The viability of refuse-derived fuel as a green household cooking fuel

Abstract

Rice husk and sawdust are waste generated freely in many developing countries in the cause of rice production and wood processing respectively. This large biomass volume can be useful as an energy resource useful in numerous processes other than being dumped or flared in the farms, thereby causing health risks and having severe environmental consequences. Biomass combustion is known for the release of pollutants such as particulate matter and carbon monoxide. In this study, rice husk and sawdust were prepared with starch and spent oil as binders. The characteristic behavior of the biomass materials was investigated. The properties of the new fuel derived from sawdust showed moisture content of 0.93%, ash content of 16.5%, higher heating of 7808.1 kJ/kg and tensile strength of 576.8 N/mm2 were obtained and that for rice husk, moisture content, ash content, higher heating value, and tensile strength of 0.908%, 11.5%, 6160.7 kJ/kg and 508.7 N/mm2 respectively, were obtained also. These results propose that the refuse derived fuel produced in this work from rice husk and sawdust is viable as a green fuel which will help reduce the global greenhouse gas content.