Effect of glycerol on densification of agricultural biomass

Shahram Emami, Lope G Tabil, Phani Adapa

Abstract


Experiments were conducted to verify the effect of adding glycerol for pelleting of selected agricultural crop residues, namely, wheat, barley, oat and canola straw. Single pelleting tests were conducted to study the effect of biomass type, hammer mill screen size, and crude glycerol content (co-product of biodiesel industry) on pellet quality (density and durability), ash content and gross heat of combustion. Four types of biomass were ground at three different hammer mill screen sizes of 6.4, 3.2 and 1.6 mm. Each biomass was mixed with three levels of glycerol of 2.5%, 5.0% and 7.5% by weight. Pellets were made at a pre-set load of 4 400 N (138.9 MPa) using single-pelleting unit attached to an Instron testing machine. Quality of pellets was determined by measuring pellet density, relaxed density, durability (measured by pellet drop test) and specific energy required to make a pellet. The gross heat of combustion and ash content of pellets were also determined and compared. The highest pellet density (988-1 133 kg/m3) and relaxed density (992-1 142 kg/m3) were obtained from biomass ground using a hammer mill screen size of 6.4 mm. A decrease in hammer mill screen size resulted in reduced durability. The highest durability of biomass obtained from hammer mill screen size of 6.4 mm ranged from 97%-100%. Addition of glycerol resulted in lower ash content in majority of pellets. The highest gross heat of combustion was observed in pellets made from wheat straw with 7.5% glycerol content (38.3 MJ/kg). Addition of glycerol resulted in lower pellet densities, lower ash content, no change in durability and higher gross heating values.

DOI: 10.3965/j.ijabe.20150801.009

Citation: Emami S, Tabil L G, Adapa P. Effect of glycerol on densification of agricultural biomass. Int J Agric & Biol Eng, 2015; 8(1): 64－73.

Keywords


biomass, biofuels, glycerol, pelleting, caloric value, heating value

Full Text:

PDF

References


Sokhansanj S, Mani S, Stumborg M, Samson R, Fenton J. Production and distribution of cereal straw on the Canadian Prairies. Canadian Biosystems Engineering, 2006; 48: 3.39–3.46.

Demirbaş A. Biomass resource facilities and biomass conversion processing for fuels and chemicals. Energy Conversion and Management, 2001; 42(11): 1357–1378.

Tripathi K, Iyer P V R, Kandpal T C. A techno-economic evaluation of biomass briquetting in India. Biomass and Bioenergy, 1998; 14(5-6): 479–488.

Clarke S, Preto F. Biomass Densification for Energy Production. Ontario, Ministry of Agriculture and Food, 2011.

Bhattacharya S, Sett S, Shrestha RM. State of the art for biomass densification. Energy Sources, 1989; 11: 161–182.

Kaliyan N, Morey R V. Factors affecting strength and durability of densified biomass products. Biomass and Bioenergy, 2009; 33(3): 337–359.

Sharma Y C, Singh B, Upadhyay S N. Advancements in development and characterization of biodiesel: A review. Fuel, 2008; 87(12): 2355–2373.

Srivastava A, Prasad R. Triglycerides-based diesel fuels. Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, 2000; 4(2): 111–133.

Gok H Y F. Development of sodium alkoxide catalysts from polyols for biodiesel production. Unpublished M. Sc. thesis. Saskatoon, SK: Department of Food and Bioproduct Sciences, University of Saskatchewan, 2011.

Diversified Energy. http://www.diversifiedenergy.com. Accessed on [2013-03-08]

De Greyt W. Introduction on glycerol as co-product from biodiesel plants. Innovative Uses of Glycerol from Biodiesel Plants, NH Atlanta Hotel, Brussels, Belgium, December 13, 2011. Available at: http://supermethanol.eu/uploads/site/ Meetings/Final%20Workshop%20Brussels%20December%202011/Wim%20De%20Greyt%20-%20Desmet%20Ballestra%20Group%20-%20Introduction%20on%20glycerol%20as%20co-product%20of%20biodiesel%20production.pdf. Accessed on [2013-11-22].

Anand P, Saxena R K. A comparative study of solvent-assisted pretreatment of biodiesel derived crude glycerol on growth and 1,3-propanediol production from Citrobacter freundi. New Biotechnology, 2011; 1–7.

