The competitiveness of charcoal briquettes production is very strong in Pakistan. Being an agrarian economy, more than 60% of the population is involved in agricultural activities in the country. As per World Bank statistics, around 26, 280, 000 hectares of land is under cultivation in Pakistan. The major sources of biomass briquettes are crop residues, including wheat straw, rice husk, rice straw, cane trash, bagasse, cotton sticks.
Moreover, producing power from biomass briquettes can tackle the energy crisis prevailing in the country. Pakistan is currently facing serious energy supply problems. Energy demand has been increasing by about 8% per year during the last 12yr and this trend is likely to continue. The high cost of energy mix is the main underlying reason behind the power crisis. A way to counter this problem is to look for fuel sources which are cheap and abundantly available within the country. Charcoal briquettes are the right choice.
Briquetting in Pakistan: Recycling Waste into Profits
Compression of loose biomass, rice husk, wheat Straw and other agricultural or forest waste in to high density briquettes with the help of briquetting machine is called briquetting. During the process, any kind of binder or chemical / adhesive is not needed. It binds the raw material itself by high temperature and high pressure of biomass briquetting machine. The finished charcoal briquette has higher calorific value, burns completely thus emits lesser Air Pollution. At the same time charcoal briquette is easy to transport and store. Thus, it can be widely used in boilers, furnaces, sugar plants, chemical Industries, dyeing industries, food processing, oil extraction and other domestic and commercial purposes. Many of the developing countries are now diversified to promote this technology, because it has little investment, low pollution and easy operation. Government of Pakistan, of course, also is encouraging biomass briquettes industry by giving incentives to the manufacturer, plant holder and briquettes user.
Compression of loose biomass, rice husk and other agricultural residues or forest waste in to high density briquettes with the help of briquetting machine is called briquetting. During the process, any kind of binder or chemical is not needed. It binds the raw material itself by high temperature and high pressure of biomass briquetting machine. The finished charcoal briquette has higher calorific value,burns completely thus emits lesser air pollution. At the same time charcoal briquette is easy to transport and store. Thus, it can be widely used in boilers, furnaces, sugarcane plants. Chemical industries dyeing industries food processing oil extraction and other domestic and commercial purpose. Many of the developing countries are now diversified to promote this technology because it has little investment low pollution and easy operation
Bagasse briquettes production in Pakistan
Sugar cane is a major crop in the country and grown on a wide scale throughout Pakistan. During 2010-2011, the area under sugarcane cultivation was 1,029,000 hectares which is 4% of the total cropped area. The combined crushing capacity of various sugar mills located in the country is more than 590,000 tons per day. Pakistan crushed 48,249,000 tons of sugar cane during the last crushing season (2011-12), which yielded over 15 million tons of bagasse assuming 32 percent fiber on cane.
With bagasse briquette machine, high profits can be made from the sugar cane trash. Briquetted bagasse has high calorific value, low moisture content and densified form.
Benefits of briquetting bagasse
★ High calorific value ranges between 3,500-5,000 Kcal/Kg;
★ Moisture percentage is very less (2-5%) compared to lignite, firewood & coal where it is 25-30%;
★ Economic to users compared to other forms
★ Briquettes can be produced with a density of 1.2 g/cm³ from loose biomass of bulk density 0.1 to 0.2 g / cm³;
★ Easy to handle and store due to its size;
★ Consistent quality;
