In this article, we are going to see the advantages and disadvantages of briquettes.
What is briquette?
In preparing our basic necessities like food and water, we need fuel. Usually, we rely on electricity and fossil fuel (like LPG and kerosene) for our energy needs. However, there are other resources that have more advantages and benefits than these conventional sources. One such fuel is the briquette and the process of creating briquettes is briquetting. The briquettes are highly preferred in the locations where fuel is hard to find and is costly. Thus at such places, briquetting can become the best option for getting fuel at a cheap price and easy way.
How briquettes are made?
Briquettes are flammable blocks of matter used as fuel. They are made from extruded or compressed shredded combustible materials. A binding agent like starch may be necessary to hold the materials together, though pressure may at times be enough. Some of the common materials used as briquettes are charcoal fines, mineral char, sawdust, chaff from rice, peanut and other crops, peat, and any biomass materials. Here, we will see the advantages and disadvantages of briquette and why it is a better alternative to conventional fuels.
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Advantages of Briquettes
- Briquette replaces the usage of the conventional type of fuels
- Briquette is considered as the best renewable source of fuel and energy
- Causes Less pollution as it does not emit sulfur or fly ash
- Has good thermal calorific value
- It requires agro-waste or bio-waste to produce briquette thus it is very cheap
- Easy to store, handle and transport
- Used in domestic, commercial and industrial area for many applications
- Prevents deforestation and helps to conserve natural resources
- Compared to coal briquettes has consistent combustion and ignition temperature
- Best choice for agricultural waste disposal
- Low moisture content results in higher burning efficiency
- No unsafe gas emission
- Briquettes have no smoke, soot or carbon deposits
- Due to compression briquette reduces the waste by 90%
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Disadvantages of Briquettes
- In Briquette manufacturing, the process of densification requires more energy
- The initial cost is very high for briquette
- Briquette needs a large space for setting up the plant
- It needs modern machines for shredding, crushing and drying
- Briquettes can be easily affected by atmospheric conditions
- Humidity in weather loosens the combustion characteristic
- Briquettes need large waterproof space for storage
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Difference between drip and sprinkler irrigation
Importance of soil management in Agriculture
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