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Int J Energy Environ Eng (2016) 7:37–43

DOI 10.1007/s40095-015-0195-8

ORIGINAL RESEARCH

On the potential of water hyacinth as a biomass briquette

for heating applications
K. Munjeri1 • S. Ziuku2 • H. Maganga1 • B. Siachingoma3 • S. Ndlovu4

Received: 13 April 2015 / Accepted: 7 October 2015 / Published online: 5 November 2015
Ó The Author(s) 2015. This article is published with open access at Springerlink.com

Abstract This article highlights the environmental chal- energy source particularly for communities staying in the
lenge posed by water hyacinth on fresh water sources in vicinity of the affected water sources.
Zimbabwe and investigates the use of the harvested weed
as a source of energy in the form of briquettes. The water Keywords Water hyacinth  Briquettes  Gross calorific
hyacinth (Eichhornia crassipes), known to be native to value  Fixed carbon  Ash content
South America, has now become an environmental and
social challenge throughout most water sources in Zim-
babwe. It adversely affects the environment and humans in Introduction
diverse ways. However, the plant leaves and stem release
thermal energy when burned. The amount of thermal The spread of the fast-growing water hyacinth weed in
energy released depends on the moisture content and other Harare’s Lake Chivero and other open water sources is
factors. The water hyacinth organic matter and other leaf threatening the capital city’s main water supply. Environ-
species were briquetted and their thermal energy content mentalists blame the spread of the weed on the discharge of
investigated in this exercise. The thermal energy content of effluent, particularly raw sewage, into the Lake and its
the various samples was measured using a bomb tributaries. The weed has spread, to many other water
calorimeter. Results of the experiments showed that the bodies throughout Zimbabwe. The plant grows rapidly and
calorific value of briquetted hyacinth was 14.55 MJ/kg. produces enormous amounts of biomass. Due to its flat top
The calorific value of briquetted samples of other eleven leaf structure, it covers extensive areas of open waterways.
leaf species ranged from 14 to 20 MJ/kg. Moisture content, The water weed causes ecological and economic prob-
volatile matter and ash content results of the samples are lems by impeding navigation, fishing and recreational
also reported in this paper. The results show that water activities. The weed’s rapid growth rate creates chronic
hyacinth briquettes can be used as thermal and lighting shortage of dissolved oxygen required by the water’s fauna
and the flora [1, 2]. Perna and Burrows [3] noted that the
water hyacinth cover on water bodies reduces the gaseous
exchanges that take place at the air–water interface and
& S. Ziuku reduce the photosynthetic activity of submerged plants by
sziuku@sirdc.ac.zw; sostenz@yahoo.com
hindering the penetration of the sun’s rays. Figure 1 shows
1
Department of Physics, University of Zimbabwe, the clogged Manyame river, one of the tributaries of Lake
Box MP167, Harare, Zimbabwe Chivero.
2
Energy Technology Institute, SIRDC, Box 6640, Hatcliffe, In slow-moving water bodies, water hyacinth mats
Harare, Zimbabwe physically slow the flow of water, causing suspended par-
3
Physics Department, Midlands State University, ticles to be precipitated, leading to siltation. The reduced
P. Bag 9055, Gweru, Zimbabwe water flow can also cause flooding and adversely affect
4
Bindura University of Science Education, irrigation schemes by clogging the canals and piping sys-
P. Bag 1020, Bindura, Zimbabwe tems. Displacement of water by water hyacinth can mean

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38 Int J Energy Environ Eng (2016) 7:37–43

