Physical Characterization of Ecological Briquettes Based on Vertisols and Sorghum Bicolor CS54 Fibers

Abba Falama (), Maxime Dawoua Kaoutoing, Souaibou, Ruben Zieba Falama, Virgil Dumbrava () and Danwé Raidandi
Additional contact information
Abba Falama: Department of Civil Engineering and Architecture, National Advanced School of Engineering, University of Maroua, Maroua P.O. Box. 46, Cameroon
Maxime Dawoua Kaoutoing: National Advanced School of Mines and Petroleum Industries, University of Maroua, Maroua P.O. Box. 46, Cameroon
Souaibou: Department of Civil Engineering and Architecture, National Advanced School of Engineering, University of Maroua, Maroua P.O. Box. 46, Cameroon
Ruben Zieba Falama: Faculty of Engineering and the Built Environment, University of Johannesburg, Johannesburg 2092, South Africa
Virgil Dumbrava: Department of Power Systems, Faculty of Power Engineering, National University of Science and Technology POLITEHNICA Bucharest, Splaiul Independentei, No 313, District 6, 060042 Bucharest, Romania
Danwé Raidandi: Department of Civil Engineering and Architecture, National Advanced School of Engineering, University of Maroua, Maroua P.O. Box. 46, Cameroon

Sustainability, 2024, vol. 16, issue 23, 1-23

Abstract: The aim of this work is to perform the physical characterization of ecological briquettes based on vertisols and fibers of Sorghum bicolor CS54 from the city of Maroua located in the Far North of Cameroon, a country of Sub-Saharan Africa. Three sites of study have been identified and investigated, namely ZL (Zokok Laddeo), Ngassa (NG), and KG (Kongola). Different percentages of added plant fibers have been realized, including 0%; 2%; 6%; and 8% of fiber additions for each site considered. The experimental tests have revealed that the plasticity of clays is between 16.56% and 25.96%; it is higher in the Zokok Laddéo site (25.96%); and it is between 16.56 and 23.78% for Ngassa and Kongola. The main aggregates observed in the three sites are gravel, which varies between 1.90% and 16.12%, sand between 4.99 and 53.12%, silt, which varies between 2.30 and 36.10%, and clay which fluctuates between 20 and 38.77%. The coefficient of resistance to abrasion varies between 7.19% and 24.35 for the three sites. The highest rates are those of the samples from the Ngassa site (24.35%). The linear shrinkage of the samples varies between 2.9 and 13.04%. The apparent density of the briquettes are between 1587.30 kg/m 3 and 2138.13 kg/m 3 ; they are higher for the sites of Zokok Laddéo and Ngassa. The overall coefficient of the capillary rise value is between 0.42% and 16.85%. The interval variation in the obtained results for the different parameters are for most cases and depending on the sites studied in accordance with the defined international standards. These results have proven that the addition of bicolor Sorghum fibers CS54 in vertisols could improve the performance of constructions based on local and eco-friendly materials.

Keywords: vertisols; density; extraction; abrasion resistance coefficient; shrinkage coefficient (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: O13 Q Q0 Q2 Q3 Q5 Q56 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2024
References: View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations:

Downloads: (external link)
https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/16/23/10383/pdf (application/pdf)
https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/16/23/10383/ (text/html)

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:16:y:2024:i:23:p:10383-:d:1530905

Access Statistics for this article

Sustainability is currently edited by Ms. Alexandra Wu

More articles in Sustainability from MDPI
Bibliographic data for series maintained by MDPI Indexing Manager ().