Production and characterization of ecological fire starter from sawdust and vegetable oil.

The objective of this article aims to reduce indoor air pollution through the use of ecological fire starter (EFS) made from sawdust and vegetable oils. In the Far North region of Cameroon, plastic waste is used to ignite and stoke solid fuels fires, exposing mainly women and children who are responsible for cooking to health risks from indoor air pollution. Thus, the survey conducted among the population of the region shows that 96% of urban households use plastics waste made with LDPE, HDPE, PET, PS, PP and EVA as fire starter for solid fuels. In the region, 5544 tons of plastic used by households could emit approximately 15,314 tons of CO2 eq per year. The region has a manufacturing capacity of 1000 tons of EFS while its need is 894 tons in 2022. The lower heating value of the EFS varies between 31.914 ± 0.810 and 25.127 ± 0.026 MJ/kg, and have many ecological health and economic advantages. A household needs about 10 g of EFS to ignite solid fuel per day, with an annual expenditure ranging from 5.5 and US$ 7 to purchase EFS. Therefore, it is important to promote EFS through developing countries and look for another way to recover plastic waste.

Accessibility and effects of binder types on the physical and energetic properties of ecological coal.

The objective of this paper was to determine the effects of binders on the physical and energetic properties of briquettes as well as their accessibility. Proximate analysis and investigation on binder cost on local market were conducted. The results show that the addition of binder increases the durability and density, but decreases the LHV of briquettes. However, when the LHV of the binder is higher than that of the biomass used for briquette making, the LHV will increase. Among the binders used, cassava starch contains more LHV (19.082 ± 0.381 MJ/kg), followed by cow dung (17.088 ± 0.274 MJ/kg), arabic gum (16.015 ± 0.631 MJ/kg), bark of Grewia bicolor comes last with 14.020 ± 0.272 MJ/kg, and black clay does not contain energy. For a piece of briquette which weighs 20 g, bark of G. bicolor gives a better hardness with a crushing limit load of 22 kg, followed by arabic gum with 19.5 kg, and cow dung with 14 kg. Similarly, bark of G. bicolor gives the higher density, followed by arabic gum. A kg of gum arabic, G. bicolor and starch costs between US$ 1.60 and 3.17. It is important to afforest the plant species that produce binders.