Sawdust Briquette Machine

Sawdust briquette machine is used to produce high-density briquette fuel from waste forest materials such as wood chips and sawdust through mechanical extrusion and high-temperature softening. It is the core machine in the production of machine-made charcoal. Some agricultural waste materials, such as rice husks, peanut shells and plant straw, can also be taken as the raw materials of this briquette machine.

Core Principles

Making briquettes from wood sawdust utilizes the thermoplasticity of plant fibers.
High-temperature softening: The briquetting machine is equipped with a heating coil. When the sawdust is squeezed through the forming cylinder, the lignin in the material softens at temperatures above 160°C – 200°C.
Self-adhesive: Softened lignin acts as a natural “glue,” binding loose wood fibers together tightly.
High-pressure molding: A screw propeller applies extremely high pressure, increasing the material density from approximately 0.2 g/cm³ to 1.1 – 1.4 g/cm³.

To produce high-quality wood sawdust briquettes, the following steps are typically required:

Step 1: Crushing

The raw materials (such as branches and scraps) need to be crushed into particles of about 3mm-5mm. If they are too large, they cannot be shaped; if they are too small (such as dust), the structural strength will be insufficient.

Step 2: Drying

This is crucial for successful briquette production.

Ideal moisture content: 8% – 12%.

If it’s too wet, a large amount of steam will be generated during briquette production, causing it to explode; if it’s too dry, the material will have poor flowability and is prone to jamming.

Step 3: Extrusion Molding (Briquette Making Machine)

The material enters the briquetting machine chamber and, driven by the screw shaft, passes through a high-temperature heating coil and a forming sleeve.

Shape: Usually square or hexagonal. The outer diameter range of the briquettes is 50 or 70mm.

Hollow Design: The core of the briquette typically has a hole to increase the heating surface area and improve air permeability during subsequent combustion or carbonization.

Finished Product Quality Standards

A qualified wood sawdust briquette should possess the following characteristics:

• Density: Sinks in water and feels heavy.
• Appearance: Dark brown surface (due to high-temperature charring), smooth, without obvious cracks.
• Hardness: Does not break when dropped, and makes a crisp sound when broken.
• Cross-section: Compact, without any looseness.

Applications of Wood Sawdust Briquettes

1. As raw material for machine-made charcoal: Sawdust briquettes are carbonized in an oxygen-deficient furnace to obtain machine-made charcoal (barbecue charcoal).

2. Direct combustion fuel: Wood sawdust briquettes can be used directly as biomass fuel in boilers, fireplaces, or heating stoves. The burning time is 3-5 times that of ordinary firewood, and it produces less smoke.

hexagonal wood sawdust briquettes

square rice husk briquettes

When the raw materials we use to make charcoal are not suitable for carbonization first, we may choose to firstly crush them into sawdust or sawdust powder, dry them, then use the wood sawdust briquette machine to compress them into square or hexagonal rod-shaped briquettes, and finally use a horizontal or vertical carbonization furnace to carbonize the finished briquettes.

Note: The raw materials of this briquettes extruder machine are unlike that of the charcoal briquettes extruder. Sometimes customers confuse the two. The former is made from uncarbonized sawdust, rice husks, etc., while the latter is made from charcoal powder or coal powder, which may come from carbonized waste wood, fruit shells, tree branches, etc.

Only sawdust that meet the size and humidity requirements can produce the best briquettes.

You can use your own method or you can use the equipment we provide to handle the crushing and drying steps. Both the wood crusher machine and the sawdust air flow dryers are very cheap, but easy to operate. They can help to make your entire charcoal production process smoother.

The sawdust briquette extruder machine consists of a Feeding Hopper, Screw Propeller, Heating Coil, and Forming mold. The propeller rotates and compresses the biomass materials, forcing them through the forming mold to produce briquettes of various shapes and sizes.

The raw materials are first crushed by a wood crusher machine, and under the action of a screw propeller and a heating coil, a high-temperature and high-pressure zone is formed to process the loose raw materials into hollow briquettes. The briquette has high density, small volume, and good flammability, and can replace firewood and coal.

Screw Propeller

Heating Coil

Molds

The finished sawdust briquette is easy to ignite after carbonization, and they have a high calorific value (more than 20% higher than ordinary wood), fewer pollutants, and their specific gravity is convenient for storage and transportation, and can make full use of crop residues.

Sawdust briquette charcoal is used primarily for barbecue as it produces no odor, no smoke, little ash, high heat, and has a long burning time.

Step 1: Crush the wood material to a size <5mm with a crusher

Step 2: Dry the wood sawdust, make its humidity <12% with a dryer

STEP 3: Compress the wood sawdust to a certain shape with a briquette machine

Step 4: Carbonize the sawdust briquettes into charcoal briquettes with a carbonization furnace