productive plant utilisation, it is the best way to harvest the

weed.
It has been reported that water hyacinth weed cannot
be used as stock feed because of low protein content. It
cannot also be used to make paper because of its short
stalk length. However, it can be utilised to remove heavy
metals from sewage and as an energy source in the form
of briquettes. Substantial research work has been directed
towards searching for various ways of realising value in
the weed.
The weed is not only affecting water supply to cities
and towns in Zimbabwe, but is also negatively affecting
the livelihoods of people living close to the infested
Fig. 1 Water hyacinth on Manyame River water bodies. These communities usually consist of the
poor and vulnerable who have limited access to basic
energy services. In most cases, they use wood and
that the effective capacity of water reservoirs is reduced by
paraffin leading to deforestation, indoor pollution, and
up to 400 m3 of water per hectare, causing water levels in
increased procurement costs. It is also worth noting that
small reservoirs to fall more rapidly in dry periods [4].
urban dwellers in Zimbabwe have also resorted to the
Methods for controlling the water hyacinth weed include
traditional energy sources such as wood due to frequent
manual and mechanical removal as well as chemical and
electricity outages. The country’s sole utility, the Zim-
biological interventions. Chemical use is the fastest but it
babwe Electricity Supply Authority (ZESA) generates
has gross negative impact on the environment and water
about 60 % of the Country’s peak demand and imports
quality. The chemicals will also have to be removed to
power from South Africa, Mozambique and Democratic
make the water safe for human consumption. Although it
Republic of Congo in an attempt to address the shortfall
may be used in conjunction with other control methods,
[6]. Urban dwellers are also increasingly using Liquefied
biological control is an essential option in any management
Petroleum Gas (LPG) for their heating needs. Imported
plan to control the hyacinth water weed. Biological control
fuels are, however, beyond the reach of many. The rural
is relatively cheap and safe for the environment giving
people have virtually deforested their environs in search
long-term sustainable control with minimal maintenance
of energy sources. The briquetting of the biomass,
once the weevil is established. The biological method is
especially the foliage which is normally left to waste or
ideal for large areas, environmentally sensitive areas, sites
burnt in open fires, has the potential to fill the energy
where access is not possible for spraying or harvesting,
gap and ensure energy sustenance in rural communities
sites susceptible to re-infestation and sites where water is
located close to the infested water bodies.
being used for stock watering. The weevils will also dis-
The abundance of the rapidly growing hyacinth water
perse to other areas, including inaccessible or difficult
weed presents both environmental challenges and
terrain. With biological control, there is no danger of off-
opportunities. It is envisaged that water hyacinth is a
target damage to, or removal of other desirable plants
potential biomass material for the production of bri-
which can occur with herbicides or manual harvesting.
quettes because of its high growth yield and availability
However, biological control should not be used where
in large amounts throughout the year. The present
eradication is to be attempted unless it is to thin out a large
research investigates the potential use of water hyacinth
area prior to eradication. Eradication is rarely possible with
from nearby watercourses as biomass material for mak-
biological control, and carries the danger that the insect
ing briquettes. The calorific value of the water weed
population will die out, and the weed will then return. The
briquettes will be compared to other briquette samples
ideal situation is to achieve a dynamic equilibrium where
made from other leaf species.
both the plant and the insect survive at low levels without
The research motivation is how best an environmental
causing economic damage [5]. Large-scale mechanical
challenge can be utilised to alleviate the energy crisis
processes usually require machines powered by electricity
experienced by communities living in and around hyacinth
or liquid fuels. This tends to increase the process costs and
water weed-infested water courses. The results of the study
damage the environment. The manual process using hand-
are expected to influence environmental and energy policy
held tools is slow considering the rate at which the water
decisions on hyacinth water weed harvesting and
weed multiplies. Nevertheless, for the purposes of
utilisation.

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Int J Energy Environ Eng (2016) 7:37–43 39

Materials and methods system on the machine ensured that the stopper would not
come off. When activated, the hydraulic press machine
Leaf samples compacted the biomass producing cylindrical briquettes.

The water hyacinth biomass matter was manually collected Calorific value determination
from Lake Chivero which is the main water source for the
City of Harare. Other leaf species used in the experiment for The gross calorific value of briquette samples was deter-
comparison purposes were collected from the University of mined in the laboratory using a bomb calorimeter. A bomb
Zimbabwe farm and Domboshava Training Centre, about calorimeter is a sealed container which can withstand very
20 km north of the University. A total of 11 different leaf high pressures. An ignition wire is inserted inside the bomb
species were collected. Among these were 2 crops (Maize and this wire is used to ignite a sample of substance placed
and Pumpkin) and 9 exotic (Water Hyacinth, Eucalyptus, inside the bomb when a current is passed through the wire.
Cypress, Calliandra calothyrsus, Acacia angustissima, The bomb is placed in a known quantity of water. The heat
Paulownia tomentosa, Flemingia macrophylla, Leucaena produced from the combustion is used to heat the water and
trichandra and Gliricidia sepium) species. The crop varieties routine manual monitoring of temperature and the heat cal-
chosen grow fast and their plant residues are abundant in culations is taken care of by the computerised system of the
rural communities. The exotic species chosen also grow fast, bomb calorimeter. The apparatus is jacketed to prevent loss
are abundant, and have high leaf foliage. of heat. The temperature of water in the jacket is matched to
temperature of water in the calorimeter vessel by a bridge
Experimental processes circuit. The temperature rise of the system is a measure of the
heat energy that is given out by the combustion sample inside
The main procedures in the experiment are shown in the bomb. No heat transfer occurs between the water and the
Fig. 2. calorimeter as the two will be in equilibrium at all times. The
The leaves were shredded into small pieces for each process occurs adiabatically. Knowing the heat capacity of
sample. The pieces were dried over a minimum period of the calorimeter, the heat released from the combustion of the
3 days and then pulverised using a pestle. A molasses samples can be determined from the relationship:
binder was used to improve compactness and strength of DUb ¼ Cv DT ð1Þ
the briquette. Various trial runs and percentage ratios were
investigated to determine the amount of molasses just where DUb is the change in internal energy of the bomb
sufficient to bind and produce a compact briquette. A mass calorimeter and its contents, Cv is the heat capacity of the
of 10 % molasses to organic material was found to be calorimeter, DT is the temperature change.
sufficient to produce a compact briquette. The ratio was A schematic diagram of the bomb calorimeter and its
used for all leaf sample briquettes. contents used is shown in Fig. 3.
Briquetting was done using the hydraulic press machine
in the Institute of Mining Research at the University of
Zimbabwe. The mass of the samples was measured first Results and discussion
and then mixed with the molasses binder. The mixed
sample, weighing 13 g was then deposited into the holder The briquetting process produced samples with a diameter
of the cylindrical pressing machine. A weight used as a of 3.8 cm and a thickness of 1.1 cm. Figure 4a, b shows
stopper was then placed on top of the biomass. The locking samples of the water hyacinth and maize crop briquettes.

