Biomass. 

In Briquetting Machines biomass is pressed which produced Lignin to

bind loose biomass. No any Chemical is added so it’s cheaper and
eco-friendly than other Fuel. Briquetting plant Project is Renewable
Energy Project and it’s using Renewable Energy Source Biomass. It’s
the one part of Go-Green Project. Government also gives support for
this project by giving subsidies and income tax exemption.

Bio Fuel Briquettes is Widely Used for any type of thermal application
to replace Fossil Fuel.

 Brick making Unit   

 Lamination Industries
 Textile Processing Industries
 Dyeing Units
 Ceramic Industries
 Milk Plant
 Spinning Mill
 Vegetable Plants
 Chemical Industries
 Refractory Industries
 Rubber Industries                                   

Scope of Briquettes
There are many advantages of using Bio Fuel Briquettes:

No Harmful Emission: Biomass Bio Fuel Briquettes not contain

Sulphur or any hazardous material which are the reasons for Green
House Effect.

Clean Energy: It’s not producing ash and smoke while burning so it’s
a clean energy source.

Renewable: Briquettes are made from Biomass which is one of the

renewable energy sources.
Reduce Dependency on Fossil Fuels: Day by day price of Fossil Foil is
increasing and availability of it is decreasing.

  

Cost-Effective: It’s cheaper than other fossil fuel because its made
from waste which is easily available.
At present, in India, the Biomass Fuel industry is generally at a more
advanced level. The world's large enterprises are mainly
concentrated in Asia. Meanwhile, foreign companies have more
advanced equipment, strong R and D capability, and leading
technical level. With the development of India Biomass Fuel industry
production technology, their share in the international market is
increasing, and competitiveness in the international market gradually
increases. The demand for industrial biomass briquette and pellets
for energy production is driven, in significant part, by governmental
policies and incentives. India has become a large international
consumption country of Biomass Fuel industry in 2016.

India accounted for approximately 79.68% of Global biomass

Briquette Fuel production. As Chinese overall economic downward
trend in the past few years, in the next few years there will be many
uncertainties, and coupled with Biomass Fuel industry situation in
the past few years, the current demand for Biomass Molding Fuel
product is relatively low. In the coming years, as the environmental
standards are more and more strict, biomass fuel market is expected
to witness the highest growth rate in the Asia-Pacific region.
Although biomass Briquette Fuel brings a lot of opportunities, the
study group recommends that the new entrants just having money
but without technical advantages and upstream/downstream
support should not to enter into this field. The worldwide market for
Briquette is expected to grow at a CAGR of roughly 7.8% over the
next five years, will reach 10600 million in 2024, from 6760 million in
2019, according to a new (Global)study. This report focuses on the
Briquette in Global market.
Export Market Limitations: -
The inability of companies to acquire a margin in the sale of their
pellets can mean producers have to scrimp in other areas, including
quality. "RWE was not satisfied with the quality of pellets coming
from the other countries., so they're build their own plant". There is
a huge concerned about the quality of pellets, with depressed pellet
prices in Europe and cheap resources coming out of areas such as
Brazil and Malaysia. "Quality could be a critical limiting factor".
Everyone should be a reliable supplier with a high-quality product."

Another factor limiting the development of a robust export market of

woody biomass products is increasing concerns about shipping life-
cycle analyses. A lot of shippers who are concerned about this. "On
the other hand, another thing we need to think about is we get a lot
of goods brought in by container and a lot of those containers go
back empty to their countries of origin. So,there's a lot of backhaul
opportunities.

"There's going to be a big competition between existing pulp and

paper mills and pellet plants. "They use exactly the same raw
material, so there's going to be a big rub there. And I also there's
going to be some political fallout." American pulp and paper
companies are going to lean on their representatives, especially
locally, to dissuade any incentives providing tax abatements, making
investments for new woody biomass densification facilities difficult.
"The big companies that are long-time players in the local markets
will really push on them to not provide those sorts of incentives. And
a lot of them will be successful."

