Paper Title
Agglomeration of Rice Straw and Coal

Abstract
Biomass can be an excellent source of renewable energy. Biomass has been used in co-firing with coal in domestic heating system, industrial boilers and power plants to decrease the use of imported coal and reduce net CO2 emissions. Agglomeration of raw materials, such as tableting, briquetting, pelletizing, can increase bulk density, improve storability, reduce transportation costs and increase the quality of products. The aim of this study is to analyze the effects of moisture content of rice straw, and mixing ratio materials between rice straw and bituminous coal during agglomeration. The materials were compressed in a load cell by a hydraulic piston press with 25 mm diameter. Effects of the independent variables, including moisture contents (5.5, 9, 13 and 18 wt.% in the case of rice straw), and different mixing ratios between bituminous coal and rice straw were investigated. The results shown that at the same pressure, increasing moisture content (MC) resulted in higher density of the rice straw tablet. Tablets made from raw material (rice straw and bituminous coal) with 30 % bituminous coal and 70 % rice straw had higher tensile strength than those made from other mixing ratios. Keywords - Agglomeration, Tablet, Tensile Strength, Moisture Content.