Potential of bamboo species for the production of briquettes

ABSTRACT Bamboo is a versatile plant that is widely used in many areas for feeding, manufacturing of utensils, construction and environmental purposes. The energetic use of bamboo stalks or residues from other applications is a promising alternative and compatible with sustainable development principles. This study aimed to evaluate the potential of four bamboo species (Bambusa vulgaris, Phyllostachys bambusoides, Phyllostachys edulis and Phyllostachys nigra) for briquette production. The following properties were evaluated: moisture content, bulk density, compression strength, proximate analysis, gross calorific value and energetic density. The results showed numbers ranging from 1.109 g cm-3 to 1.228 g cm-3 for bulk density, 4.68 MPa to 5.82 MPa for compression strength, 79.01 % to 82.25 % for volatile content, 15.26 % to 20.18 % for fixed carbon content, 0.38 % to 2.49 % for ash content, 4,571 kcal kg-1 to 4,716 kcal kg-1 for gross calorific value and 5.08 Gcal m-3 to 5.84 Gcal m-3 for energetic density. The briquettes produced from P. nigra presented the best energetic quality, followed by briquettes from P. edulis, P. bambusoides and B. vulgaris. Overall, it may be said that the four bamboo species can be used as alternative raw materials for energy generation.