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Processing water hyacinth into biomass Briquettes for cooking purposes

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Journal of Emerging Trends in Engineering and Applied Sciences (JETEAS) 2 (2): 305-307
© Scholarlink Research Institute Journals, 2011 (ISSN: 2141-7016)
jeteas.scholarlinkresearch.org
Journal of Emerging Trends in Engineering and Applied Sciences (JETEAS) 2 (2): 305-307 (ISSN: 2141-7016)

Processing water hyacinth into biomass

Briquettes for cooking purposes
O.A. Ighodalo, K. Zoukumor, C. Egbon, S. Okoh and K. Odu

Mechanical Engineering Department

Ambrose Alli University, Ekpoma-Nigeria
Corresponding Author: O.A. Ighodalo
__________________________________________________________________________________________
Abstract
The processing of agricultural wastes into biomass is a strategy towards the development of alternative energy
sources. Water hyacinth is an aquatic plant which could be used as an alternative energy source to wood.
This paper presents the processing of water hyacinth into biomass briquettes for cooking purposes. The water
hyacinth which was harvested, dried and ground into powder was mixed with starch binder before being
compressed into briquettes in a manually operated briquetting machine. The briquettes produced were sun-
dried and comparative cooking tests were carried out by burning the briquette in a mold while cooking some
food items. Some quantity of Water was boiled and, Indomie, Rice and Yam were cooked. Comparisons of the
cooking time obtained were made with the time obtained when the same quantities of foods were cooked on a
conventional kerosene stove. Results obtained shows that water hyacinth can be processed into briquettes and
used for cooking purposes.
__________________________________________________________________________________________
Keywords: Water hyacinth, Biomass, Briquettes, Cooking test
__________________________________________________________________________________________
I"TRODUCTIO"
The decreasing availability of fuel wood, coupled 1981). Efforts are underway all over Africa to remove
with ever rising prices of kerosene and cooking gas in water hyacinth from waterways by hand, machine,
Nigeria, has necessitated a consideration of using chemical and biological control (PACE, 2011).
alternative sources of energy for domestic and cottage Various uses are also been developed for the plant
level industrial use in the country. Energy from such as for making bio-fertilizer, furniture, sewage
biomass is one such alternative. Biomass is the and biological waste-water treatment, and biogas
energy source derived from organic matter such as production (Rademaker, 2006). Other uses include,
plant materials, wood from the forest, agricultural feed for livestock, substrate for mushrooms and as
process, industrial and human or animal waste vegetable for humans (Ambali, 2000). To further
(David, 1978). Biomass is a renewable energy source extend its usefulness as a renewable source of energy,
and can be processed into a convenient solid form the plant can be processed into biomass briquettes for
using briquetting technology. One of the plants that heating purposes.
could be used for solid fuel biomass is water
hyacinth. Water hyacinth (eichhornia crassipes) is an This paper therefore presents a study on processing
aquatic plant which has a high proliferation rate and water hyacinth into biomass briquettes for cooking
floats freely on the surface of fresh water or can be purpose.
anchored in mud. It grows in mats up to 2 meters
thick which can reduce light and oxygen, change MATERIALS A"D METHODS
water chemistry, affect flora and fauna and cause Briquetting Machine
significant increase in water loss due to evapo- Briquettes have developed over time with two
transpiration. It also causes practical problems for distinct types, those with holes through the centre and
marine transportation, fishing, hydro power and those, which are solid-formed using different
irrigation schemes. It is now considered a serious techniques (Copperwiki, 2010). A solid briquette is
threat to biodiversity (Oso, 1988). manufactured using a piston press which simply
sandwiches layers of sawdust together, and those
In Nigeria the plant has since invaded most of the with a hole are produced using screw press. The hole
creeks and inlets, blocking waterways, causing is simply a byproduct of the screw thread passing
problems in water transportation, fishing and other through the center however; it also increases the
commercial activities whose survival depend upon surface area of the log and aids efficient combustion.
water. The plant is also a breeding ground for many The main components of the briquetting machine
insects and mollusks which are vectors of diseases used consists of , the mold, a base plate, hollow pipe,
like bilharzias, river blindness and malaria (Philip, the screw press and the supporting frame. The

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Journal of Emerging Trends in Engineering and Applied Sciences (JETEAS) 2 (2): 305-307 (ISSN: 2141-7016)

machine specifications are shown in Table 1 and the
isometric view of the machine assembly is shown in
Figure 1.
Figure 1: The isometric view of the machine
assembly is shown in Figure 1.
The dwell time (i.e. duration of load application) was
5 minutes and production is one per press.
Comparative Cooking Test
In order to evaluate the water hyacinth biomass for
cooking purposes, 2 litres of water was boiled while
some food items such as rice, indomie noodles and
yam were cooked by burning the biomass in the
cylindrical mold. The cylindrical mold serves as the
cooker when it is detached from the briquetting
assembly and the biomass is burnt within the mold.
The weights of the cooked food items are 0.4kg of
rice, 120g of indomie noodles and 2kg of yam. The
same quantities of food items were also boiled or
cooked using a small sized conventional kerosene
stove. Water boiling and food cooking tests were
repeated with the water hyacinth biomass combustion
aided with some pieces of wood. The temperature
versus time history was taken for water boiling test
while the total cooking time for the food materials
were recorded.

RESULTS A"D DISSCUSIO"

The results obtained from the tests are shown in
tables 2 to 4.

