Briquette Combustion Characteristics of Cerbera Manghas Leaves with Rejected Pineapple as Binding Agent as a Sustainable Fuel

Litter from fallen leaves of the Cerbera manghas plant is commonly found throughout Indonesia. Various studies have shown that briquettes formed from the falling leaves of Cerbera manghas may be able to reduce waste and be used as a new energy source. However, previous studies employed tapioca as a binding agent for briquettes, which is an edible starch, and their use as a binder competes with the availability of food resources. Alternatively, rejected pineapple would be used as a binding agent to remedy the problem since it is not edible and reduces unused waste. The briquette was subsequently researched to determine the optimal produc-tion parameters as well as its potential as a sustainable fuel. The 95% to 5% ratio of biomass to briquette is used to achieve a high calorific value of 4338.79 kcal/kg while maintaining the structure of the briquette in check. The usage of this briquette is supported by both the calorific value test and ultimate analyses. According to the research on the four combustion characteristics (ignition time, burning temperature, combustion rate, and burning time), the composition that gives the best briquette is obtained by using a particle size of 60 mesh and compressed by the hydraulic pressure of 2 MPa.