Biontoxscrr!dBiorrwgy Vol. 8, No. 3, pp.

175-179,1995

Pergamon

0961-9534(95)ooo16-x

Elsevier Science Ltd

Printed in Great Britain
0961-9534/95$9.50f 0.00

DURABILITY AND RELAXATION OF SAWDUST AND

WHEAT-STRAW BRIQUETTES AS POSSIBLE FUELS FOR
KENYA
LUCY WAMUKONYA*and BRYANJENKINS?
*Department of Environmental Science, Policy and Management, University of California, Berkeley CA
94720, U.S.A.
TDepartment of Agricultural Engineering, University of California, Davis CA 95616, U.S.A.
( Received

7 July 1994: revised receh>ed, 7 November 1994; accepted 23 November 1994)

Abstract-Densification
of agricultural residues and wood waste into fuel briquettes can provide a relatively
high-quality alternative source of fuel, especially where solid woodfuel resources are scarce. The objective
of this study was to determine the possibility of producing durable briquettes from wheat straw and sawdust
as fuel for Kenyan households and small-scale industries. These consumers are burning an increasing
amount of these materials, which in their raw form are poor quality fuels. Briquette length expansion at
specific time intervals was determined over a l-week period. The moisture content and durability of these
briquettes were measured after a storage period of 2 weeks at approximately 20C and 50% relative
humidity. Sawdust and shavings briquettes were the most durable and exhibited the least degree of length
expansion. Wheat-straw briquettes were the least durable and expanded most. However, blending straw with
sawdust improved this durability considerably. There appears to be a direct relationship between length
expansion and the durability rating of the briquettes. All the briquettes had relatively low moisture content.
Briquettes can be manufactured without a binder but with poor durability in the case of straw.
Keywords-Briquettes;

durability; Kenya; wood waste; agricultural residues.

1. INTRODUCTION

Biomass, mainly woodfuel (charcoal and firewood), is the major source of fuel energy in
Kenya, accounting for more than 85% of the
total energy consumed..? Predictions indicate
that the demand for woodfuel is increasing at a
rate 4.7% higher than can be sustainably
supplied. Inevitably, the increasing woodfuel
scarcity has driven its price so high that this
commodity is unaffordable for many consumers
in most rural trading centers.
Shortage of woodfuel is forcing an increasing
number of rural and urban poor to resort to using
raw agricultural residues and wood waste for
cooking. In their raw state these fuels are bulky,
dirty during handling and storage, burn too fast
and are smoky. Though converting them into
conventional forms of fuel, such as charcoal, gas
or electricity could improve their quality, there
would be a monetary cost associated with the
conversion and hence these free residues would
attain a monetary price. Depending on the
magnitude of the price, the fuels might then
become as unattainable as the woodfuel to these
rural and urban poor. One might then have to

redefine the targeted consumer, and the original

market would still be left with unsatisfactory
fuels.
This study looks into the possibility of
producing durable binderless briquettes from
sawdust, shavings, wheat straw and their blends
at relatively low pressures as fuel for Kenyan
households and small-scale industries. There are
about 400 sawmills in Kenya. Most of these mills
operate at low timber-conversion efficiency with
about 50% of the log volume converted to
timber, while the rest ends up as sawdust, bark,
trimmings and other wastes. Nearly 63,000
tonnes of sawmill residues are generated in
Kenyan sawmills annually. In concurrence, a
study by FAO concludes that 65% of all the
wood entering the sawmills in less-industrialized
countries (LICs) ends up as residues.4 The paper
industry is another source of wood waste,
primarily bark. Winrocks, estimates that the
average amount of waste generated in the
sawmill industry in Honduras is approximately
50% of the incoming log volume, 7% of which
is bark.
Wood waste is used for various purposes,
depending on the local demand. In some mills,
175

