Title : Production of bamboo pellet as an alternative and sustainable source of fuel
Abstract:
Bamboo is a fast growing and perennial woody grass distributed widely in the Philippines. Giant bamboo (Dendrocalamus asper) and kauayan-tinik (Bambusa spinosa) were selected for potential sustainable source of biofuel. Giant bamboo showed much higher culm diameter and culm thickness compared to kauayan-tinik. Bamboo poles were pulverized mechanically using chipper and hammermill while maintaining uniform size using a sieve. Pulverized bamboo where then converted in to pellet form using a 10HP pelletizer with 10mm die. Results showed proximate chemical analysis of pulverized raw bamboo compared to bamboo pellet showed little difference. The average VCM content of giant bamboo showed a 75.33% with a FC content of 21.35. While kauayan-tinik showed a higher an average VCM (77.83%) with a lower FC (19.26%) as compared to giant bamboo. Furthermore, torrefaction of bamboo pellets was conducted using a tube furnace. Various operating condition were used to determine the effect on the proximate chemical properties. In general, increasing the temperature from 240C to 320C increases its fixed carbon while reducing its VCM content.