Fig. 2 The experimental

processes Organic
maer Sorng Shredding Drying
collecon

Results
processing Combuson Briqueng

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Pumpkin which released 14.51 MJ/kg. Water Hyacinth

Inner vessel briquette had a heating value of 14.55 MJ/kg. Of the top
five species, three of them were the fast-growing exotic
Decomposion species sourced from Domboshava Training Centre. Data
vessel from Wankie Colliery, where most of Zimbabwe’s coal is
Pure oxygen mined, indicate that local coal has GCV in the range
environment 20–30 MJ/kg. Coal is extensively used for heating pur-
Igniter system poses in industry and agriculture. The GCV of the water
Combuson crucible
hyacinth briquette is about 70 % of the heating energy
content of the lowest commercial coal grade used in the
Briquee country. Gross calorific values of selected common fuels
sample
are listed in Table 1.
Fig. 3 Schematic illustration of a bomb calorimeter Obenberger and Thek [8] reported that the GCV of
woody biomass determined experimentally is around
20 MJ/kg dry mass basis, and for herbaceous biomass it is
Gross calorific value measurements around 18.8 MJ/kg dry mass basis. As shown in Table 1,
the GCV of water hyacinth briquettes compares favourably
A bomb calorimeter was used to determine the gross with that of wood which is predominantly used for heating
calorific value (GCV) of the briquette samples. The mea- and lighting in rural communities. The tabulated GCVs
sured GCV values are shown in Fig. 5. reveal that the water hyacinth briquette is a potential
GCV measurements showed that Acacia Angustissima energy source for heating applications.
leaves produced the highest gross calorific value of
20.57 MJ/kg. The sample with the least calorific value was Volatile matter

The water and ash content, volatile matter and fixed carbon
contained in the briquette samples were also determined.
Table 2 depicts the fixed carbon and other physical
parameters of the briquette samples.
The water hyacinth briquette has higher ash content and
a lower percentage of volatile matter compared to other
briquettes. The relationship between ash content, volatile
matter, water content and fixed carbon with the gross
calorific value is depicted in Fig. 6a, b.
An analysis of the regression coefficients for various
curve fits revealed that a logarithmic model had the least
squares fit described by the relation:

Fig. 4 a Water hyacinth briquettes. b Maize crop briquettes Fig. 5 Gross calorific values of the briquetted samples

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Int J Energy Environ Eng (2016) 7:37–43 41

Table 1 GCV of various fuels that are usually used for heating purposes in Zimbabwe [7]
Sample Water hyacinth Coal (lignite–anthracite) Wood (dry) Petrol Diesel Paraffin Ethanol LPG

GCV value (MJ/kg) 14.6 15.0–27.0 14.4–17.4 48.0 44.8 46.0 29.7 46.1

Table 2 Values of water and

Briquette sample Water content (%) Ash content (%) Volatile matter (%) Fixed carbon (%)
ash content, volatile matter and
fixed carbon for the various Acacia Angustissima 6.9 3.4 82.4 7.3
briquette samples
Flemingia 6.3 5.2 67.8 20.7
Cypress 6.3 6.3 73.2 20.5
Paulownia tomentosa 7.7 4.5 67.3 20.5
Eucalyptus 6.6 4.6 71.5 17.3
Calliandra 7.5 4.9 64.4 23.2
Leucaena tricandra 7.6 5.1 67.9 19.4
Grilicidia 7.2 4.7 65.4 22.7
Maize 7.2 8.4 66.1 19.5
Hyacinth 7.8 12.4 65.7 20.7
Pumpkin 8.3 11.3 66.2 14.2