In addition, complaints have surfaced about the USDA's Biomass

Crop Assistance Program, including concerns that the Farm Service
Agency was subsidizing the export of green energy to Europe.
Stewart expects BCAP-2 to exclude exported material for payment
qualification, which will undoubtedly affect the woody biomass
products industry in the U.S. "I think it will slow down the
development because pellet costs will be higher, manufacturing
costs will be higher, and that means the end product cost in Europe
will be higher.

Another limitation is depth at India ports. The shipping capacity is

limited by the Port of depth of only 6 meters, adding that his once-
monthly shipments will amount to about 60,000 tons this year and
up to 120,000 next year. Plans to deepen the port to 9 meters would
mean it could support 25,000-ton ships and significantly increase
freight.Itincreases its volume of export by procuring pellets from
other companies for shipment with their own products. "We think
we can fairly economically reach out about 240 miles or so.

Deep water is essential for shipping wood resources, with most ports
requiring about 12 to 13 meters. "There are a limited number of
deepwater ports that have handling or bulk handling capabilities and
you have to have those combinations.

But many agree that the limitations are not insurmountable and
won't stop the market from developing. There's such an incredible
demand in India that there's going to be biomass wood chip and
pellet export opportunities and it's going to grow over the next five
to 10 years".
Biomass Briquettes Market: Trends and Opportunities 
Currently, various trends seen in the market that has risen the
demand for biomass briquettes are its advantages over other fuels,
low ash content as compared to charcoal and coal, cost-effective,
and is sulfur free. Moreover, low environmental effect, uniformity in
combustion, higher boiler efficiency due to low moisture content and
high density has increased its demand across the globe. The
popularity of piston or ram press and screw extrusion machines are
the most preferred technologies used for producing high-pressure
biomass briquettes. Biomass briquettes have a high potential to
substitute coal in most boiler and power applications and have a high
combustion rate that has increased its demand on a large scale. 

 A complete backdrop analysis, which includes an assessment of

the parent market
 Important changes in market dynamics
 Market segmentation up to the second or third level
 Historical, current, and projected size of the market from the
standpoint of both value and volume
 Reporting and evaluation of recent industry developments
 Market shares and strategies of key players
 Emerging niche segments and regional markets
 An objective assessment of the trajectory of the market
 Recommendations to companies for strengthening their
foothold in the market   
Government Supports Biomass Briquetting
Biomass briquetting project is today one of the best environment
protection techniques getting popular among rural people,
industrialists etc. Even government could not ignore the unmatched
benefits of briquetting and planned to support people engaged in
this technology. Government planned different subsidies for
briquetting plant projects to encourage more and more people to
opt for it.

The subsidy not only encourages people to start briquetting process,

but also control environment pollution along with effective
utilization of waste material. Due to ecofriendly features, there has
been a huge growth in sale of briquette press machines. Subsidy has
further increased profits for the people opting briquetting as a
business.

Indian government has announced different benefits and incentives

for the people engaged in briquetting process. One starting a
biomass briquette plant can avail below mentioned privileges:

Sales tax exemption- Biomass briquettes are exempted from sales tax
in different states including Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh, Delhi,
Maharashtra and Rajasthan. Looking at the benefits and people’s
interest in new technology, other states are also trying to make
briquetting sales tax free. Many states have offered subsidy in rural
areas to contribute in rural development.

100% depreciation- To make is easy for the users; government has

allowed depreciation of total value of briquetting plant and
machinery in first year.

Income tax redemption- To encourage and lure people towards

briquetting, government has made the revenues from this process
completely tax free for first five years.
No license- To set up any business, entrepreneurs need to obtain
license, but for briquetting business you don't need to get into the
hassles. Government has exempted complete briquetting industry
from obtaining license.

Financial support- Central and State Government not only give

subsidies, but also provide financial support at low rate of interest.

This is one of the most rewarding businesses, where experts say that
one can get back total investment just in 1 year. This is one of the
only industries with constant income.

The Central and State Govt. provide subsidies on biomass briquettes.

