Characterization and Pelletization of Sawdust Mixed with Sewage Sludge as Alternative Fuel for Clinker Production
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Date
2017-06
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Addis Ababa University
Abstract
Interest in biomass as a renewable energy source in Ethiopia has increased recently in response to a need to reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions and to attain a green economy on 2025. The main objective of this study was to co-pelletize sawdust mixed with sewage sludge as an alternative fuel for clinker production. All the necessary analysis that defines alternative fuels including complete oxide analysis were carried out following standard procedures for both the raw materials and the mixed pellet and the results were compared with hard coal. In addition, thermogravimetric analysis and heavy metal concentration of the mixed pellet were examined in order to investigate the combustion characteristics of the fuel and the presence of trace elements respectively. Effects of particle size and percentage ratio of the mixture were also analyzed in the range of 0.045-0.18mm and varying percentage ratio of 50 sawdust:50 sewage sludge(%), 60:40(%), 70:30(%), 80:20(%) and 90:10(%) respectively in order to examine the effects of these two parameters on the mixed pellet calorific value using design expert software. The results of the study showed that sawdust was a very attractive source of energy and was found to be a good material to enhance the property of the sewage sludge and to be utilized as alternative fuel. A medium grade fuel of calorific value 19.20MJ/kg was obtained at an average particle size of 0.125mm and sawdust to sludge percentage of 90% and 10% respectively.
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Process Engineering