Use of Coconut Husks as Energy Source in Ghana

BSc. Philip Kwame Darko

Diplomová práce

Abstract:

The current reliance on fossil fuels is one of the most significant concerns for the future generations as the emissions connected with the use of the fossil fuels are substantial contributors to the popular global warming phenomenon. This thesis is focused on one of the oldest sources of energy, biomass, as an alternative source to the conventional sources of energy in Ghana. Coconut husks were selected as the biomass for this thesis because of its high abundance in the country and the specified district, and its poor nutritional value to be used as a source of feed for livestock. There is abundance of the coconut husks which is mostly considered useless once the fruit is eaten. To evaluate the potential of coconut husks as energy source, main physical and chemical tests were performed. Properties like moisture content, calorific value, ash content, carbon, hydrogen, nitrogen, and sulphur content were evaluated. The samples were then torrefied to selected temperatures and same physical and chemical tests were performed on the torrefied samples. The results generally showed coconut husk to be a very good source of energy biofuel as all the standard limits for graded non-woody biofuels were fulfilled. Physical and chemical tests performed on the torrefied coconut husk also showed a significant improvement of biofuel standard limits in exception of ash content which was increasing with increasing torrefaction temperature. Compression test was also performed on the original coconut husk sample and the results showed that a lot of energy will be wasted to produce briquettes and pellets. However, torrefaction of the coconut husk samples will rather be suitable since less energy will be needed and there were higher energy values recorded. The optimal temperature of torrefaction was at 300°C. The maximum theoretical energy yield/potential was also calculated.

Keywords

coconut husks, torrefaction, calorific value, moisture content, Ghana, Renewable energy, waste biomass, compression

Jazyk práce: angličtina

Datum vytvoření / odevzdání či podání práce: 28. 4. 2023

Obhajoba závěrečné práce

• Vedoucí: doc. Bc. Ing. Tatiana Ivanova, Ph.D.
• Oponent: Luboš Passian, Ph.D.

Česká zemědělská univerzita v Praze

Fakulta tropického zemědělství

Magisterský studijní program:
Agri-food Systems and Rural Development