Study On The Sustainable Utilization Of Common Water Hyacinth(Eicchornia Crassipes)Biomass Growing In Domestic Wastewater Biological Treatment System In Kenya

The increasing energy demands accelerated by increased industrial and population growth has put pressure on the commonly used fuel resources triggering the exploitation and use of alternative energy sources.Densification technologies have proven to be effective for energy generation through the production of biomass briquettes.Briquettes are used for household heating and lighting and also for industrial boilers,furnaces and kilns.Materials that have been used in the production of briquettes are such as saw dust,charcoal dust,waste papers,coconut husks,groundnut husks,rice husks,coffee husks among others.Production firms in Kenya have extensively used charcoal dust as the primary raw material for the production of biomass briquettes and have received wide attention around the country.The availability of charcoal dust depends on the availability of trees for charcoal production,therefore,the unsustainable nature of charcoal dust as a raw material for the production of briquettes.The constructed biological waste water treatment system at Maasai Mara University uses the Common Water Hyacinth as a biological purification agent,which greatly reduce the content of nutrients in the wastewater.The treated waste water is then used for nursery irrigation and watering the plants in the field.In order to make sustainable use of the Common Water Hyacinth biomass produced from the wastewater treatment system,this research explored the use of the Common Water Hyacinth mixed with binders(Eucalyptus globulus leaves,molasses and phytoplankton)in the production of efficient fuel briquettesOur team harvested the Common Water Hyacinth,chopped and sundried them to attain about 8.5%moisture content before being mechanically crushed and sieved to attain a particle size of p<5mm.Three binders of Eucalyptus globulus leaves,molasses and phytoplankton were also prepared and mixed to the Common Water Hyacinth at 30:70,20:80 and 10:90 binder to Common Water Hyacinth ratios.These were then put into the briquetting machine and moulded into briquettes.The briquettes were then analyzed for density,durability,water resistance and calorific value to assess the briquette characteristic.The results indicated no effect of binders on the compressed density and increased relaxed density with increase in binder proportions.The relaxation ratios ranged from 1.08 to 1.33 which indicated that Common Water Hyacinth when combined with binders,could be effective in making efficient briquettes.The relaxation ratio also decreased with increase in binder proportions suggesting an increase in bulk density and particle bonding.The briquettes had moderate water resistance capacity of 45%.indicating great affinity to water and would therefore be unsuitable in humid areas.The percentage durability index of the briquette samples produced with powder of the leaves of Eucalyptus globulus as a binder was the lowest,translating to lower particle bonding between the powder of the leaves of Eucalyptus globulus and the Common Water Hyacinth.Durability also increased with the increase in binder portions an indication that binders improved biomass particle bonding.The energy content in the briquettes which was compared to charcoal and other briquettes showed promising results with high calorific values of 1148.35 kj/kg and 998.37kj/kg with the 20%binder ratios in the molasses and phytoplankton binders respectively.The briquettes of 20%powder of the leaves of Eucalyptus globulus binder also produced high calorific value of 1090.43 kj/kg attributed to the highly flammable eucalyptus oil contained in the leaves.The research concluded that the Common Water Hyacinth mixed with binders would make efficient briquettes with good handling characteristics and high calorific values and that successful densification method results in highly efficient and effective briquettes that are less harmful on the environment,burn longer and with high calorific values.The study recommended further exploitation of plant biomass materials for biomass fuel production,exploitation of waste papers,which have high lignin content efficient for particle bonding and the use of denser materials such as red-clay soil to increase the density of the briquettes produced from Common Water Hyacinth.