Figure 4.

Mixing of coconut shell charcoal fines and binder using mechanical mixer

Figure 5. Collection of produced briquettes in preparation for drying.

Similar to cacao pod husk briquettes, briquetting trials using coconut shell charcoal fines was
conducted at the BPED Lab. Raw materials were collected from Tugbok, Davao City. The raw material
was then subjected to size reduction, and used for briquetting trials. The conduct of briquetting trials
at the lab for both raw materials was an initiative to compare the production of two briquetting
machines if the results present any difference. Also, it was done for comparison to the drying practices
in Davao, given the inclement weather.

Analysis of briquette samples

Produced briquettes made from carbonized cacao pod husks were sent for analysis to FPRDI
for proximate analysis and heating value analysis. Based on the proximate analysis results, the cacao
pod husk briquettes have an average moisture content, average volatile combustible matter, average
fixed carbon content and average ash content are 6.96%, 33.73%, 42.93% and 23.34%, respectively.
The average heating value of cacao pod husk briquettes is 4,693.44 cal/g.
Figure 6. Results for the proximate analysis of carbonized cacao pod husks briquettes

Figure 7. Results for the heating value analysis of carbonized cacao pod husks briquettes

Produced briquettes made from cacao pod husk and coconut shell charcoal fines were
characterized. Briquettes produced in Davao and at the BPED laboratory were subjected to different
physicochemical analyses. Physicochemical analyses of briquettes include: bulk density, shatter
resistance, abrasion resistance, compressive strength resistance and burning rate.

The bulk densities of cacao pod husk briquettes produced in Davao and at the BPED laboratory
were 0.5221 g/cm3 and 0.5253 g/cm3, respectively. On the other hand, the bulk densities for coconut
shell charcoal fines briquettes were 0.7197 g/cm3 and 0.65 g/cm3, respectively.

The impact resistance of briquettes was measured to determine the durability of the fuel
briquettes during handling and transport. The impact resistance of briquettes measures their
resistance to breakage when dropped from a specified test height onto a floor of known material
surface. The percentage weight loss is reported as a measure of the briquette resistance to impact.
The average shatter resistances for CPH briquettes and CSCF briquettes produced at the BPED
laboratory were 96.69% and 99.18%, respectively. The average shatter resistance for CSCF briquettes
produced in Davao was 99.09%.