Title: An experimental study on charring of cellulosic biomass in ultrasonic vibration-assisted pelleting

Authors: Q. Feng, W.L. Cong, M. Zhang, Z.J. Pei, C.Z. Ren

Addresses: School of Mechanical Engineering, Tianjin University, Tianjin 300072, China. ' Department of Industrial and Manufacturing Systems Engineering, Kansas State University, Manhattan, KS 66506, USA. ' Department of Industrial and Manufacturing Systems Engineering, Kansas State University, Manhattan, KS 66506, USA. ' Department of Industrial and Manufacturing Systems Engineering, Kansas State University, Manhattan, KS 66506, USA. ' School of Mechanical Engineering, Tianjin University, Tianjin 300072, China

Abstract: Cellulosic biofuels can be used as transportation fuels. But their manufacturing cost is high, partly because the low density of cellulosic feedstocks causes their transportation and handling costly. Ultrasonic Vibration-Assisted (UV-A) pelleting can increase the density of cellulosic feedstocks. However, charring of biomass sometimes happens during UV-A pelleting and may adversely affect the yield of biofuel conversion. This paper reports an experimental investigation on charring of cellulosic biomass in UV-A pelleting. It studies effects of moisture content of the biomass and pelleting variables. The results will be helpful when selecting pelleting conditions to avoid biomass charring.

Keywords: biofuels; cellulosic biomass; charring; density; ultrasonic pelleting; vibration-assisted pelleting; moisture content.

DOI: 10.1504/IJMR.2011.037915

International Journal of Manufacturing Research, 2011 Vol.6 No.1, pp.77 - 86

Published online: 09 May 2015 *

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