<p>       <b>&nbsp;TABLE OF CONTENTS&nbsp;</b></p><p>TITLE PAGE ..................................................................................................................................iii&nbsp;</p><p>DECLARATION.............................................................................................................................iv&nbsp;</p><p>CERTIFICATION............................................................................................................................v&nbsp;</p><p>DEDICATION ................................................................................................................................vi&nbsp;</p><p>ACKNOWLEDGEMENT..............................................................................................................vii&nbsp;</p><p>ABSTRACT..................................................................................................................................viii&nbsp;</p><p>TABLE OF CONTENTS ................................................................................................................ix&nbsp;</p><p>LIST OF TABLES .........................................................................................................................xii&nbsp;</p><p>LIST OF FIGURES........................................................................................................................xv&nbsp;</p><p>LIST OF PLATE...........................................................................................................................xvi&nbsp;</p><p>LIST OF APPENDICES ..............................................................................................................xvii</p><p>&nbsp;LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS .....................................................................................................xviii&nbsp;</p><p>1.0 INTRODUCTION................................................................................................................1&nbsp;</p><p>1.1 General Background ..............................................................................................................1&nbsp;</p><p>1.2 Statement of Problems........................................................................................................3&nbsp;</p><p>1.3 Aim and Objectives of Study ..............................................................................................4&nbsp;</p><p>1.4 Justification of Study...........................................................................................................4&nbsp;</p><p>1.5 Scope and Limitation of the Study.....................................................................................6&nbsp;</p><p>2.0 LITERATURE REVIEW.....................................................................................................7&nbsp;</p><p>2.1 Background.............................................................................................................................7&nbsp;</p><p>2.2 Briquetting Technologies.......................................................................................................7&nbsp;</p><p>2.2.1 Screw press technology ............................................................................................7&nbsp;</p><p>2.2.2 Piston press technology ............................................................................................8&nbsp;</p><p>2.2.3 Roller press.............................................................................................................10&nbsp;</p><p>2.2.4 Pellet press..............................................................................................................10&nbsp;</p><p>2.2.5 Manual presses (Low-pressure briquetting) ...........................................................11&nbsp;</p><p>2.3 Existing Briquetting Machines.........................................................................................12&nbsp;</p><p>2.4 Materials for the Production of Briquettes......................................................................14&nbsp;</p><p>2.5 Factors Affecting Briquette Production ...........................................................................16&nbsp;</p><p>2.5.1 Biomass particle size and shape .............................................................................16&nbsp;</p><p>2.5.2 Biomass moisture content.......................................................................................17&nbsp;</p><p>2.5.3 Biomass temperature ..............................................................................................17&nbsp;</p><p>2.5.4 Die temperature ......................................................................................................18&nbsp;</p><p>2.5.5 External additives and binders................................................................................18&nbsp;</p><p>2.6 Briquettes’ Performance Characteristics.........................................................................19&nbsp;</p><p>2.6.1 Physical properties..................................................................................................19&nbsp;</p><p>2.6.2 Thermal properties..................................................................................................21&nbsp;</p><p>2.6.3 Mechanical property...............................................................................................23&nbsp;</p><p>2.7 Research Gap........................................................................................................................24&nbsp;</p><p>3.0 MATERIALS AND METHODS .......................................................................................25&nbsp;</p><p>3.1 Materials Selection ...............................................................................................................25&nbsp;</p><p>3.1.1 Material selection for the construction of briquette making machine ....................25&nbsp;</p><p>3.1.2 Material selection for the evaluation of briquette making machine .......................25&nbsp;</p><p>3.2 Equipments ........................................................................................................................26&nbsp;</p><p>3.3 Design Considerations.......................................................................................................26&nbsp;</p><p>3.4 Machine Design..................................................................................................................27</p><p>&nbsp;3.4.1 Briquette size ..........................................................................................................27&nbsp;</p><p>3.4.2 Determination of allowable tensile stress...............................................................27&nbsp;</p><p>3.4.3 Determination of thickness of cylinder ..................................................................28&nbsp;</p><p>3.4.4 Determination of the Capacity of Compressing Device (Hydraulic