The fact that global pollution is increasing day by day, trees being cut down for wood fuel, wetlands destroyed for human settlement and industrialization puts life on earth at risk of extinction. Efforts to save our planet are being recognized by different bodies and agencies internationally through awards and grants. Hodma Energy has started work on the idea to turn Municipal organic waste such as peelings into biomass briquettes in January, 2018. Our team have experience in innovating different products. Our core values are Team Work, Customer-Driven and Integrity.


                                                                     

What is a briquette?

A briquette is a block of carbonized, crushed and compressed organic waste material used as a cooking fuel. Briquettes replace the usage of conventional types of fuel such as wood charcoal and firewood, which helps to conserve trees. This helps to prevent releasing too much of CO2 into the atmosphere.
 

How briquettes are made

We produce briquettes from bio degradable municipal waste and agro waste. Below are the steps taken in production of briquettes.

                                                                     

Waste Collection and sorting

Agricultural waste material such as maize cobs, crop stems/residues, cow dung etc are acquired from farmers at a given fee to enable them attain an extra income from material they deemed waste. Municipal organic waste such as peelings, is collected from food markets, households and institutions. These are most times attained at no cost or very low cost.


                                                                     

Drying

On receiving all the waste, we sort them according to the different types and dried separately so as to ease the carbonization process. Some wastes such as Maize cobs are received dry hence taken for carbonization directly. Others are received moist such as banana peelings they can be either dried under direct sunshine or using a constructed solar drier depending on weather conditions

                                                                     

Carbonization

This involves the conversion of waste into carbon or char. This is done by using either a constructed large scale carbonizer or a fabricated small scale carbonizer. However, during training, we advise participants that if they cannot afford the above carbonizers, they can adopt an open air method of carbonizing

                                                                     

Crushing

The carbon material is then crushed into ne and medium particles using either an automated crusher or a manually operated crusher. The automated can either be run by electric motor or diesel engine

                                                                     

Mixing with a binder

The crushed carbon material is then mixed with a binder to bind the fine particles together during compression stage. The various binders that can be used include; cassava our, molasses, crushed dry banana peelings and any other material with a high starch content.

                                                                     

Compression

The mixture of the fine particles and binder is compressed either with an automated extruder that uses a screw system or manual extruder that uses a piston system. These compress and mold the material into different forms of briquette which is taken for drying.

                                                                     

Drying

This takes 2-3 days depending on the weather conditions. A solar drier or direct sunlight can be used to dry the briquettes.

                                                                     

Packaging

Briquettes are then packed in paper bags for small consumers such as homesteads and in plastic crates for large consumers such as institutions.