Estimation of thermal efficiency of dry leaves with dairy scum pellets and comparative study on their thermal disintegration under TGA apparatus and cook stove

Garden wastes comprising leaves are often considered as unresourceful and usually discarded in the environment without testing its potential. The yard waste consisting leaves of mangifera indica, manilkara zapota, azadirachta indica, ficus benghalensis, polyalthia longifolia, eucalyptus and tamarindus indica were optimised to produce 8 mm pellets using dairy scum as binder in 5%, 10%, 25% scum to biomass ratio and without scum was considered as control. Physical and chemical properties such as particle size, bulk density, true density, moisture, volatile matter, ash, energy density, calorific value, pH, lignin, metals, and tensile strength were observed and analysed for all pellets. Estimated thermal efficiency from combustion analysis of produced pellets were 40.74%, 43.51%, 44.77% and 46.73% for leaves with 5%, 10%, 25% dairy scum and control respectively. Comparative study of thermal behaviour of produced pellets using TGA/DTA and cook stove showed similar isotherms of combustion. The present study also manifest the significance of using dairy scum as binder for biomass pelletisation as an added scope of utilisation of dairy industrial waste in contribution towards renewable energy.