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Coal fines, sawdust and molasses binder were mixed in the desired ratio to come up with mixtures which were fed into the coal briquette machine, to make coal-sawdust-molasses briquettes.

The influence of sawdust and molasses binder concentration on the coal-sawdust-molasses briquettes various properties are discussed in detail below. The initial coal-sawdust-molasses mixture had a big sulphur content before the compacting with calcium hydroxide as a desulphurizing agent. After the hot compacting at high temperature, the sulphur content significantly reduced, as the calcium hydroxide reacted with the sulphur.

The calorific value of the coal briquettes gives the indication of the intensity of the heating value. High calorific value is required in high quality coal briquettes so as to harness as much energy as possible from the coal briquettes. Our study showed, as the molasses binder concentration increased, the calorific value of coal briquettes increased, as the sawdust concentration increased, the calorific value of coal briquettes also significantly increased. Finally, the highest calorific value of coal briquettes were observed when the molasses binder concentration was 5% and the sawdust concentration was 20%. High binder and sawdust concentration resulted in increased inter-locking bonds with the coal fines resulting in briquettes that have a high heating value due to the additional strength provided by the combined effect of the high sawdust and binder concentration.