Apart from the subsidies Govt. of India also announced series of
incentives. These incentives are 100% depreciation, excise
exemption, income tax and sales tax exemptions etc. The factory
owners should percolate these subsidies and incentives to the
consumers.
Market Analysis: -
Jan 21, 2020 (The Express wire) -- Biomass Briquette Market research
study offers emerging market trends, competitive landscape, and
vendor analysis with respect to regions, and forecast details.

Biomass molding fuel is made of agricultural and forestry residues

such as rice stalk, straw, cotton stalk, bamboo sawdust, wood flour,
ramie stalk, peanut husk, etc. It is produced by pellet machines or
briquetting machines, after going through several processing
procedures, such as crushing, drying, mixing, molding or
compressing, etc. And the final products are pellets and briquettes,
which are used as a replacement for coal, gasoline gas and other
traditional fossil fuels. Compared to fossil fuels, biomass molding fuel
produce low net total greenhouse gas emissions because the
materials used are already a part of the carbon cycle.

Biomass pellet fuel are biofuels made from compressed organic

matter or biomass. Wood pellets are the most common type of pellet
fuel and are generally made from compacted sawdust and related
industrial wastes from the milling of lumber, manufacture of wood
products and furniture, and construction. Other industrial waste
sources include empty fruit bunches, palm kernel shells, coconut
shells, and tree tops and branches discarded during logging
operations.

Biomass briquettes are mostly used in the developing world, where

cooking fuels are not as easily available. There has been a move to
the use of briquettes in the developed world, where they are used to
heat industrial boilers in order to produce electricity from steam. The
briquettes are cofired with coal in order to create the heat supplied
to the boiler. Biomass briquettes, mostly made of green waste and
other organic materials, are commonly used for electricity
generation, heat, and cooking fuel. These compressed compounds
contain various organic materials, including rice husk, bagasse,
ground nut shells, agricultural waste. The composition of the
briquettes varies by area due to the availability of raw materials. The
raw materials are gathered and compressed into briquette in order
to burn longer and make transportation of the goods easier

There is the difference between biomass pellet and biomass

briquette.

Biomass pellets are usually utilized in home pellet stove, central

heating boiler, industrial boiler, or in power plants to replace coal.
They can also be used as horse bedding and cat litter. However,
biomass briquettes are sticks or blocks with large diameter and
different shapes (hexagon, cylinder, cuboid, etc.) made by biomass
briquette machines. They are primarily for industrial use for heating.

At present, in developed countries, the Biomass Fuel industry is

generally at a more advanced level. The world's large enterprises are
mainly concentrated in EU. Meanwhile, foreign companies have
more advanced equipment, strong R and D capability, and leading
technical level. With the development of Chinese Biomass Fuel
industry production technology, their share in the international
market is increasing, and competitiveness in the international market
gradually increases.

Market Analysis and Insights: Biomass Briquette Market

The global Biomass Briquette market is valued at 372.1 million in

2020 is expected to reach 612.6 million by the end of 2026, growing
at a CAGR of 7.3%

The Biomass Briquette Market Size by Type:

 Biomass Briquette
 Biomass Pellet
The Biomass Briquette Market Size by Applications:

 Thermal Energy
 Power Generation
 Other
The literature review and market research uncovered sufficient
markets for the inputs and outputs of a biomass briquetting
enterprise in India. Biomass, packaging materials, equipment and
briquette machine manufacturers are all available within Kenya. The
principal challenge is to obtain enough biomass, at a low enough
price, to produce a sufficient volume of biomass briquettes (i.e. 21
tons per month). While there is a reportedly significant market
opportunity for the outputs of biomass briquettes, the comparative
low cost of biomass in India presents a constraint.

