Experimental Analysis of Physical and Fuel Characteristics of Areca Leaves Briquette

India produces large amount of agro waste annually, which are burnt or destroyed in loose form causing air pollution. This study aims at converting leaves of areca plant which is a cash crop of the farmers in Karnataka, into briquettes so that energy crisis faced in rural area can be addressed. Areca leaves were collected, dried, reduced and sieved to a size of 600 for the purpose of making biomass briquettes. These areca leaves were mixed with sawdust and wheat flour which acted as additive and binder respectively, in 211 ration and densified. Proximate and ultimate analysis were done by using IS 1350 and gross calorific value done as per IS 1448-7. ASAE standard were used to determine the compaction, relaxation and density ratio of the briquettes. Results from analysis showed that areca leaves had a gross calorific value of 3269.08 Kcal/Kg, which is sufficient to produce sufficient heat. The percentage of moisture content was 7.93 %. The initial, maximum and relaxed densities were 199.2 Kg/cm3, 871.7 Kg/cm3 and 334.6 Kg/cm3 respectively. The initial, maximum and density ratio of areca leaves briquettes were 4.37, 2.605 and 0.383 respectively. Other properties like percentage of carbon, oxygen, sulphur and nitrogen were within the permissible limits of a good biomass briquette. The experimental study concluded that biomass briquettes prepared by using areca leaves would make a good biomass fuel, thus addressing the energy crisis faced by people in rural area.