Table 2: Result of water boiling test for biomass

cooker and conventional kerosene stove
Biomass Cooker Kerosene stove
Time Temp(oC) Time Temp(oC)
(mins) (mins)
0.0 30.0 0.0 30.0
5.0 34.2 5.0 37.0
Table 1: Specification of the briquetting machine. 10.0 38.4 10.0 48.1
Description Dimension (mm) 15.0 43.3 15.0 60.0
Cylindrical Mould Φ 230 20.0 49.1 20.0 82.2
Mould height 250 25.0 54.0 24.0 100.0
Mould thickness 20 30.0 60.0 - -
Bolts M 22 x 20 35.0 67.3 - -
Hollow pipe Φ 50 40.0 74.1 - -
Screw 350 45.0 80.2 - -
Handle 250 50.0 86.1 - -
Base plate 30 x 30 55.0 95.2 - -
Supporting frames 500 57.0 100.0 - -
Screw press (Outer) Φ 175
Screw press (inner) Φ 60 Table 3: Result of water boiling test for biomass
cooker (aided) and conventional kerosene stove
PRODUCTIO" OF THE BRIQUETTES Biomass Cooker Kerosene stove
The water hyacinth was harvested and sun dried. The Time(mins) Temp(oC) Time(minutes) Temp(oC)
dried plant was then ground into powder. A binder
0.0 30.0 0.0 30.0
was prepared from cassava starch solution and mixed
5.0 42.4 5.0 37.0
with the water-hyacinth powder. The biomass
10.0 58.0 10.0 48.1
material was loaded into the cylindrical mould and
the screw press inserted into the mould. The threaded 15.0 87.3 15.0 60.0
screw was passed through the horizontal bar to 19.0 100.0 20.0 82.2
compress the screw press which in turn compresses - - 24.0 100.0
the water-hyacinth powder inside the mould. After
being compressed to an appropriate depth or
thickness, the briquette was removed and sun dried.

306
 Journal of Emerging Trends in Engineering and Applied Sciences (JETEAS) 2 (2): 305-307 (ISSN: 2141-7016)

Table 4, Summary of results for cooking on biomass providing an alternative energy source and slowing
cooker( unaided and aided) and kerosene stove. down the rate at which wood is being used for
Biomass cooker Kerosene heating purposes.
stove
Test unaided Aided with CO"CLUSIO"
wood This presentation has shown that water hyacinth can
Items/qty Time Time Time be processed into Biomass briquettes for cooking
(minutes) (minutes) (minutes) purposes. The briquetting of the water hyacinth was
Yam, 2kg 59 28 32 done using a manually operated briquetting machine.
Rice, 0.4kg 66 32 38 The cylindrical mold which serves as the
Indomie 25 6 8 compression chamber in the machine also serves as a
noodles, burner unit for the produced biomass briquette, when
120g it is detached from the main assembly. Although the
use of the water hyacinth briquette took a longer time
Table 2, shows the temperature versus time recorded for cooking purpose when compared with the
for the water boiling test for both the biomass cooker kerosene stove, an improved cooking time can be
and conventional stove, it can be observed that water obtained when the water hyacinth briquette is aided
was brought to boiling point in 57 minutes while the with some pieces of wood. The water hyacinth
same quantity of water was boiled on a conventional biomass can serve as an alternative energy source.
stove in 24 minutes. The test was repeated with the
biomass aided with small pieces of wood. The water REFERE"CES
was brought to boiling point in a reduced time of 19 Ambali, J.D. (2000). Biology of water hyacinth.
minutes as shown in Table 3. This time is also better Proceedings of water hyacinth workshop for Mthunzi
when compared with that for kerosene stove. wa Malawi. Chancellor College Zomba, 11-12 may
Table 4 shows the summary of results of cooking on 2000.[available online]:
the biomass cooker (unaided and aided) and the http://pdf.usaid.gov/pdf_docs/PNADB200.pdf.
kerosene stove.
Copperwiki (2010). Application of Biomass
The indomie noodles was cooked on the biomass Briquettes and their applications. [available online]:
cooker in a time of 25 minutes while for a www.copperwiki.org/index.Php/biomass-briquette :,
conventional small sized stove the time taken was 8 February, 2010.
minutes. The experiment was repeated with the
biomass cooker aided with small pieces of wood, a David A.T. (1978). Wood as an Energy source.
reduced time of 6 minutes was obtained as shown in Academic press New York.
table 3.
Oso, B.A. (1988). Invasion of Nigerian Waterways
The time taken for the rice to cook on the biomass by water hyacinth; Ecological and biological
cooker was 66 minutes while it took 38 minutes to observations.The Proceedings of the International
cook the same quantity of rice on the kerosene stove. workshop/Seminar on water hyacinth, Lagos, 7-12th
A reduced and better time of 32 minutes was August, 116-123.
obtained when the same quantity of rice was cooked
on the biomass cooker when aided with some pieces PACE (2011). Water hyacinth. [available online]:
of wood. www.paceproject.net:, March 2011.

The yam cooking test produced a time of 59 minutes Philip, O. (1981) Water hyacinth invasion.
on the biomass cooker, 32 minutes on the kerosene Proceedings of EMRS 5th symp. On Aquatic weed.
stove and 28 minutes on the biomass cooker when 407-414.
aided with some pieces of wood.
Rademaker, L. (2006). Turning pest into profit:
The results obtained from the tests carried out shows bioenergy from water hyacinth. biopact, june 2006.
that the water hyacinth briquette was able to cook the [availableonline]:http://news.mongabay.com/bioener
various food items although cooking took a longer gy/2006/06/turning-pest-into-profit-bioenergy.html.
time when compared with the conventional kerosene
stove. This is due to the fact that the heat generated
reduced over time and was concentrated only at the
center of the hole. By aiding the biomass briquette
with small pieces of wood a reduced and better time
of cooking was obtained. The conversion of water
hyacinth into biomass for cooking purposes will help
in combating the spread of the plant while also
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