Production and quality analysis of pellets manufactured from five potential energy crops in the Northern Region of Costa Rica

Autor: Brian Bond, Stephanie Aragón-Garita, Mario Tomazello Filho, Jorre Valaert, Roger Moya
Rok vydání: 2016
Předmět:
Zdroj: Biomass and Bioenergy
RepositorioTEC
Instituto Tecnológico de Costa Rica
instacron:ITCR
ISSN: 0961-9534
DOI: 10.1016/j.biombioe.2016.02.006
Popis: Modifications to a pellet manufacturing process must be made based on the characteristics of raw material used. The purpose of this work was to determine the alternations required to a wood pellet manufacturing process and the quality of the pellets produced using this process from five energy crops. Quality measurements include: the caloric value, the loss of moisture content in each production stage, the efficiency index of particle-pellet, ash content and quality as defined using the quantity of cracks and the transversal density and longitudinal density determined using X-ray radiography. The crops analyzed were rhizomatous plants, with caloric values ranging between 17.1 and 20.3 MJ kg −1 . This work determined that it was possible to produce pellets with Gynerium sagittatum and Phyllostachys aurea using the same production process for wood; however, Arundo donax and Pennisetum purpureum needed pre-air-drying and the Sorghum bicolor required mechanical dewatering before drying. A. donax , P. purpureum and G. sagittatum provided the highest efficiency index. When evaluating the pellet quality P. aurea and G. sagittatum hard a large quantity of cracks, unlike A. donax , P. purpureum and S. bicolor . The transversal and longitudinal pellet density varied from 1129 to 1294 kg m −3 . The highest values of bulk density were obtained in A. donax and P. purpureum , followed by G. sagittatum and P. aurea , and the lowest bulk density was obtained in S. bicolor . Althogh out, some species produced cracks and high ash content, this work demonstrated that it is possible to produce pellets with moderate quality.
Databáze: OpenAIRE