The effects of hot briquetting on the coke strength in the biocoke making process with coal blending method

The biomass waste of rice husk and coconut shell in Indonesia reaches more than 15.8 million tons/year. In addition, the utilization of biomass waste has not been performed optimally. Rice husk and coconut shell are the biomass that can be processed as briquette material. This research aims to find the maximum temperature of hot briquette to generate the maximum coke strength from blending. First, the biomass waste was performed by a carbonization process at 400°C with a coal composition of biomass 95:5 wt%. The production of coke briquette used molasses binder 15 wt%. The hot briquette temperature variation was at 100 and 150°C with a briquette pressure of 200 kg/cm2. Coke briquette then was carbonized at 1100°C for 4 hours and followed by water quenching. The result indicates that hot briquette temperature depends on the type of biomass used. Coke briquette with a rice husk blend at 100°C and 150°C hot briquette temperature, respectively produced coke strength of 11.5 and 20.9 kg/cm2. Meanwhile, coke briquettes with coconut shell charcoal blend at 100°C and 150°C hot briquette temperature respectively produced coke strength of 15.8 and 10.8 kg/cm2.