Development of a mold for briquette production in a bench scale

Abstract

The briquette produced by densification of residual biomass is one of the alternatives for solid fuel which can come from agriculture, tree pruning, or wood industry. This biofuel shows advantages over firewood and charcoal, such as higher calorific density and ease of storage and transportation. However, the variety of raw materials used for the production of briquettes is still small; therefore, the expansion of research on this topic is necessary. In this sense, this work presents the development of a briquetting machine on a bench scale, with lowmanufacturing cost and easy handling. The system is composed of a base-mold, metal pipe liner, and piston coupled to a hydraulic press. The parts were manufactured in ASTM 304 stainless steel using a mechanical lathe. Finite element simulations for a 10-tonne static load applied to the hydraulic press were performed, and the lowest safety coefficient obtained was 1.3182 for the piston part. The briquettes were produced using up to 50 MPa of compaction pressure. The most common defects occurring during the use of the mold, and the corrective maintenance procedure for each case are also described.