y ¼ a lnðxÞ þ b ð2Þ volatile matter was observed to have the highest gross
calorific value.
where y is the gross calorific value, x is the measured
briquette parameter while a and b are the fitting constants. Gaseous emissions
Figure 6a shows that the GCV of briquettes decreases
rapidly with water content and less rapidly with ash con- The analysis of energy content of the briquettes was done
tent. The GCV tends to increase with fixed carbon content. concurrently with the determination of traces of gases that
It is worth noting that the pumpkin briquette which has the could be released from the combustion of the briquettes
highest water content (followed by water hyacinth) has the and any other elements. Elements contributing to gas
least gross calorific value. It appears that the high water emissions recorded from the experiments are sulphur,
content in the water hyacinth has a negative influence on nitrogen and chlorides. Tabulated results of gaseous
the GCV of the hyacinth briquette. The heating value emissions in the briquette samples are shown in Table 3.
decreases because the thermal energy is used to evaporate The eucalyptus leaf sample had the highest percentage
the residual moisture in the briquette. of sulphur at 3.06 %. The fast-growing species all had
Ash is a residue of the oxidation of the mineral com- traces of sulphur between 0.8 and 1.10 %. Acacia
ponent of briquette samples. Lower ash content was Angustissima had a sulphur trace of 0.88 % which was
observed in briquette samples that have higher gross among the lowest. Maize had the lowest percentage of
calorific values. At 12.4 %, the water hyacinth briquette sulphur at 0.66 %. All the species had chlorides content
sample had higher ash content, second only to the pumpkin below 0.50 %.
briquette sample. Thus, ash content suppresses the gross
calorific value of briquettes. However, it is worth noting
that the higher ash content in water hyacinth may be useful Conclusion
in replenishing trace elements removed by crops in the
agricultural fields. In this project, fresh water hyacinth plants and other leaf
Volatile matter is the actual combustible matter in the samples were manually collected and briquetted in the
fuel. It contains elements such as tar and carbon. The laboratory. A molasses binder was used to improve the
percentage of tar in the sample briquettes could not be strength and compactness of the briquettes. A bomb
determined using the calorimeter experiment. Figure 6 b calorimeter was used to measure the heat of combustion of
reveals that the GCV tends to increase with volatile matter. the briquette samples. The GCV of the different briquette
The water hyacinth briquette’s volatile matter content was samples varied from 14.51 to 20.57 MJ/kg. The water
found to be 65.7 %. The briquette sample with the highest hyacinth briquette had a GCV of 14.55 MJ/kg. This

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Fig. 6 a Variation of water, ash Water content (%) Ash content (%) Fixed carbon (%)
and fixed carbon content with Log. (Water content (%)) Log. (Ash content (%)) Log. (Fixed carbon (%) )
GCV for various briquette
samples. b Effect of volatile (a) 22

matter on GCV for various

briquette samples

Gross Calorific Value (MJ/kg)

20

18

16

14

12

10
0 5 10 15 20 25 30
Water, ash and fixed carbon content (%)

Volale maer (%) Log. (Volale maer (%))

(b) 25

20
Gross Calorific Value (MJ/kg)

15

10

0
50 55 60 65 70 75 80 85 90 95
Volale maer (%)

compares favourably to the GCV of wood which varies fuel pellets using briquetting technology. The environ-
from 14.40 to 17.40 MJ/kg on dry mass basis. The GCV of mentally unfriendly biomass material found in various
briquetted water hyacinth samples was about 70 % of the water ways can be harvested and serve as an alternative
GCV of the lowest coal grade used for heating applications energy source.
in agriculture and industry in Zimbabwe. The production of biomass briquettes from water hya-
The water hyacinth briquette samples had average water cinth is recommended. This could help alleviate the chal-
content of 7.8 %, ash content of 12.4 %, volatile matter lenges posed by this water weed. Successful
65.7 % and fixed carbon of 21.9 %. The fixed carbon commercialisation of the briquettes can lead to increased
content of about 20 % is in the range of other woody and incomes, job creation and improved environmental man-
herbaceous plants. This exercise has shown that water agement. The use of briquettes may help reduce the
hyacinth biomass can be processed into convenient solid prevalence of the water weed in aquatic bodies and also

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Int J Energy Environ Eng (2016) 7:37–43 43

Table 3 Gaseous emissions of

Briquette sample Sulphur (%) Nitrogen (%) Chlorides (%) GCV (MJ/kg)
sulphides, nitrides and chlorides
Acacia Angustissima 0.88 1.33 0.39 20.57
Flemingia 1.08 0.77 0.36 20.28
Cypress 0.83 1.88 0.48 19.66
Paulownia Tomentosa 0.82 1.13 0.46 19.52
Eucalyptus 3.06 0.86 0.08 19.32
Calliandra 1.02 0.69 0.36 18.74
Leucaena Trichandra 0.92 0.73 0.41 18.68
Grilicidia 1.00 0.86 0.36 18.53
Maize 0.66 1.02 0.11 16.51
Hyacinth 1.09 0.68 0.32 14.55
Pumpkin 0.94 0.71 0.43 14.51

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