International Journal of Advanced Academic Research (Sciences, Technology and Engineering) | ISSN: 2488-9849 Vol. 6, Issue 10 (October, 2020) | www.ijaar.org Journal DOI: 10.46654/ij.24889849 Article DOI: 10.46654/ij.24889849.e6101 221 THE EFFECT OF BINDER RATIO ON THE PHYSICAL AND COMBUSTION CHARACTERISTICS OF CARBONIZED RICE STALK BRIQUETTES Ige, Ayodeji Rapheal 1* , Ogala, Harrison 2 , Elinge, Cosmos Moki 1 and Abdulrahman Habeeb 1 1. Department of Pure and Applied Chemistry, Kebbi State University of Science and Technology, Aliero, Kebbi State, Nigeria. 2. Department of Chemical Science. Admiralty University of Nigeria, Asaba, Delta State, Nigeria. Correspondence Email: igeayodeji2@gmail.com , ogalaharrison@gmail.com ABSTRACT The selection or choice of agro-waste briquettes for domestic and industrial cottage applications depends on the fuel properties. In this study, the briquette was produced by carbonizing the rice stalk followed by crushing and sieving, the binder was prepared by dissolving the starch in hot water, then mixed with the sieved carbonized rice stalk and then the briquette was produced using the briquetting machine. Proximate analyses, viability, characteristics and combustion were determined to know the average composition of their constituents. From the results obtained it was observed that ash content, moisture content, after glow and ignition propagation decrease as the binder ratio increase while fixed carbon content, volatile matter, calorific value, density and compressive strength increase. The results of this work indicate that briquettes produced using high concentration of the binder would make good biomass fuels. However, it has a high moisture content of 25.00%, high ash content of 23.00%, moderate volatile matter of 44.80%, low fixed carbon content of 32.20%, moderate calorific value of 13.86 MJ/Kg and high density of 0.643g/cm 3 . The results obtained for all the parameters showed that rice stalks briquettes produced with high concentration of the binder (starch) had a better performance based on their combustion profile. Keywords: Rice stalk, Binder, Charcoal, Fuel, Briquette, Starch