Investigating the briquetting and pelletising potential of avocado seeds

Abstract

Avocado being one of the edible fruits in Uganda, there is waste associated with its consumption. The study therefore, aimed at evaluating the potential of briquetting and pelletising avocado seeds in an effort to resolve the issue of reducing amounts of traditional biomass energy resources of firewood and wood-derived charcoal, and also provide background information for other researches in composite briquettes. Major emphasis was put on evaluating the effect of microbial action on the properties of the developed briquettes and pellets for short storage periods, that is to say, one to five days. The developed briquettes and pellets underwent various tests such as thermo-gravimetric analysis, bomb calorimetry, and drop test, with statistical evaluation on a 95% confidence level. The experimental results revealed that the moisture content, volatile matter, fixed carbon and ash content of the avocado seed briquettes ranged between 4 % to 27 %, 11 % to 19 %, 57 % to 77 %, and 5 % to 8 % respectively. Whereas those of the avocado seed pellets ranged between 8 % to 16 %, 66 % to 72 %, 15 % to 17 %, and 1.9% to 2.2% respectively in the same order of parameters as for briquettes in the preceding statement. The study also revealed that microorganisms generally have very little effect on the properties of avocado seed briquettes and pellets for short storage periods. The economic evaluation revealed that it is not economically viable to produce avocado seed briquettes or pellets on an industrial scale as evidenced by the NPV of UGX -12,550,442, BCR of 0.81 and IRR of -10%.