COMPARISON OF BRIQUETTES PRODUCED WITH ARTISANAL BRIQUETTING MACHINE VS BRIQUETTES PRODUCED BY MANUAL METHOD

Abstract

In rural areas of Honduras, the excessive consumption of firewood as fuel and the incineration of recyclable waste present environmental and health problems. This study focuses on the production and comparative evaluation of biomass briquettes made with an artisanal briquetting machine versus those made with a previously documented manual method. Recycled paper and cardboard, sawdust, cassava starch and charcoal were used as raw materials. The parameters evaluated were moisture, calorific value and combustion time. The results show that the briquettes manufactured with the handmade prototype have a better performance in terms of humidity, where there was a reduction of up to 4.15%, in calorific value there was an increase of up to 132.73 J/g and in terms of combustion time an average of 5 additional minutes were achieved. These results show that this artisanal technique is a viable, sustainable and low-cost option for rural populations with limited resources and access to conventional energy.