Production of Briquettes from Corn Cobs

Although corn cobs can be made pellet, briquette production can be more interesting. Why is that? This is related to the market segment and the technical specifications of the corn cob briquettes. The household segment, and SME may be the biggest user of corn cob briquettes. One of the obstacles in this segment is the unavailability of stoves and supply of corn cob briquettes. The second reason is that by making briquettes the density can be twice that of wood pellets. This will make cheap transportation costs as well as higher energy content.

A number of regions in Indonesia which are agricultural centers will produce abundant corn cobs. If this waste is utilized, it certainly reduces environmental pollution and simultaneously provides economic added value. Dependence on fossil fuels can also be reduced gradually. Aesthetically when made briquettes also make storage easier, cleaner, attractive and easy to use. Efforts towards the use of corn cobs should be a concern for corn production centers. With corn cob briquettes also energy costs or the price can be cheaper than LPG.

Why is coal briquette less attractive to the public? This is because coal briquettes damage the flavor of cooking, especially high sulfur content. Roasting food with coal briquettes makes food not tasty. This is different when using corn cobs as raw material for briquettes. With a very low sulfur content and the sweet aroma of corn making grilling food with corn cob briquettes makes the food taste more delicious. As sawdust briquette can be processed further sawdust charcoal briquette, corn cob briquette can also be processed further into corn cob charcoal briquette. With charcoal briquette made, fixed carbon increases, volatile matter decreases and automatic calorific value also increases, so that the quality increases, among others, not smoky and can be used to bake longer.