TY - JOUR
T1 - Ultrasonic vibration-assisted pelleting for cellulosic biofuels manufacturing
T2 - A study on in-pellet temperatures
AU - Tang, Yongjun
AU - Cong, Weilong
AU - Xu, Jun
AU - Zhang, Pengfei
AU - Liu, Defu
N1 - Funding Information:
This study was supported by National Natural Science Foundation of China (NSFC) through Grant 51275097 , State Key Laboratory of Mechanical System and Vibration through Grant MSV-2013-08 . The authors would like to thank Mr. Clyde Treadwell at Sonic-Mill, Inc. for providing the ultrasonic machine and Mr. Timothy Deines in the Department of Industrial and Manufacturing Systems Engineering at Kansas State University for providing biomass materials. Special thanks also go to Ms. Qi Zhang, Ms. Na Qin, and Mr. Meng Zhang in the Department of Industrial and Manufacturing Systems Engineering at Kansas State University for their help during this study.
Publisher Copyright:
© 2014 Elsevier Ltd.
PY - 2015/4/1
Y1 - 2015/4/1
N2 - 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 percent of the feedstock cost [1]. By processing cellulosic biomass into pellets, energy density and handling efficiency of cellulosic feedstock can be improved, resulting in reduction of transportation and handling costs. Ultrasonic vibration-assisted (UV-A) pelleting is one of important pelleting process which can make high quality pellets efficiently. The literature on UV-A pelleting covers studies about effects of input process parameters on pellet density, durability, sugar yield, charring, and pelleting force, but has little information about pelleting temperature. This paper presents an experimental investigation on effects of input variables on pelleting temperature. The pelleting temperatures at the different locations of a pellet were measured during pelleting using metal wire-typed thermocouples. Several pelleting parameters were varied to study their effects on pelleting temperature. Results obtained will be helpful in understanding why pelleting parameters affect pellet quality (density and durability), charring, and sugar yield.
AB - 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 percent of the feedstock cost [1]. By processing cellulosic biomass into pellets, energy density and handling efficiency of cellulosic feedstock can be improved, resulting in reduction of transportation and handling costs. Ultrasonic vibration-assisted (UV-A) pelleting is one of important pelleting process which can make high quality pellets efficiently. The literature on UV-A pelleting covers studies about effects of input process parameters on pellet density, durability, sugar yield, charring, and pelleting force, but has little information about pelleting temperature. This paper presents an experimental investigation on effects of input variables on pelleting temperature. The pelleting temperatures at the different locations of a pellet were measured during pelleting using metal wire-typed thermocouples. Several pelleting parameters were varied to study their effects on pelleting temperature. Results obtained will be helpful in understanding why pelleting parameters affect pellet quality (density and durability), charring, and sugar yield.
KW - Biofuel
KW - Cellulosic biomass
KW - Energy manufacturing
KW - Pellet
KW - Temperature
KW - Ultrasonic vibration-assisted pelleting
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=84913580873&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1016/j.renene.2014.11.039
DO - 10.1016/j.renene.2014.11.039
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:84913580873
VL - 76
SP - 296
EP - 302
JO - Renewable Energy
JF - Renewable Energy
SN - 0960-1481
ER -