Coal Briquettes
Coal briquettes are hard and compressed block of coal dust or various biomass materials which are combustible, such as wood chips, paper, charcoal, sawdust and peat. Widely used as fuel in various domestic and commercial sectors, coal briquettes can also be made from slack coal powder which are bonded together by binders such as bentonite, sodium silicate, starch, white cement etc. Coal briquettes have a superior calorific value than mineral coal and are also comparatively less of an environment pollutant. Furthermore, these briquettes can also be made from low grade coal, thus enabling optimum utilization of coal reserves.
Raw coal that is widely used today suffers from many drawbacks such as high composition of moisture, sulfur along with incomplete and spontaneous combustion etc. The process of coal briquet-ting allows to overcome the aforementioned drawbacks related to raw coal, thus enhancing overall efficiency and also safety(both in the short term and also long term). It is because of this that there is a growing realization amongst people about the need to replace raw mineral coal by coal briquettes.
Coal Briquettes as a Substitute
Since coal is perhaps the cheapest fuel available, the briquettes are ideal to be used as a substitute
for other costly solid fuels like :
Coke briquettes
Charcoal
Firewood
Wood briquettes
After Manufacture, Coal Briquettes are Tested for Quality on :
Proximate analysis
Moisture test
Calorific value test
Sulfur test
Application Areas of Coal Briquettes
Boilers
Kilns
Gasifiers
Blast furnaces
Domestic heating
Space heating
Features of Coal Briquettes
These are resistant to weathering and also impacts.
The have optimal tolerance to rough handling.
These give a comparatively higher heat output than charcoal and raw coal.
The have a higher compressive strength and water resistance than biomass briquettes.
Coal briquettes have high specific density and also bulk density, thus allowing these to burn for a longer time than firewood, charcoal etc.
