Utilization of River Waste Clogging Wood Waste as Biomass Fuel

The amount of garbage in the river will certainly disrupt the flow of the river. This garbage can cause disasters in the form of flooding when the river flow is blocked, so that the overflow of water will inundate the area around the river. Cleaning the river flow from this garbage is an important thing to do to prevent this flood disaster. Wood wastes can be separated or sorted from waste clogging the river and then processed into biomass fuel. What biomass fuels can be produced? This can be related to a number of things such as the type of wood waste available, volume, users and distance from users.

Wood chip is the simplest product from processing wood waste that can be produced if the distance from the user is not far away. Wood chips have low bulk density so that they will make transportation costs expensive for long distances. In order to be economical at a long distance, the wood waste must be treated with densification technology to produce a product in the form of a pellet or briquette. Briquette is recommended over pellet production for the utilization of this wood waste. This is because briquette is technically easier and also cheaper to produce. Briquette with mechanical press technology will produce briquettes for industrial needs such as fuel for furnaces and boilers. Biomass fuels such as wood waste are basically renewable and environmentally friendly fuels, because they come from plants or trees.

By utilizing the wood wastes that clog the river flow, the river flows smoothly and avoid flood disasters. Other wastes can be sorted which can then be recycled, processed further or simply dumped. The high level of river pollution also results in high sea pollution. Even Indonesia is ranked No.2 in the world in plastic pollution in the sea. Of course this needs to be reduced so that our waters will be clean from pollution. Starting from the easiest and simplest way, such as using wood waste as part of the solution to overcome this pollution.

Utilization of Land Clearing Wood Waste For Charcoal And Briquette Production

Land clearing is mostly done, especially for the establishment of new plantations, both plantations for food crops and plantations or forests for wood products. The establishment of palm oil plantations and acacia forests are examples. Prior to planting palm oil or acacia, the location which is usually natural forest was cleared of vegetation or trees beforehand. Natural forests, of course, have various types of trees, both in terms of their types and ages. Some trees have a large diameter while others are smaller. After clearing the old trees, then the land is conditioned for the allocation of the plantation.

Indeed, the establishment of the plantation or forest must be in accordance with the land designation. Of course, land that is protected forest or conservation forest cannot be used for production forest or industrial plantation forest. This of course concerns environmental factors in the form of environmental preservation, such as forests as a source of water, preventing the danger of landslides, as a carbon sink and so on. The economic activities of production forests must also pay attention to environmental aspects so that the business being carried out can also be sustainable. Wood, for example, as a source of biomass for various industrial raw materials, can be said to be a renewable source only if it is managed properly and sustainably.

During the land clearing, a lot of wood just becomes waste. Timber with large diameters can be sold to sawmills. However, small diameter woods such as branches and twigs are mostly not utilized, even though there are many. The solution to this problem can be processed into charcoal and briquettes. Non-salable logs for sale in sawmills can be used for charcoal production. With good technology, high quality charcoal production can be done, namely with a fixed carbon of more than 82%. Production quantity up to 3000 tonnes / year of charcoal are also possible. Meanwhile, waste wood in the form of smaller twigs or pieces of wood can be used for briquette production. The production of briquettes is easier and also cheaper than wood pellets. Another thing that distinguishes briquettes from pellets, especially the market segment, can be read here for more details.

High Quality Charcoal Production From Forest Wood Waste

 Acacia forests or plantations in Indonesia are estimated to reach 2 million hectares and almost all of these acacia forests are used to supply pulp and paper mills. Every pulp and paper mill always has acacia forest with an area of thousands of hectares to fill the pulp and paper mill. Acacia wood with a minimum diameter of 8 cm is used as raw material, while those with a diameter smaller than that are only used as waste. Whereas wood with a diameter of 5-8 cm can be used for charcoal production. Charcoal production will not only solve the waste problem but also provide economic benefits. By choosing the right technology, high-quality charcoal can be produced, that is, with fixed carbon greater than 82%.

The recent condition, namely the pandemic atmosphere that has swept across the world due to the corona virus, has caused many offices and almost all schools to have switched their activities online. This condition has resulted in paper mills reducing their paper production even in Canada, a company has closed the mill. This has made it difficult for the acacia industrial plantation forest managers to market their timber. This will also reduce the company's revenue, so that the wood can be diverted for charcoal production as well.

Canadian Biomass Magazine, Spring 2020

 Indonesia also has forests or rubber plantations covering an area of ​​about 3.4 million hectares, ranked number 1 in the world followed by Thailand as second place with 2 million hectares and currently there are quite a lot of plantations that need replanting. Although it can be used for furniture, the need is still very small, so it is not effective for the utilization of rubber wood waste. Production of high quality charcoal from rubber wood as raw material is one of the best options. Our carbonization technology is intended for industrial capacity, especially the utilization of wood waste in industrial plantations. Apart from the quality of charcoal which has a fixed carbon of more than 82% or follows the European norm NF EN 1860-2, the conversion rate to charcoal is also higher. With a fixed carbon content of more than 82% means it also prevents colon cancer. Basically charcoal production is a matter of controlling the production process (process control). The quality of charcoal from poor process control will also be low, so that although it is acceptable in the local market, it is not accepted by the international market. For those who are interested in producing high quality charcoal from the forest waste woods above, please email to eko.sbs@gmail.com or visit the web https://greencobiomasa.com/

Consumer Briquette and Industrial Briquette

The use of biomass briquettes from both wood wastes and agricultural wastes is not yet popular in Indonesia, its use is still very limited. And the briquettes used are actually intermediate products in the sawdust charcoal briquette industry. Sawdust briquette or wood briquette is a briquette product that comes out of the screw extruder and can actually be further processed into sawdust charcoal briquette through the carbonization process. The sawdust charcoal briquette product itself is mainly used for barbeque or roasting meat, especially in Middle Eastern countries, Turkey and Saudi Arabia. Domestic use of sawdust charcoal briquette is also still very limited. Judging from the type of briquette, the actual product produced is the type of consumer briquette or briquette which is sold by retail for household use.

Industrial briquette production is hardly found in Indonesia today. Industrial briquette is a briquette that is used for fuels in industries such as fuel for boilers or even power plants. Even though in terms of the production process, briquette is easier and cheaper than pelletizing, such as wood pellet production. In addition, investment in equipment for briquette is also cheaper than pelleting. A number of biomass materials which are generally difficult to pellet are usually easy with briquette. The preparation of raw materials for briquette is also easier than for pellets because of the more loose tolerances for particle size and dryness (moisture content).

In contrast to pelleting, apart from only one type of technology for compaction (densification), namely the roller press, briquette has 3 types of technology, namely the mechanical press, piston press and screw press. In addition, the shape, size and density of the briquette produced are also more varied. Industrial briquettes are made with mechanical press technology, while consumer briquettes can be made by mechanical press, piston press or screw press. The puck is an example of the best shape for industrial briquettes. Empty fruit bunch or EFB of palm oil as well as mesocarp fiber are very potential for industrial briquette production, for more details can be read here.

Puck shape industrial briquette

Consumer Briquette

In addition, wood dust waste from the MDF (Medium Density Fibreboard) industry can also be used for the production of the industrial briquette. While the consumer briquette made with a mechanical press is in the form of a long cylinder, or if it is with a screw press the shape is octagonal or hexagonal, while the piston press is usually in the form of a block. Consumer briquette is mainly used for heating in winter. In subtropical countries when winter arrives, things that can be done are mainly room conditioning so that people in the area continue to be active, namely by heating the room where they live.