Performance of binders in briquetting of durian peel as a solid biofuel

Abstract

As a consequence of an increasing in durian season in a year, many durian peels become a garbage. However, the valuable contents in durian peel namely lignin and cellulose are wasted away. These contents have high possibility to be modified as a biofuel. The purpose of this current study is to investigate the effect of binders on briquetting of durian peel, particularly modification of starch composition as a binder. In this study, the durian peel was treated by drying, milling and carbonization at 370 oC. The binders were starch and calcium hydroxide. The ratio between durian peel and various binders was 4 % of weight. In binding with starch, the weight ratio of starch and water as a solvent was modified by 1:4, 1:8 and 1:12 respectively. The durian peels were mixture physically with binders and formed into cylindrical shape. Analysis on briquette involved proximate analysis, theoretical calorific value and compressive test. The calorific value revealed that briquette non-carbonized has highest theoretical calorific value (18.62 MJ/kg) and its compressive test was 130.19 MPa. The present study has found that starch and calcium hydroxide could be applied as a binder for briquetting of durian peel as a solid biofuel.