Title: Ultrasonic-vibration-assisted pelleting of wheat straw: an experimental investigation

Authors: M. Zhang; X.X. Song; Z.J. Pei; T.W. Deines; Clyde Treadwell

Addresses: 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. ' Department of Industrial and Manufacturing Systems Engineering, Kansas State University, Manhattan, KS 66506, USA. ' Sonic-Mill, 7500 Bluewater Road NW, Albuquerque, NM 87121, USA

Abstract: Energy security, economy, environment sustainability are all driving the USA to develop alternative liquid transportation fuels that are domestically produced and environmental friendly. Bioethanol produced from cellulosic biomass can significantly reduce the use of fossil fuels in the transportation section. However, significant hurdles must be overcome for cost-effective manufacturing of cellulosic bioethanol. Cellulosic feedstocks have a low bulk density, causing high costs in transportation and storage. To address this problem, this paper reports an experimental investigation on ultrasonic-vibration-assisted (UV-A) pelleting of wheat straw. Results show that pellet density and durability were greatly improved with the assistance of ultrasonic vibration. [Received 3 July 2010; Revised 29 October 2010; Accepted 5 December 2010]

Keywords: cellulosic bioethanol; pellet density; pellet durability; wheat straw pelleting; ultrasonic vibration; alternative fuels; biofuel.

DOI: 10.1504/IJMR.2012.045244

International Journal of Manufacturing Research, 2012 Vol.7 No.1, pp.59 - 71

Published online: 22 Nov 2014 *

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