Technical specifications – as a means to enhance product quality:

 Ensure the biomass briquettes have a calorific value of at least
15 Mj/kg to provide enough energy output for cooking or
heating;
 Develop a minimum table of quality standards that will be used
to test biomass briquette quality on a weekly basis;
 Conduct continuous research and field trials on alternative
biomass options as a means of continual product improvement;
and
 Purchase a briquetting machine with a motor of at least 22.5
kW and a capacity of 250 kg per hour.
Market viability – as a means to enhance marketing and sales:
 Restrict the target market to Nairobi-based consumers where
they are used to paying a higher price for biomass; and
 Direct marketing efforts to appeal to target consumer groups
based on their product preferences: domestic consumers must
be aware of the product quality and availability; institutional
and industrial consumers should be made aware of the low
price, and same day deliveries.
Mode of Transportation and Selling: -

Most of the briquetting industries in the past and present have used
or are using imported technologies mainly from India and China.
They are very expensive, and make briquetting unfeasible and lead to
local adaptation and fabrication, reducing the capital costs. Locally
fabricated machinery/equipment is comparatively cheap making
briquetting business more feasible. Therefore, locally made, cheap
technologies need to be promoted rather than imported ones. This
will make briquetting business more feasible.

Hotels, party palaces, catering services, etc. are using briquettes

extensively for space heating and cooking. This should be further
expanded to tourist and trekking areas in the hill and mountain
areas.
Use of fuel wood and fossil fuels should be discouraged in industrial
boilers and briquettes should be used as substitutes. Fuel briquettes
should be promoted in agro processing industries, distilleries, textile
dyeing, etc. Use of briquettes in clay and ceramic industries (brick
kilns, pottery), carpet, pashmina industries should be revived and
further expanded.
Raw Materials for Biomass Briquettes
Briquetting is used basically to produce high-density fuel by
compacting combustible raw materials such as charcoal, agricultural
residue, forest waste, industrial and municipal waste to increase the
net calorific value per unit volume, to improve combustion efficiency,
to reduce pollution and to ease handling, transportation, storage,
etc.

If previously only rice husk was use as raw material for briquetting,
now the scope of briquetting has widened because research and
development has shown that many new raw materials can be used
for briquetting. Some of them are Tite pati, Dhungri Phool, banana
waste, bamboo waste, water hyacinth, etc. They are available free of
cost and also found to be a problem for agricultural activities and
forestry propagation. There are many more such waste biomasses,
which can be potential raw materials for briquette production. The
cost involvement is only the labor cost for collection. It can be seen
from the above chapter on biomass situation that the list of waste
biomass is in exhaustive.
Country wise Raw Material Availability
Palm husk , Saw Dust, Rice Husk, Rice husk char , Wood
Malaysia
Chips,
Labakshi, Lantana, Banmara, Saw Dust, Cotton shells,
Nepal  Cotton Husk , Cotton Stalk, Katra Grass, Agerntum ,
Thakalkanda, Ficus
Natherlands Saw dust,  Other Agro waste,
Thailand Corn cob , Corn cob waste
U.K.     Ceder cones, Sow dust, Wood Chips
Saw dust, Wood Chips, Rice Husk, bark, chips and woody
U.S.A. materials, Oliveyard waste, Vineyard waste, Straw and
Husk,
Rice husk , Saw Dust, Rubber Wood Dust , Rice char
Vietnam
[ash] , Rice stem, Rice Busha
Amla Seed , Almonds, Babool, Bagasse, Bamboo dust
briquette,  Coffee husk, Castor seed shell, Cashew shell,
Coir pith, Coconut shell,  Cotton shells, Rice husk, Paddy
India
Straw,  Saw dust,  Tea waste ,  Soyabean husk, Jute waste,
Tobacco waste, Groundnut Shell, Cotton Stalks / Chips,
Mustard Stalk, etc.

Biomass Materials and Their Typical Characteristics

We have been engaged in marketing for renewable and non-

conventional energy equipment i.e. Briquetting Plants for converting
forest wastes and agriculture wastes into White coal. Our Company
is the dependable company in Renewable Energy Technology field
with proven track records. Every year million tons of agricultural
waste are generated. These are either destroyed or burnt
inefficiently in their free from causing air pollution. Handling and
transportation of these raw materials is also very difficult due to
their low compactness. So, we provide the solution to use this
wastage in the best form. This wastage can easily be converted into
high density fuel (briquettes) with the help of Biomass Briquetting
Plant. In India and other agriculturally based countries, there is large
amount of raw material available of Biomass. It is the Renewable
energy eco-friendly concept especially for agricultural counties like
African counties and so on.
Requirement and Stocking System:

The controlling moisture content is a critical aspect to determine the

dryness of the biomass and its readiness to be processed into
briquettes. Moisture meters can be either fixed or mobile.Fixed
moisture meters are typically located in laboratories or test rooms;
samples of the stored biomass stocks are then taken to the meters
for a moisture content check. Typically, fixed meters also provide
information about bulk density and dry weight (tons/m³),and
communication with computers and/or printers. Some models are
even prepared to print a small report.

