Title: Effects of pellet weight in ultrasonic vibration-assisted pelleting for cellulosic biofuel manufacturing

Authors: Yongjun Tang; Pengfei Zhang; Defu Liu; Z.J. Pei

Addresses: College of Electromechanical Engineering, Guangdong University of Technology, Guangzhou, Guangdong, 510006, 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; College of Mechanical and Electrical Engineering, Central South University, Changsha, Hunan, 410083, China. ' Department of Industrial and Manufacturing Systems Engineering, Kansas State University, Manhattan, KS 66506, USA

Abstract: Cellulosic biofuels have been proposed to replace part of traditional liquid transportation fuels. Cellulosic biomass is the feedstock in cellulosic biofuel manufacturing. Costs associated with collection and transportation of cellulosic biomass account for more than 80% of the feedstock cost. By processing cellulosic biomass into pellets, density and handling efficiency of cellulosic feed stocks can be improved, resulting in reduction of transportation and handling costs. However, effects of pellet weight on output parameters in ultrasonic vibration-assisted pelleting (UV-A) have not been studied. This paper reports an experimental investigation of UV-A pelleting with different values of pellet weight. Output parameters studied include pellet properties (density, bulk density, and durability), pelleting temperature, charring, and sugar yield. [Received 20 April 2011; Revised 10 August 2011; Accepted 18 August 2011]

Keywords: cellulosic biofuels; cellulosic biomass; energy manufacturing; pellet weight; ultrasonic vibration; pelleting temperature; charring; sugar yield; density; handling efficiency; durability.

DOI: 10.1504/IJMR.2012.050103

International Journal of Manufacturing Research, 2012 Vol.7 No.4, pp.397 - 408

Published online: 22 Nov 2014 *

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