Jack) .............29&nbsp;</p><p>3.4.4 Summary of Design Calculation.............................................................................34&nbsp;</p><p>3.5 Fabrication procedure of briquetting machine................................................................35&nbsp;</p><p>3.5.1 Fabrication of the upper compression plate............................................................35&nbsp;</p><p>3.5.2 Fabrication of the Mould ........................................................................................36&nbsp;</p><p>3.5.3 Fabrication of the piston and lower compression plate ..........................................37&nbsp;</p><p>3.5.4 Fabrication of the machine stand (support)............................................................38&nbsp;</p><p>3.6 Cost of Materials................................................................................................................39&nbsp;</p><p>3.7 Evaluation Procedures......................................................................................................40&nbsp;</p><p>3.7.1 Biomass collection and preparation........................................................................40</p><p>&nbsp;3.7.2 Starch binder preparation .......................................................................................40&nbsp;</p><p>3.7.3 Determination of moisture content of the prepared samples..................................40&nbsp;</p><p>3.8 Machine Evaluation...........................................................................................................41&nbsp;</p><p>3.8.1 Determination of physical properties .....................................................................41&nbsp;</p><p>3.8.2 Determination of thermal properties.......................................................................43&nbsp;</p><p>3.8.3 Machine output capacity.........................................................................................46&nbsp;</p><p>3.9 Experimental Procedures .................................................................................................47&nbsp;</p><p>3.9.1 Briquetting production (Machine operation)..........................................................47&nbsp;</p><p>3.9.2 Experimental Design and Layout ...........................................................................47&nbsp;</p><p>4.0 RESULTS AND DISCUSSION.........................................................................................49&nbsp;</p><p>4.1 The Developed Hydraulic Piston Press Biomass Hollow Briquette Making Machine ...49&nbsp;</p><p>4.1.1 Upper compression plate ........................................................................................50&nbsp;</p><p>4.1.2 Machine mould.......................................................................................................51&nbsp;</p><p>4.1.3 Machine pistons......................................................................................................51&nbsp;</p><p>4.1.4 Lower compression plate........................................................................................51&nbsp;</p><p>4.1.5 Machine stand (support).........................................................................................51</p><p>&nbsp;4.2 Effect of Particle Size and Binder Ratio on Sorghum-Stalk Briquette Quality Parameters. ........................52&nbsp;</p><p>4.2.1 Compressed density of sorghum-stalk briquette.....................................................52&nbsp;</p><p>4.2.2 Relaxed density of sorghum-stalk briquette ...........................................................55&nbsp;</p><p>4.2.3 Relaxation ratio of sorghum-stalk briquette ...........................................................59&nbsp;</p><p>4.2.4 Shattered index of sorghum-stalk briquette............................................................61&nbsp;</p><p>4.2.5 High calorific value of sorghum-stalk briquette.....................................................63&nbsp;</p><p>4.2.6 Ash content of sorghum-stalk briquette..................................................................66&nbsp;</p><p>4.2.7 Volatile matter of sorghum-stalk briquette.............................................................68&nbsp;</p><p>4.2.8 Fixed carbon of sorghum-stalk briquette................................................................71&nbsp;</p><p>4.2.9 Thermal fuel efficiency of sorghum-stalk briquette ...............................................74&nbsp;</p><p>4.3 Effect of Particle Size and Binder Ratio on Millet-Briquette Quality Parameters. .......75&nbsp;</p><p>4.3.1 Compressed density of millet-stalk briquette .........................................................75&nbsp;</p><p>4.3.2 Relaxed density of millet-stalk briquette................................................................77&nbsp;</p><p>4.3.3 Relaxation ratio of millet-stalk briquette................................................................79&nbsp;</p><p>4.3.4 Shattered index of millet-stalk briquette ................................................................81&nbsp;</p><p>4.3.5 High calorific value of millet-stalk briquette .........................................................83&nbsp;</p><p>4.3.6 Ash content of millet-stalk briquette ......................................................................85&nbsp;</p><p>4.3.7 Volatile matter of millet-stalk briquette .................................................................88&nbsp;</p><p>4.3.8 Fixed carbon of millet-stalk briquette ....................................................................91&nbsp;</p><p>4.3.9 Thermal fuel efficiency of millet stalk briquette ....................................................93&nbsp;</p><p>4.4 Machine Output Capacity ...................................................................................................94&nbsp;</p><p>4.4.1 Mass of Ejected Briquettes.....................................................................................94&nbsp;</p><p>4.4.2 Briquette Production time.......................................................................................96&nbsp;</p><p>4.4.3 Output Capacity of the Machine.............................................................................96&nbsp;</p><p>5.0 CONCLUSION AND RECOMMENDATION .................................................................98&nbsp;</p><p>5.1 Conclusion.............................................................................................................................98&nbsp;</p><p>5.2 Recommendations.................................................................................................................99</p><p>&nbsp;REFERENCE...............................................................................................................................101&nbsp;</p><p>APPENDICES..............................................................................................................................106 <br></p><p><br></p>