176

L. WAMUKONYA
and B. JENKINS

sawdust is co-fired with diesel fuel in a boiler to

generate steam, which is used in composite board
production. Compared to using solid wood as
fuel, wood waste is a good substitute in terms of
its heat content.6 Some farmers collect sawdust
for use as cooking fuel. In Nakuru district, a few
households have purchased a wonderstove, a
specially designed stove to burn the sawdust.
However, a large quantity of waste is not utilized
and piles of sawdust are evident at most sawmills.
These are eventually burned in open air as a
disposal measure.
Large quantities of agricultural wastes are
generated on-farm and in agricultural-processing industries but the form and concentration
varies, both within regions and between
industries. Senelwa and Hall conclude that a
total of 11 million tonnes of agricultural residues
are generated per year. Maize and vegetables are
common subsistence crops grown in most parts
of the country. Wheat, maize, coffee and tea are
also produced commercially on a large scale.
Wheat is grown on a large scale in the Rift Valley
province, while maize is produced in both
the Rift Valley province and the Trans Nzoia
district. Larger quantities of crop residues are
more easily available within a relatively smaller
radius, where commercial farming is being
practised, than in regions where the crop is grown
for subsistence consumption.
Besides having alternative uses, the agricultural wastes might not always be available for use
as fuel. In some areas, all or some of the residues
are left in the fields as soil cover and as a source
of nutrients. Crop residues are also commonly
used as fodder for livestock and for roof
thatching. Where agricultural residues are not
available in concentrated form, collection costs
tend to be high. In the case of wheat, the straw
is gathered and placed on the periphery of the
farm in preparation for the next planting season.
Hence, there would be no additional collection
costs if it were to be used as a commercial
fuel-source. Some of the straw is sold to the paper
industry for paperboard production, but the
bulk of it is burned as a disposal measure.
Agricultural residues are also used as supplementary household fuel. OKeffe and Munslow*
concluded in 1984 that crop residues provide
about 3% of the total national energy consumed
in Kenya.
Converting crop and wood residues into
densified fuels could improve the fuel quality
substantially. Densification is a process by which
loose particles, such as sawdust, are compressed

together into a larger, more compact form,

referred to as briquettes, with or without the use
of a binder. Though this technology has been
extensively used in industrialized countries for
production of animal feed, coal and wood-waste
briquettes, its success in the LICs has been
limited. This has been attributed to poor
installation
of inappropriate
management,
equipment and abnormally high capital costs9
The briquetting equipment is imported from
developed countries at exorbitant prices. This
equipment is often technically complex and
normally the installing company neglects to train
the local engineers on its maintenance. The spare
parts are almost never available locally and in
case of a breakdown, technical experts have to be
imported at enormous expense. A briquetting
plant imported to Kenya in 1980 cost U.S.$6000.
Its productivity is 6000 tonnes per annum but it
operates below its production capacity, which
increases the production costs significantly. This
plant has not suffered from commissioning and
maintenance problems because it is subsidized
by the government and was installed where a
high degree of technical support was already
available.
Fuel briquettes can be marketable if produced
at low cost and when they are conveniently
accessible to the consumer. In Sudan, lowpressure carbonized cotton-stalk briquettes are
favorable and find a ready market in households
and small-scale industries. Wood-waste briquettes are generally a good substitute for wood
in industries in Ghana, where they fetch a higher
price than woodfuel. However, as noted before,
briquetting equipment is quite expensive and if
the industry is to be successful in LICs, the
equipment should consist of locally designed
simple machines that can be repaired easily and
at low cost.
The objective of this study was to determine
the possibility of producing relatively durable
briquettes from wood waste, wheat straw and
their blends at moderate pressures, 75 MPa,
without a binder. High pressures and the use
of binders can add to the production costs
significantly. These residues were chosen for this
study because they are available in substantial
quantities in Kenya. In each replication, the
sample was compressed over a 5 s hold-time.
The change in length of the briquettes after
compression and ejection was determined over a
2-week period. Although limited in scope, this
was useful in studying some of the effects of
storage on the quality of the briquette. Briquette

Durability and relaxation of briquettes for Kenya

moisture-content was also determined, since it

has a significant influence on the quality of the
briquette.
2. METHODS AND MATERIALS

