Effects of Sand-Clay Composite Binder on the Performance of Ecological Coal based on the Biomass of Eichhornia crassipes

Ecological coal, to be effective, requires adequate know-how and above all a better composition of the inputs that go into its composition. The arid Sahelian zones have very few plants that can be considered as a binder in the production of ecological charcoal. For this is reason, it’s necessary to know how dune sand and clay available in the environment could be used as a binder provided that the proportions used are conducive to ensuring better energy performance in the final product. The ecological charcoal produced with Eichhornia crassipes, which is an invasive plant in fresh water, solves the ecological problems caused by its almost permanent and invasive presence. Thus its valorization as cooking energy is an option whose objective is to determine the effect of the sand-clay composite binder on the performance of the ecological charcoal based on the Biomass of Eichhornia crassipes as than cooking energy. The collection and sorting of these plants made it possible to prepare the raw material while their pre-treatment made it possible to carry out anaerobic carbonization between 400-600°C. Their physic-chemical characterizations made it possible to respectively obtain the average bulk density of the shredded material (ρapp) which is 823.94 ± 1.41 Kg/m3, the average humidity rate which is 4.54 ± 0.31 % and the average rate of volatile matter which is 12.83±0.73%. The performance of the green charcoal determined an average high ignition temperature of 308.22 ± 47.97°C, an average flammability time of 12 ± 1 seconds and an average maximum fire temperature of 958.33 ± 42.33°C. The burning and cooking test shows that the matched carbonized samples have a high ash heat (252.67±5.16°C) 30 minutes after burning, an average burn rate of 98% and a burn time of average of 448.05 ± 27.06 minutes.生态炭（ecological coal）若要实现有效应用，需具备充足的专业技术支撑，且首要环节是优化其原料的组分配比。干旱的萨赫勒（Sahelian）地区可用于制备生态木炭粘合剂的植物资源极为稀缺，为此有必要探究当地环境中可获取的沙丘砂与黏土能否用作粘合剂，前提是所用配比需确保最终产品具备更优的能源性能。以淡水入侵植物凤眼莲（Eichhornia crassipes）为原料制备的生态木炭，可解决该植物因近乎持续入侵淡水生态系统所引发的生态问题，因此将其作为炊事燃料进行资源化利用是可行方案之一，本研究旨在明确砂-黏土复合粘合剂对以凤眼莲生物质为原料的生态木炭作为炊事燃料时的性能影响。研究人员对该类植物进行收集与分拣以完成原料制备，并通过预处理工序在400~600℃的温度区间内开展厌氧炭化（anaerobic carbonization）实验。理化表征（physic-chemical characterizations）结果显示：粉碎后物料的平均堆积密度（bulk density）ρapp为823.94±1.41 kg/m³，平均含水率为4.54±0.31%，平均挥发分（volatile matter）产率为12.83±0.73%。对生炭的性能测试表明：其平均最高着火温度为308.22±47.97℃，平均燃烧时长为12±1秒，平均最高燃温为958.33±42.33℃。燃烧与炊事测试结果显示：炭化试样在燃烧30分钟后仍保有较高的灰烬余热（252.67±5.16℃），平均燃烧效率达98%，平均总燃烧时长为448.05±27.06分钟。