A student team from the Faculty of Biology UGM initiated sheep manure for biomass briquettes resource.
This team consisted of Khoiruddin Anshori (2017), Hana Widiwati (2017), and Alifia Safputeri (2018) with Dr. Eko Agus Suyono, M.App.Sc. as their mentor. The idea, which was realized in scientific writing, even won 1st place in the 2020 National Scientific Writing competition. In a competition held by Riau University early last year, the Biogama Team managed to beat 17 teams from various universities in Indonesia.
“At that time, we submitted the idea of an appropriate technology innovation based on new energy entitled Conversion of Sheep Feces Biochar into Biomass Briquettes as a Solution for Harvesting Energy from Animal Husbandry Waste and Developing Village Potential in Indonesia,” said Hana on Tuesday (30/6).
Hana said that the proposed idea was based on the large population of sheep in Indonesia. This condition causes the production of livestock waste to continue to increase. Meanwhile, the sheep feces have not been used optimally by breeders until now, causing environmental pollution.
According to Hana, the conversion of sheep feces into biomass briquettes becomes an alternative solution to solve this problem. The reason is, sheep and goat livestock waste has biomass, which can be used as a renewable energy source.
The process of harvesting energy from biomass can be done quickly using pyrolysis technology. The procedure for making biomass briquettes begins with the accumulation of manure. Then, the results are dried in the sun to reduce water content. Next, it is put into the pyrolysis reactor to obtain biochar. The biochar obtained is then mixed with a starch mixture, then molded, and dried in the sun.
“The biomass briquettes produced have energy that is almost equivalent to fossil fuels,” she explained.
Hana said that the appropriate technology that converts sheep waste into biomass briquettes has an economic value worth considering. To reduce production costs, you can reuse bio-oil produced in the pyrolysis process as fuel in the pyrolysis reactor.
Source: https://ugm.ac.id/id/berita/19634-mahasiswa-ugm-gagas-kotoran-kambing-domba-jadi-briket-biomassa
