Utilization of extracted jojoba fruit as a fuel

Extracted jojoba solid waste has been used for almost the first time in this study as renewable solid fuel for furnaces. The extracted jojoba is derived from the fruit waste after extracting the oil from seeds. The jojoba remains are analysed and their physical and chemical features are reported. It is found that they contain much volatile combustible material which is expected to ease its combustion in furnaces. The performance of such solid fuels in a small-scale furnace with a fixed bed at its bottom has been investigated. The furnace considered has been equipped in some of the runs with baffles in an attempt to increase the residence time of combustible gases, and hence ensure better combustion and heat transfer performance. Different experimental runs with different air-to-fuel ratios (from 7:1 to 20.8:1 compared with the theoretical value of 9.7:1) have been tested. The results indicate a good feasibility of jojoba remains as a renewable fuel for furnaces. Theoretical modelling or extended experiments will be needed to further investigate the heat of combustion at other conditions.