Mobile moisture meters can be brought to the biomass storage

areas, thus enabling a quicker check of moisture contents “in situ.”
Spear type sensors are typically used to facilitate the measurement
of moisture inside a biomass heap or stockpile, and at different
depths. Mobile meters can also incorporate data logging, and are
prepared for communication with computers and printers.

The maintenance required by the mobile moisture meter is higher

than the fixed ones. The spear sensor is the most sensitive part,
therefore this component should not be hit hard, cleaned after every
use and should be kept without resin or any other substance that
could stick to the spear and mask the moisture content
measurement.
Milling:
Biomass milling is done by crushers or chippers, depending on the desired size of
the resulting material (refer to section 3.1.2).The main components of crushing
machines (figure 24) are: the grinding chamber, the rotor hammers (crushing
elements), the grate (that can be perforated to sieve the crushed bits in different
sizes), and the ventilator that sucks the crushed biomass out of the crushing
chamber

With respect to chippers, the main components are: the feeding roller and
platform, the chipping chamber, the cutting blade, the sieve grate and the
recovery platform.
In terms of maintenance, the main components subject to severe wear are the
grinding elements (hammers, blades); despite being built with highly resistant
materials (typically steel), a frequent check up on their condition is important
(and replacement in case of low performance), together with the prevention of
metallic elements or stones from entering into the crushing and chipping
chambers.

The grates and sieves must also be inspected regularly to ensure that there are no
obstructions to the crushed or chipped biomass outlet, which affects the output
of the process as well as potentially damaging the grate or sieve.

Dryer:

The main components of driers are:

• Hot air source – The hot air flow that will dry the biomass needs to
be produced, either on purpose (through a boiler run on part of the
pre-dried biomass), or by using waste heat coming from a
cogeneration unit or another nearby heat source if available.
• Drying channel – The dimensions (diameter or height, length)
of the space where the biomass will be dried need to be
adequate to ensure that the moisture content will be reduced
to the specified levels for briquetting. Typically, biomass is conveyed
by means of moving belts or platforms.
• Cyclone separator- The air flow used to dry the biomass will drag
solid particles that need to be extracted and collected via cyclones.

Briquetting:

The major components of briquetting piston units (figures 12 and 26) are:
• Biomass hopper: where the crushed biomass is stored, ready to be compacted
into briquettes. Automated valves control the amount of biomass to be dispensed
into the compacting cylinder to manufacture briquettes in batches.
• Pressing cylinder, piston and matrix: the chamber where the densification of the
briquette takes place by the pressing action of a piston. At the end of the cylinder,
a matrix with the desired shape of the briquettes is fixed.
• Flywheel: the rotating element that drives the piston movement. The flywheel is
used to store kinetic energy to support continuous and stable operation.
Manufacturing Process of Biomass
Briquettes

Drying: The material used in the briquetting plant must have moisture
content less than 10%, if the moisture content is higher, you need to
remove the excess moisture from the material by using the biomass
material drying machine.

Crushing: If the size of the raw material is larger than 200 mm, briquetting
plant demands to convert into smaller pieces between 3-5mm. The
biomass material crusher is used to prepare suitable size raw material for
the biomass briquetting plant. The selection of the crushing machine is
solely depending upon the size of the raw material. To get the support and
solution concerned with crushing machine, contact us.

Screening: Screening process taken under consideration after the

completion of crushing process, in which the improperly sized raw material
gets eliminated. The screening process is must to prevent hazardous
failure of the machine and deliver the supreme quality briquettes as an end
product.

