UK: Researchers develop banana waste briquettes

Researchers at the University of Nottingham in the United Kingdom, are well on their way to develop a method of transforming certain African crop waste—banana waste, in particular—into a useable, efficient fuel source which doesn’t require intensive labor or use of sophisticated equipment.

In some places such as Rwanda, bananas are a staple crop, used in food and beverages in a variety of different ways. The remaining parts of the banana—the leaves, stems and peel—are not utilized, according to doctoral candidate Joel Chaney. Chaney realizes the potential for such waste, and is optimistic about the possibility of using banana waste to produce briquettes for cooking and heating purposes.

The leaves and skin of the banana are ground into a pulpy material using a meat mincer, and in order to create a moldable material, mixed with sawdust. In Africa, the banana pulp would be mixed with dried banana stems. After being compressed into briquette shapes, the material is then baked in an oven—in Africa, it would be left out to bake in the sun for a number of days.

In the lab, the researchers are using a mechanical press to give them repeatable results, but the materials can be briquetted using simple hand presses. “We’re looking at small-scale production, but there’s no reason why the materials couldn’t be combined using larger scale equipment,” said Chaney’s supervisor Mike Clifford, an associate professor in the faculty of engineering.

Clifford said he is working on a number of sustainable materials and technologies including yak wool, recycled banknotes and cardboard waste. Away from the University, Clifford is a volunteer with Tearfund, an international relief and development charity organization.

“About seven years ago, I placed a “problems wanted” advert in one of their newsletters and got a massive response,” Clifford said. “The link with Tearfund has sourced suggestions for engineering projects from Cambodia, India, Uganda, Mongolia, Bolivia, Kenya, Afghanistan, Nepal and many other developing countries.”

An efficient wood-fired stove was one of the appropriate technologies selected for development, Clifford said. “The stove work started with building a bread oven for a Ugandan village, then a PhD project looking at making an efficient stove for Eritrea. Joe’s (Chaney) work flowed on from the stove projects—it seemed natural to look at the fuel as well as the stove.”

Clifford said he has another project looking at how crofters on the Isle of Lewis (Scotland) can turn waste cardboard into briquettes. At present, they have no recycling facility for cardboard, so it ends up in a landfill.” In the meantime, said Clifford, crofters are burning coal and even returning to cutting and burning peat due to increased fuel costs, so briquetting the cardboard may be an appropriate solution. “Appropriate technology isn’t just aimed at the developing world,” he said.


Source: biomassmagazine.com

Publication date: 4/10/2009

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