Abstract
Significant amounts of loose biomass are produced annually through agricultural and forestry activities. It is common practice to burn these loose biomass deliberately after harvesting or in accidental veld fires in the case of forestry. This energy could be harnessed for cooking and heating. The challenge with the use of loose biomass lies in its low density and hence low energy content which can be improved through densification. The aim of this paper is to determine the optimum densification parameters that can be used to develop manual briquetting technologies to empower poor communities to harness the energy available in loose biomass that they dispose annually. This forms part of a larger project aimed at developing off grid biomass value chain technologies. Using loose grass and loose leaves, experimental data revealed an optimum density of 1250 kg/m3 and a corresponding densification pressure of 40 MPa. In addition, a comparison of the thermal profile of solid round and round hollow briquettes showed more superior performance of the round hollow briquette based on recorded maximum combustion temperatures. Briquettes with a hole in the middle are therefore preferred to solid briquettes.