TY - JOUR
T1 - Ultrasonic vibration-assisted pelleting of cellulosic biomass for biofuel manufacturing
T2 - A study on pellet cracks
AU - Tang, Yongjun
AU - Zhang, Pengfei
AU - Liu, Defu
AU - Pei, Z. J.
AU - Cong, Weilong
PY - 2012
Y1 - 2012
N2 - Biofuels produced from cellulosic biomass are an alternative to petroleum-based liquid transportation fuels. The costs of cellulosic biofuel manufacturing are high partly due to the low density of raw cellulosic materials. Processing cellulosic biomass into pellets can increase density and handling efficiency of cellulosic feedstocks, resulting in reduction of transportation and handling costs. The literature on ultrasonic vibration-assisted (UV-A) pelleting includes studies about effects of pelleting parameters on pellet quality, pelleting temperature, charring, and sugar yield. However, there are no studies on pellet cracks. This paper, for the first time, presents a study on pellet cracks in UV-A pelleting of wheat straw. It first describes experimental conditions and then presents experimental results about effects of pelleting parameters on crack size. Afterward, it proposes a hypothesis on crack formation in UV-A pelleting and discusses some evidences that support this hypothesis. Finally, it provides explanations to experimental results based on the hypothesis.
AB - Biofuels produced from cellulosic biomass are an alternative to petroleum-based liquid transportation fuels. The costs of cellulosic biofuel manufacturing are high partly due to the low density of raw cellulosic materials. Processing cellulosic biomass into pellets can increase density and handling efficiency of cellulosic feedstocks, resulting in reduction of transportation and handling costs. The literature on ultrasonic vibration-assisted (UV-A) pelleting includes studies about effects of pelleting parameters on pellet quality, pelleting temperature, charring, and sugar yield. However, there are no studies on pellet cracks. This paper, for the first time, presents a study on pellet cracks in UV-A pelleting of wheat straw. It first describes experimental conditions and then presents experimental results about effects of pelleting parameters on crack size. Afterward, it proposes a hypothesis on crack formation in UV-A pelleting and discusses some evidences that support this hypothesis. Finally, it provides explanations to experimental results based on the hypothesis.
KW - biofuel
KW - cellulosic biomass
KW - crack
KW - energy manufacturing
KW - temperature
KW - ultrasonic vibration-assisted pelleting
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=84867014993&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1115/1.4007467
DO - 10.1115/1.4007467
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:84867014993
SN - 1087-1357
VL - 134
JO - Journal of Manufacturing Science and Engineering, Transactions of the ASME
JF - Journal of Manufacturing Science and Engineering, Transactions of the ASME
IS - 5
M1 - 051016
ER -