EXPERIMENTAL STUDY ON BRIQUETTING AND COMBUSTION OF OYSTER MUSHROOM SUBSTRATE WASTE

• Main Author: Fikrisma, Kevin
• Format: Final Project
• Language: Indonesia
• Online Access: https://digilib.itb.ac.id/gdl/view/47132
• Institution: Institut Teknologi Bandung

Oyster mushroom (Pleurotus ostreatus) is one of the most popular comodities in Indonesia that produces a lot of substrate (growth medium) waste. The proposed utilization method is to use the waste as a solid fuel that can be used in the sterillization of new substrates. However, the substrate waste could not be used directly due to its powdery shape and high moisture content. Briquetting process is used to increase density and uniformity of the product made from substrate waste. Briquetting will provide easiness during storage, transportation, and the product's utilization in a furnace. Briquetting and combustion test were done to investigate the effect of briquetting parameters on the product's physical and combustion characteristics. Experimental results showed that the highest product density of 976.14 kg/m was achieved by the briquette with a briquetting pressure of 1500 bar and moisture content of 7%. Moreover, briquette strengths (represented by a Drop Shatter Index) for every parameters are above 99%. On the other hand, combustion experiments showed that briquette density affects its ignition time and combustion rate. At a furnace temperature of 400?, the briquette produced at a pressure of 500 bar required 610 s to ignite with an NBR (normalised burning rate) of0.129 s-1 while the briquette produced at a pressure of 1500 bar required 780 s to ignite withan NBR of 0.133 s-1. From these results, it was concluded that an increase in briquetting pressure results in density and ignition time increase. Nonetheless, a pressure of 1500 bar and a moisture content of 7% was recommended due to the fact that density increase was more significant.