Publication: Comparison of the physical and chemical properties of Briquette and Wood Charcoal in Khammouane Province, Lao PDR
7
1
Issued Date
2009-06
Resource Type
Language
eng
Rights
Mahidol University
Rights Holder(s)
Faculty of Environment and Resource Studies. Mahidol University
Bibliographic Citation
Environment and Natural Resources Journal. Vol.7, No.1 (2009), 12-24
Suggested Citation
Vongsaysana Sayakoummane, Achara Ussawarujikulchai Comparison of the physical and chemical properties of Briquette and Wood Charcoal in Khammouane Province, Lao PDR. Environment and Natural Resources Journal. Vol.7, No.1 (2009), 12-24. Retrieved from: https://repository.li.mahidol.ac.th/handle/123456789/3201
Research Projects
Organizational Units
Authors
Journal Issue
EnNRJ Vol. 7 No. 1
(2009)
Thesis
Title
Comparison of the physical and chemical properties of Briquette and Wood Charcoal in Khammouane Province, Lao PDR
Alternative Title(s)
การเปรียบเทียบคุณสมบัติทางกายภาพและเคมีของถ่านขี้เลื่อยอัดแท่งและถ่านไม้ที่แขวงคำม่วน สาธารณรัฐประชาธิปไตยประชาชนลาว
Other Contributor(s)
Abstract
The economy of Lao Peoples Democratic Republic (PDR) has been expanding with substantial
dependence on natural resources. Forests are continuously depleted to meet industrial demands for
wood and furniture. In Khammouane Province where many wood processing industries are located, one
of the problems from wood processing industries is the pollution of the near environment through saw
dust disposal. On the other hand, the entire communities who live in this area use wood charcoal as a
main source of fuel. An alternative to saw dust dumping will therefore be its conversion to briquette
charcoal. However, the suitability of the wood charcoal for cooking has not been fully determined. This
research seeks to determine this suitability by comparing the physical and chemical characteristics of
briquette and wood charcoal. Six samples of wood charcoal from different tree species namely
Cratoxylum cochinchinense, Pterocarpus marcocapus, Pinus merkusii, Sindora siamensis, Ketepeleeria
davidiana and Pettophorum dasylachis and one sample of briquette charcoal were obtained and taken
to the laboratory to determined the physical property (gross calorific value) and the chemical properties
(moisture, volatile, ash and fixed carbon content). Results show that briquette charcoal is a quality
charcoal in terms of high gross calorific value and high fixed carbon with 7,595 cal/g and 78.68%.
Conversely, it had low moisture and ash content of 1.88% and 3.79%, respectively, comparing with the
other wood charcoals. Results from this research leave the conclusion that briquette charcoal is an
alternative source of fuel for consumption. Therefore the government of Khammouane province should
encourage and increase the investment in briquette charcoal production to subsidize fuel consumption.
In addition, enormous quantity of sawdust utilized also reduces environmental impacts from saw dust
dumping.