Combustion Characteristics of Densified Cattle Manure Briquette in an Isothermal Condition

The densification process of cattle manure (CM) and its combustion characteristics in air were studied under isothermal conditions. To be better aligned with practical applications, cotton stalk (CS) and corn cob (CC) were chosen in this paper as the controls. The stability of densified biomass briquettes under compressive force of 20 kN, 30 kN, 40 kN, and 50 kN were studied. Factors affecting the densification of biomass, including moisture concentration, densification pressure, and briquette size were studied, in addition to combustion conditions including heating rate and O2 concentration. The moisture concentration contained in the densified biomass briquettes were set at 5%, 10%, 15%, and 20%. The results showed a good stability of briquettes of CM (CM-B) under various densification pressures. The effects of moisture concentration on the combustion characteristics were small for CM-B. The influence of the densification pressure and O2 concentration on the combustion characteristics was a monotonic change. In summary, considering the stability and economy, 30 kN and 30% O2 concentration were judged to be favorable. The combustion characteristics of the CM-B did not monotonically increase with the size. The study’s results showed that the CM-B could be used as a fuel under certain conditions.