recycling Article Production and Characterization of Biomass Briquettes from Tannery Solid Waste Imeh E. Onukak 1,2,*, Ibrahim A. Mohammed-Dabo 2, Alewo O. Ameh 2, Stanley I.R. Okoduwa 1 ID and Opeoluwa O. Fasanya 2,3 1 Chemical and Bioremediation Unit, Directorate of Research and Development, Nigerian Institute of Leather and Science Technology, Zaria 810221, Nigeria;
[email protected] 2 Department of Chemical Engineering, Ahmadu Bello University, Samaru-Zaria 811104, Nigeria;
[email protected] (I.A.M.-D.);
[email protected] (A.O.A.);
[email protected] (O.O.F.) 3 Petrochemical Division, National Research Institute for Chemical Technology, Basawa-Zaria 810282, Nigeria * Correspondence:
[email protected]; Tel.: +234-803-338-1081 Received: 24 August 2017; Accepted: 19 October 2017; Published: 20 October 2017 Abstract: The tannery industry is renowned for the huge amount of toxic solid and liquid waste generated from the cleaning, fleshing, splitting, tanning, shaving and buffing of raw materials. Biomass briquettes are a proven way of generating energy from waste. This study investigates the development and characterization of biomass briquettes from tannery solid wastes (TSWs). TSWs, which comprise hair, flesh, chrome shavings and buffing dust, were collected from a tannery in Kano, Nigeria, to formulate and characterize six briquettes. Scanning electron microscopy and proximate analysis were carried out on the samples. The six briquettes, comprising varying ratios of hair, flesh, chrome shavings and buffing dust, were molded and characterized. Thermal efficiency, durability and compressive strength, among other properties, were determined for the six briquette formulations. The briquettes developed had calorific values between 18.632 and 24.101 MJ/kg.