2.1, Raw materials procurement

The raw materials used included ponderosa
pine sawdust with a particle size distribution of
55-65 mm, ponderosa pine shavings at 6075 mm, and anza variety wheat straw at
80-100 mm. The wood waste was obtained from
a sawmill and air-dried for approximately 1 week
at roughly 20C and 50% relative humidity. The
straw was obtained from a farm in Sacramento
County, California, and was dry. The straw
particle-size was reduced to about 20 mm by
hammer-milling. The moisture content was
determined by oven drying.
2.2. Briquetting process
quality

and determination of

A 30 g sample was used to produce individual

briquettes and for each feedstock a total of 50
replicates were produced. Blends of wheat straw
and sawdust were made at a ratio of 1:1 and 1:3,
weight basis. A computer-controlled
hydraulic
press was used to make the briquettes. The
briquettes were made in a die with a diameter of
38 mm. This die shape and size is dimensionally
comparable to conventional lump charcoal,
which enhances briquette use in conventional
charcoal stoves. The sample was fed manually
into the die hopper. The sample was then
compressed under computer control at a
moderate pressure of 75 MPa against a back-up

160
140
F

Straw

Sawdust

-a-

Shavings

177

piston. The briquettes were formed by compression only. No extrusion was done, nor was
the die heated. A 5 s hold-time was preset for all
the replications. This dwell time was chosen on
the basis of studies by Reece and Rundell and
Fairbanks, which recommend this time-span.
The length of the briquettes while under
compression was determined automatically by a
linear-displacement transducer situated between
the forming and back-up pistons of the press.
Following ejection from the press, the length of
each briquette was measured at the following
time intervals: 1, 3, 5, 10, 30, 60, 120, 1440 and
10,080 min. Fractional elongation based on the
length at compression was then calculated.
Briquette durability was measured using the
ASAE standard method, S269.3.14A test sample
of three briquettes (approximately 100 g) was
tumbled for 3 min at 13 rev/min in a cage
measuring 300 mm x 300 mm x 457 mm, with
sides made of 6.35 mm square wire mesh. The
weight of the remaining particles was then
determined. Four replications were made. The
durability rating for each type of briquette was
expressed as a percentage of the initial mass of
the material remaining in the cage.
3. RESULTS AND DISCUSSION

3.1. Length expansion

Figure 1 shows the percentage length increase
of briquettes from the various raw materials:
sawdust, shavings, wheat straw and the 1:1 and
3:l sawdust:wheat-straw blends. The term S:W
refers to the sawdust:wheat-straw ratio on a
weight basis.

s:w (1:l)

s:w(3?

Log time (min)

Fig. 1. Percentage length increase with time. Note the length at time zero is the length of the briquettes
immediately upon removal from the die
JOB 8 3-O

178

L. WAMUKONYA
and B. JENKINS

As expected, wheat-straw briquettes exhibited

the largest expansion, while shavings briquettes
expanded the least. At the end of the study
period, the wheat-straw briquettes were about
2.5 times longer (150% increase) than when
under compression. In comparison, briquettes
made from shavings were only 80% longer, while
those made from sawdust were 70% longer.
Straw has a low average bonding capacity, as it
contains lower amounts of native components,
such as the lignin and extractives present in wood
waste, that enhance particle cohesion. Hence, the
straw is held together by weak surface-bonds,
which weaken further as the pressure is released.
Mixing equal proportions of wheat straw and
sawdust reduced the length expansion by 30-35%
compared to pure wheat-straw briquettes, but
the expansion was still considerable. Increasing
the proportion of sawdust from 50 to 75% in the
blends reduced length expansion by an additional 7%. Shavings briquettes had minimum
expansion in comparison with the other types.
As is evident in Fig. 1, maximum expansion
occurred within the first minute after the
compression pressure was released for all types
except sawdust, which shows maximum expansion between 1 and 2 min. This result is consistent
with the study by Mohsenin and Zaske.ls
Following the initial increase, the expansion is
roughly logarithmic with time up to 2 h. Beyond
this, changes in the environmental temperatures
and humidity result in nonuniform expansion
rates. A lO-15% (wet basis) increase in moisture
content was observed in the briquettes at the end
of the second week in storage. The briquettes
were stored in rooms with temperatures ranging
from 15 to 20C and a mean relative humidity of
approximately 50% but which was uncontrolled
and varied from night to day. Wheat-straw
briquettes showed a decrease in absolute length
after 1 week; this was due to material loss from
these briquettes. More losses were detected with
extended storage periods. Some of the straw
briquettes fell apart. The briquettes from the
other raw materials continued to increase in
length over the study period.

