Densification of tropical wood residues for the development of solid fuels
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Date
2019
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
Proceedins of International Conference on Sustainability, Energy & Environment-Hawaii 2019
Abstract
Densification of materials through pelletisation, briquetting and cubing to form strong and durable bonding products with greater structural homogeneity, better handling and durability properties has attracted the attention of researchers in recent past. The present work focused on conversion of residues of some tropical wood species to energy fuel through pelletisation. The woody-biomass species studied were Apa (Afzelia Africana, AA), Iya (Daniella oliveri, DO) and Arira (Detarium microcarpum, DM) which were sourced in Nigeria. The samples were prepared in different sizes of less than 0.50 mm, 0.50 - 1.00 mm and 1.00 - 1.70 mm after drying in a laboratory environment. The different particle sizes were forced into a prepared die using gelatinised starch as binder. Higher heating value (HHV), impact resistance index (IRI) and water resistance test were obtained for all samples with and without binder. The average HHV of pellets produced from DM was found to be 26.53 MJ/kg without binder, which is the highest among the three samples, showing that DM may have higher lignin content. However, pellet samples AA produced with binder has average HHV of 25.41 MJ/kg which is highest among the three samples. Result showed that IRI increases as particle size decreases for pellets produced without binder, while for pellet with binder, IRI increases as the particle size increases. Result of water resistance test showed that the disintegration time increases as particle size decreases. The basic physical properties that enhance handling and transportation operations of wood pellets have been achieved when compared with standard.
Description
Keywords
densification, biomass, residues, higher heating value, impact resistance index
Citation
https://papers.iafor.org/proceedings/conference-proceedings-IICSEEHawaii2019/