Design and construction of a motorised Rice husk Char Briquetting Machine

Abstract

The decreasing availability of fuel wood, coupled with the ever-rising prices of charcoal, kerosene and cooking gas in Uganda draws attention to consider alternative sources of energy for both domestic and industrial applications in the country. The selected agro-processing waste was the rice husk. It is the outermost part of the rice seed which is a hard layer and a waste material from rice milling. Rice husk includes biomass that can be exploited for various requirements such as industrial raw materials as well as energy sources or fuel but only a small group of people use it. This research was conducted to develop a motorized rice husk-char briquetting machine as a useful waste management scheme that will sustainably reuse and recycle of the rice husk waste while generating energy. This research was conducted utilizing the rice husk as an alternative fuel by making it as a charcoal briquette. To make the treatment easy, firstly the rice husk biomass was converted into charcoal powder by carbonization method using the open-type rice husk carbonizer model. Using SolidWorks CAD software, a linear stress analysis on the designed and sized machine components was performed and the permissible loads they would withstand at normal working conditions were determined. From the static stress graphs, it was observed that the simulated components passed the tests successfully with respect to their construction materials since the components’ maximum stresses were less than the respective material yield strengths, so they would not fail under the external loading. Furthermore, for the safety factor, it was clear from the stress graphs that all the graphs had the blue color, without red portions which was a good indication that the respective materials were fit to be used for the machine construction. Therefore, there is no need for the machine design to be modified and the factor of safety to be increased. The process of making briquettes is prepared by adding cassava starch of 6% concentration by weight as charcoal adhesive and then compacted using the designed and fabricated prototype.