Research article - Peer-reviewed, 2012
Temperature control in energy grass pellet production - Effects on process stability and pellet quality
Larsson Sylvia H., Rudolfsson MagnusAbstract
Pilot scale ring and die pelletizing of reed canary grass (Phalaris arundinacea L.) was performed in experimental designs for screening and optimization of pellet quality parameters bulk density and durability and for determination of specific energy consumption under different settings. Control variables included die temperature, raw material moisture content, and steam conditioning. By using a unique experimental setup, where die temperature could be controlled, all factors could be varied independently.Results from the screening design, showed that a low die temperature was necessary to avoid discontinuous production conditions and guided the choice of settings in the optimization design for obtaining high pellet quality. Settings for reaching the suggested quality criteria of pellets for non-industrial use with a durability ⩾97.5% and a bulk density of ⩾600kg/m3 were easiest to meet at die temperatures around 30°C and a material temperature of approximately 30-40°C (equal to 2-4kg steam/h) for the full range of raw material moisture content (12-16%).
Keywords
Bulk density; Durability; Specific energy consumption; Pelletizing; Temperature; MoisturePublished in
Applied Energy2012, volume: 97, pages: 24-29
Authors' information
Larsson, Sylvia
Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences, Department of Forest Biomaterials and Technology
Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences, Department of Forest Biomaterials and Technology
UKÄ Subject classification
Energy Engineering
Publication Identifiers
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.apenergy.2011.11.086
URI (permanent link to this page)
https://res.slu.se/id/publ/40133