Briquetting: After the assurance of perfect moisture, perfect size and

perfect crushing, briquetting process take place, in which biomass briquette
press operates under high pressure and high temperature to compress the
biomass material into small, medium or large sized bricks. The material
continuously feed to the plant, once the temperature of the machine set to
300 °C. The size of the briquettes depends upon the selection of briquetting
plant.
Advantages of Biomass
 Biomass is a renewable source of energy - if produced in a
sustainable manner. Efficient planting guarantees that supply
meets demand.
 In most regions of the world, people use wood or some form of
biomass fuel. With the right stove, the majority of these fuels
can be burned without further processing.
 Usually biomass fuels are easily accessible. Collecting firewood
seems to be cheaper than alternative fuels such as gas, paraffin,
and electricity. Thus, biomass fuels are more affordable to the
poor.
 Biomass is within reach of users. Users do not depend on
providers, utilities or imports as for fossil fuels.
 Fuel preparation behaviour is often more important in reducing
emissions than the technology itself.

Disadvantages of Biomass
 Biomass fuels are mainly burned on inefficient open fires and
traditional stoves.
 In many cases, the demand for biomass fuels far outweighs
sustainable supply. This can contribute to deforestation, land
degradation and desertification.
 Unclean burning leads to emissions.
 Dwindling resources lead to an additional workload for women
and children as they have to spend more time searching for
firewood. The fuel they find is often of a lower grade and thus
burns with more smoke and less heat.
 Every year, the smoke from open fires and traditional stoves -
leading to Indoor Air Pollution (IAP) - kills about 4.3 million
people.[4] Thus, every 8 seconds, someone (mostly women and
children) is dying due to inefficient use of biomass fuel.
 Fuelwood is often collected on a daily basis and has no time to
dry before use. This makes the use less efficient as some heat is
 wasted to drive the moisture out of the wood. Moist fuelresults
in more smoke.

Technology:

The Technology on Biomass charcoal briquettes production can be

transferred to unemployed people in rural areas and rural entrepreneurs.
MCRC can provide necessary assistance in setting up of a Biomass
charcoal briquettes production facility. However, the end user should under
take market study at their own cost and establish their own market.
SWOT analysis:
Strength Weakness
1. Urban areas located relatively close to 1. Need for more support in form of free
rural areas, what reduces logistical source of good independent advice and
problems for domestic and small-scale support
biomass supply
2. Lack of region’s own bio-energy Centre
2. Good regional forestry resources in and web portal, which would promote
comparison to the rest bio-energy activities in the region and
provide wide information and support as
3. Underutilized straw resources e.g. Future Energy Yorkshire biomass
portal
4. Extensive areas of agricultural land
3. Negative farmers’ perception of bio-
5. Big timber processors based in the energy due to pitfalls with planting SRC in
region - sawmill co-products are an NE in the past
important biomass source, mainly used in
Eggers on long term contracts 4. Limited resources of organic animal
waste due to the domination of extensive
6. CPI Sustainable Processing Centre free-range farming
(SUSPROC) and the national industrial
biotechnology facility including 5. Biomass industry currently dependent
technologies like AD, use of algae for on continuous public sector support to
carbon capture, development of zero maintain growth
carbon cities (based on bio and waste
processing) and low carbon closed loop
systems
Opportunity Threats
1.Governmental support for biomass 1. Concerns over air-quality impact from
systems (e.g. Bioenergy Capital Grants biomass heating applications need some
Scheme, Feed in Tariffs, Low Carbon clear-headed thinking
Buildings Program)
2. Lack of leadership from Government in
2. Development of the Renewable Heat plugging gap before introduction of
Incentive provided the plans they lay Renewable Heat Incentive
down are adequate and pre-qualified to
avoid potential consumers delaying 3. Large users of biomass such as the
installation to claim tariff payment proposed projects on Teesside and
beyond consuming a large proportion of
3. Private and public sector interest in the regions biomass could result in
biomass fuelled heating growing strongly. limited supplies and rising prices for
Emerging fire wood market. smaller consumers (see also
opportunities!)