Production and quality analysis of biofuel pellets from Canadian forest and agricultural biomass

IF 5.8 2区生物学 Q1 AGRICULTURAL ENGINEERING

Biomass & Bioenergy Pub Date : 2025-02-09 DOI:10.1016/j.biombioe.2025.107697

Priyabrata Pradhan, Omex Mohan, Vinoj Kurian, Amit Kumar

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Abstract

Three different Canadian biomass feedstocks, namely hardwood, softwood, and wheat straw, were used to produce fuel pellets without the addition of binders. Pilot experiments were carried out in a semi-industrial flat die pellet mill (8.5 kW) to examine the effects of feedstock type, moisture level (at 10 and 15 %), and die configuration (4 levels) on pellet production. Die configuration significantly influences pellet quality and performance parameters like temperature, current, power consumption, throughput capacity, and material loss. In this study, it was found that a 10 % moisture content in the feed and a die length-to-diameter (l/d) ratio of 2.58 are optimal for softwood pelletization. A feed moisture content of 15 % was found to be the optimum for hardwood (with an l/d of 2.08) and wheat straw (with an l/d of 2.92). Under optimum conditions, softwood pellets showed bulk density and durability values of 679 kg m⁻³ and 97.7 %, respectively, similar to pellets from wheat straw (97.5 %, 694 kg m⁻³) and hardwood (96 %, 624 kg m⁻³). Scanning electron microscopic images show a close agglomeration of biomass particles in high-quality pellets. This study found the total energy consumption for wheat straw pelletization to be 13 % of the energy content of wheat straw pellets. Finally, the combustion characteristics results indicated that the pellets produced are suitable for use as solid biofuels.

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来源期刊

Biomass & Bioenergy 工程技术-能源与燃料

CiteScore

11.50

自引率

3.30%

发文量

258

审稿时长

60 days

期刊介绍： Biomass & Bioenergy is an international journal publishing original research papers and short communications, review articles and case studies on biological resources, chemical and biological processes, and biomass products for new renewable sources of energy and materials. The scope of the journal extends to the environmental, management and economic aspects of biomass and bioenergy. Key areas covered by the journal: • Biomass: sources, energy crop production processes, genetic improvements, composition. Please note that research on these biomass subjects must be linked directly to bioenergy generation. • Biological Residues: residues/rests from agricultural production, forestry and plantations (palm, sugar etc), processing industries, and municipal sources (MSW). Papers on the use of biomass residues through innovative processes/technological novelty and/or consideration of feedstock/system sustainability (or unsustainability) are welcomed. However waste treatment processes and pollution control or mitigation which are only tangentially related to bioenergy are not in the scope of the journal, as they are more suited to publications in the environmental arena. Papers that describe conventional waste streams (ie well described in existing literature) that do not empirically address ''new'' added value from the process are not suitable for submission to the journal. • Bioenergy Processes: fermentations, thermochemical conversions, liquid and gaseous fuels, and petrochemical substitutes • Bioenergy Utilization: direct combustion, gasification, electricity production, chemical processes, and by-product remediation • Biomass and the Environment: carbon cycle, the net energy efficiency of bioenergy systems, assessment of sustainability, and biodiversity issues.