Table I. Durability rating for the different briquettes after 2

weeks
Raw material
Straw
Sawdust
Shavings
s:w (I:l)
s:w (3: I)

Mean
durability rating

Standard deviation

46.5
82.6
88.4
51.5
67.6

0.59
0.97
9.54
0.74
0.44

portrayed a 30% increase in durability rating

over those with equal fractions of sawdust
and straw. As shown in Table 1, the durability
increases only slightly up to 50% straw fraction,
and then increases nearly linearly as the straw
fraction decreases below 50%.
3.3. Briquette moisture content
Briquette moisture content is shown in
Table 2. Wheat-straw briquettes had the lowest
amount, since they had been stored in dry
conditions for more than 6 months, though, in
general, straw tends to dry within much shorter
periods. In Kenya, wheat straw could achieve
a moisture content of in the range of IO-15%
after sun-drying for 1 month. The sawdust had
a higher moisture content than the wheat straw.
The optimum moisture content for briquette raw
material tends to be 12-20%, wet basisI The low
straw moisture content may partially explain the
poor durability. The wood moisture was within
the recommended range. A parametric investigation of the effect of straw moisture was not
undertaken but should be pursued in the future.
4. CONCLUSION AND RECOMMENDATIONS

The work demonstrates that briquettes can be

manufactured without any binder, albeit with
poor durability in the case of straw. Shavings and
sawdust produce more durable briquettes. The
durability of the wheat-straw briquettes can be
enhanced by blending the straw with wood waste,
although even at a ratio of 3:1 wood:straw, the
durability remains marginal. Wheat is produced
in large quantities in some parts of Kenya and,

3.2. Briquette durability

Shavings briquettes were the most durable, as
is evident from Table 1. Durability rating was the
lowest for wheat-straw briquettes. Mixing equal
proportions of straw and sawdust increased
the durability rating by about 10% absolute
over straw briquettes. The briquettes made with
a higher proportion of sawdust in the blends

Table 2. Briquette moisture content

Raw material
Straw
Sawdust
Shavings
s:w (l:l)
s:w (3:l)

Moisture content
(% wet basis)

Standard deviation

7.7
13.3
15.1
10.9
11.7

0.25
0.35
0.29
0.45
0.4

Durability and relaxation of briquettes for Kenya

since these wheat-growing areas have a considerable number of sawmills, there is a possibility for
blending wheat straw and sawdust and, hence,
increasing the use of straw as fuel. There is some
potential that the wheat-dust generated in the
cereal industry could also be mixed with sawdust
and densified into fuel briquettes but this was not
explored here. This could divert pressure from
forests as a source of fuel.
In order to recommend briquetting of wood
waste and agricultural residues as fuel for
Kenyan energy consumers, further analysis
needs to be done to determine the optimum
relations between compression pressures, energy
consumed and durability of these briquettes.
A complete economic analysis needs to be done
to establish the feasibility of producing these
briquettes. However, it should be noted that
it would be important to include the cost of
wood saved when using wood-waste briquettes
to substitute for charcoal. Environmental costs
associated with using such highly volatile fuels as
straw, instead of charcoal, which is relatively
smokeless, also require consideration.
Acknowledgements-The
authors express gratitude to Dr
Frank Beall of the University of California, Berkeley, for his
assistance during this study and for editing this paper.

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