AGRICULTURE REPORT - Briquetting

AGRICULTURE REPORT - Briquetting
By Gary Garriott

Broadcast: Tuesday, June 22, 2004

This is Steve Ember with the VOA Special English Agriculture Report.

 
Graphic¹ Image
In many parts of the world, people burn wood and other agricultural products for cooking and heating. However, as populations increase, materials for burning can be more difficult to find. One way to make better use of such materials is to press them together into a solid fuel. This is called briquetting. The objects that are burned are called briquettes. Briquettes are usually no bigger than a person's hand. They can be any shape.

Charcoal² is a common form of briquetting material. It is found throughout the world. Charcoal burns with a higher heat energy value per kilogram than wood.

Charcoal briquettes are made from specially⁴ treated wood. Briquettes can also be made from many other kinds of materials. These include rice coverings, paper, food wastes, fish wastes, and wastes from processing coconuts⁵ and coffee.

In general, anything that burns but is not found in an easy-to-use size can be used to makes briquettes.

The first step in briquetting is to collect a large amount of the material. Then the material is cut or crushed to make it smaller. Next it is combined with a small amount of water and a substance called a binder⁶. A binder keeps the material from falling apart when the pressure is taken away. Clay, mud, cement and starch⁷ are commonly used binders⁸.

At this point the material and binder may be partly dried. Finally, the substance is pushed together under high pressure in a machine. The machines used for families or in small briquetting businesses are often operated by hand. They shape the material into briquettes that can be burned immediately or stored and sold later.

The same machines that make blocks and bricks from mud and straw can be used for briquetting. An example of such a machine is a Cinva Ram³.

Machines with electric motors can also be used. A twenty horsepower motor can be used for briquetting with rice husks. Two workers using such a machine can produce one-hundred-fifty kilograms of briquettes every hour. The machine can operate twenty-four hours a day.

You can get more information about briquetting from the group Volunteers in Technical Assistance. VITA is on the Internet at v-i-t-a dot o-r-g.

This VOA Special English Agriculture Report was written by Gary Garriott. This is Steve Ember.

1 graphic   

adj.生动的，形象的，绘画的，文字的，图表的

参考例句：

• The book gave a graphic description of the war.这本书生动地描述了战争的情况。
• Distinguish important text items in lists with graphic icons.用图标来区分重要的文本项。

2 charcoal   

n.炭，木炭，生物炭

参考例句：

• We need to get some more charcoal for the barbecue.我们烧烤需要更多的碳。
• Charcoal is used to filter water.木炭是用来过滤水的。

3 ram   

(random access memory)随机存取存储器

参考例句：

• 512k RAM is recommended and 640k RAM is preferred.推荐配置为512K内存，640K内存则更佳。

4 specially   

adv.特定地；特殊地；明确地

参考例句：

• They are specially packaged so that they stack easily.它们经过特别包装以便于堆放。
• The machine was designed specially for demolishing old buildings.这种机器是专为拆毁旧楼房而设计的。

5 coconuts   

n.椰子( coconut的名词复数 )；椰肉，椰果

参考例句：

• We found a bountiful supply of coconuts on the island. 我们发现岛上有充足的椰子供应。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Coconuts provide "meat", drink, oil, soap and fiber for fishing line. 椰子提供“肉类”，饮料、油脂、肥皂和做钓（鱼）丝的纤维。 来自百科语句

6 binder   

n.包扎物，包扎工具；[法]临时契约；粘合剂；装订工

参考例句：

• The cloth flower snaps on with a special binder.这布花是用一种特殊的粘合剂固定住的。
• Purified water was used as liquid binder.纯净水作为液体粘合剂。

7 starch   

n.淀粉；vt.给...上浆

参考例句：

• Corn starch is used as a thickener in stews.玉米淀粉在炖煮菜肴中被用作增稠剂。
• I think there's too much starch in their diet.我看是他们的饮食里淀粉太多了。

8 binders   

n.（司机行话）刹车器；（书籍的）装订机( binder的名词复数 )；（购买不动产时包括预付订金在内的）保证书；割捆机；活页封面

参考例句：

• Propellant binders based on these materials have excellent mechanical properties and good performance. 用这些材料制成的推进粘结剂的工作性能很好，而机械性能则更为突出。 来自辞典例句
• The and inferior binders fabrication process has become much more important. 黏合剂制作工艺优劣显得更加重要。 来自互联网