We aimed to effectively use unutilized rice straw by producing Bio-coke, which is a new briquette (in the rest of this document referred to as the BIC) with high density and hardness, from rice straw with various conditions based on initial water content and processing temperature and evaluated characteristics of rice straw BIC. First of all, the apparent density of BIC was calculated from its weight and volume, and the cold compressive strength for each BIC was measured. From the results, it showed that the relationship between apparent density and maximum compressive strength derived from the compression test had a positive correlation. Furthermore, the hot compressive strength of the BIC produced with 5% initial water content and 453K processing temperature was measured. The rice straw BIC had a maximum compressive strength of 4.8MPa at a high temperature of 973K. This hot maximum compressive strength is equal to about one third of the hot maximum compressive strength of coal coke, which is 12MPa. Also, it was determined that the maximum compressive strength of rice straw BIC is highest on both cold and hot compression tests, and BIC produced from agricultural biomass like rice straw and rice husk had higher maximum compressive strength at room and high temperatures than BIC produced from other materials. Thus, it seemed that fiber and silica contained in agricultural biomass helps maintain of structure of BIC.

Currently, various energies such as fossil fuels and nuclear power are considerable expenditures. Resource depletion and environmental issues are taking place by activation of various problems and economic activity due to population growth in developing countries. However, in order for society to develop, energy, such as natural energy, is required have been studied for this purpose. A variety of energy including conventional type energy is needed. In this study, using Bio-coke that has attracted attention as a natural energy, a research was conducted using rice bran, which is an unused biomass in Thailand. By adding rice bran to 2-mm pulverized wood waste materials in making Bio-coke, it was found that Bio-coke density increased proportionally with increase in rice bran ratio. Results also showed that by adding rice bran in the raw material, it is possible to simultaneously improve both the gross calorific value and cold compressive strength. Moreover, reduction in environmental impact is also possible in the production process by optimizing the production conditions.

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