Physicochemical Properties of a Solid Fuel from Biomass of Elephant Grass Charcoal (Pennisetum purpureum Schum.) and Recyclable PET and HDPE

In the search for new solid fuels that can mitigate emissions of greenhouse gases and reduce municipal solid waste, it is proposed to produce a solid fuel from elephant grass charcoal (EGC) and blend it with the following binding recyclable materials, polyethylene terephthalate (PET) and high-density polyethylene (HDPE) with the aim of increasing their mechanical strength. Immediate analysis results indicate that there was an increase in volatile material content from 21.18% to 28.02% and a reduction in fixed carbon from 65.00% to 58.40% with the addition of binding agents. The higher heating value of pure charcoal was 5924.16 kcal/kg and there was no significant alteration by adding HDPE, however, with the addition of PET, there was an average reduction of 4.82%. According to the elemental analysis of charcoal, there were no significant amounts of sulphur, but silicon and potassium oxides were predominantly composed followed by aluminium, titanium, magnesium and iron according to the analysis of ashes. The addition of thermoplastic binders allowed producing pellets and it was found that those produced by using HDPE are stronger than those produced with PET.