Physical and Fuel Properties of Bambusa vulgaris of Different Age Groups and Their Effect on Producing Biofuel

Abstract

Bamboo can be used to produce solid, gaseous, and liquid fuels, as well as to generate heat and biofuels for transport and electricity. The main objective of this study was to investigate the physical and fuel properties of Bambusa vulgaris in three ecological zones for their utilization potential for the production of biofuels. Thirty-six samples of Bambusa vulgaris culms from 3 ecological zones in Ghana were milled to powder to assess the physical and fuel properties. The physical properties; moisture content, high heating values, bulk density, density, and ash content were investigated. The fuel properties were based on ultimate analysis, carbon, hydrogen nitrogen, and oxygen. The mean moisture content (MC) for the green bamboo ranged from 68.8% (dead culm) to 148% (mature culm) and 168% (juvenile culm). The MC for dried samples ranged from 9.09 to 13.06%. The results showed that the % MC of the samples increased with decreasing values of high heating and ash content. The mean density of the matured bamboo culms varied from 616.84 to 641.68 kg·m–3 and dead bamboo culms from 609.01 to 632.72 kg·m–3. Marginal reduction in density was observed in dead bamboo culms across the three ecological zones as compared to the mature bamboo culms. This implies that when B. vulgaris overgrows, its density decreases. High heating values ranged from 16.12 to 18.14 MJ·kg–1. Bulk density determines the transportation and storage of biomass; it ranged from 0.12 to 0.52 g·m–3. The ash contents were within the threshold (≥3%) of European standard. The mean values for the ultimate analysis of carbon (48.46 to 53.31%), hydrogen (5.60 to 6.56%), nitrogen (0.58 to 0.61%), and oxygen (39.73 to 41.35) were higher. Fuel properties of Bambusa vulgaris are comparable to some wood types, lower to denser wood types, but higher than most of the herbaceous energy crops and agricultural residues. This means that Bambusa vulgaris may be a good feedstock for the production of bioenergy in terms of heat, charcoal, biogas, bio-power, and transportation fuel.

Morphological Characteristics and Growth Performance of Bambusa vulgaris Schrad. Ex J. C. Wendl in Selected Agro-Ecologies of Uganda

“…In addition to this, the internode diameter in the L. Victoria crescent (2.55 cm ± 1.22) was found to be significantly higher than in West Nile (measuring 2.29 cm ± 0.94) and Southern Highlands (measuring 2.31 cm ± 0.96). However, the internode diameter reported in this study was lower compared to the range of 3-9 cm reported by Antwi et al (2022), Wahab et al (2009) andGomes Neto et al (2021). This could be due to the underdevelopment of culms from a clump of three years old.…”

“…Sidack post-hoc test results revealed that the culm internode length in the L. Victoria crescent (25.27cm ± 5.05) was significantly higher than in the West Nile (24.02 cm ± 4.17) and Southern Highlands (23.15 cm ± 4.54). The average internode length for culms from fully grown clumps is reported to be 25-45 cm (Antwi et al, 2022;Darwis & Iswanto, 2018;Gomes Neto et al, 2021). This study shows that when a clump is about three years old, the new culms that grow (referred to as juveniles) have an average internode length similar to the average length of B. vulgaris reported by Wahab et al (2009).…”