Yang F, Hanna M A, Sun R. Value-added uses for crude glycerol – a byproduct of biodiesel production. Biotechnology for Biofuels, 2012; 5: 13.

Kerr B J, Dozier W A III, Bregendahl K. Nutritional value of crude glycerine for nonruminants. In Proceedings of the 23rd Annual Carolina Swine Nutrition Conference. Raleigh, NC, 2007: 6–18.

Harvey P J. Future biofuel technologies: glycerol power. Biofuel Science Society, March 27-29, 2012. Available at https://www.dur.ac.uk/resources/bss/PatHarvey.pdf. Accessed on [2013-11-22].

Adapa P K, Tabil L G, Schoenau G J, Opoku A. Pelleting characteristics of selected biomass with and without steam explosion pretreatment. Int J Agric & Biol Eng, 2010; 3(3): 62–79.

Iroba K L, Tabil L G, Sokhansanj S, Meda V. Producing durable pellets from barley straw subjected to radio frequency-alkaline and steam explosion pretreatments. Int J Agric & Biol Eng, 2014; 7(3): 68－82.

Kashaninejad M, Tabil L G. Effect of microwave-chemical pre-treatment on compression characteristics of biomass grinds. Biosystems Engineering, 2011; 108(1): 36–45.

Tabil L G, Sokhansanj S. Compression and compaction behavior of alfalfa grinds - part 2: compaction behavior. Powder Handling & Processing, 1996; 8(2): 117–122.

Tabil L G, Sokhansanj S. Bulk properties of alfalfa grind in relation to its compaction characteristics. Applied Engineering in Agriculture, 1997; 13(4): 499–505.

Adapa P K, Tabil L G, Schoenau G J, Crerar B, Sokhansanj S. Compression characteristics of fractionated alfalfa grinds. Powder Handling & Processing, 2002; 14(4): 252–259.

Mani S, Tabil L G, Sokhansanj S. Effects of compressive force, particle size and moisture content on mechanical properties of biomass pellets from grasses. Biomass and Bioenergy, 2006; 30(7): 648–654.

Lu D H, Tabil L G, Wang D C, Wang G H, Wang Z Q. Optimization of binder addition and compression load for pelletization of wheat straw using response surface methodology. Int J Agric & Biol Eng, 2014; 7(6): 67－78.

Shaw M D, Karunakaran C, Tabil L G. Physicochemical characteristics of densified untreated and steam exploded poplar wood and wheat straw grinds. Biosystems Engineering, 2009; 103(2): 198–207.

Adapa P K, Singh A, Schoenau G J, Tabil L G. Pelleting characteristics of fractionated alfalfa grinds - hardness models. International Journal of Powder Handling and Processing, 2006; 18(5): 294–299.

ASABE Standards. American Society of Agricultural and Biological Engineers: St. Joseph, MI, 2011.

AOAC. Official Method of Analysis of the Association of Official Analytical Chemists. Association of Official Analytic Chemists: Gaithersburg, MD, 2012.

AACC. Approved Method of the American Association of Cereal Chemists. American Association of Cereal Chemists: St. Paul, MN, 2005.

Al-Widyan M I, Al-Jalil H F. Stress-density relationship and energy requirement of compressed only cake. Applied Engineering in Agriculture, 2001; 17(6): 749–753.

Khankari K K, Shrivastava M, Morey R V. Densification characteristics of rice hulls. ASAE Paper No. 89-6093, American Society of Agricultural and Biological Engineers: St. Joseph, MI, 1989.

Sah P, Singh B, Agrawal U. Compaction behavior of straw. Journal of Agricultural Engineering-India, 1980; 18(1): 89–96.

Shrivastava M, Shrivastava P, Khankari K K. Densification characteristics of rice husk under cold and hot compression. In Agricultural Engineering: Proceedings of the 11th International Congress on Agricultural Engineering, Dublin, 4-8 September, 1989: 2441-2443. V.A. Dodd and P. M. Grace, eds. Rotterdam: A.A. Balkema Pub.

ASTM Standard D5468-02. Standard Test Method for Gross Calorific and Ash Value of Waste Materials: West Conshohocken, PA, 2014.

Riggins J K, Vaughan D H, Lambert A J. Corn cobs versus corn stalks: a comparison of energy values for drying corn. Agricultural Energy, 1981; 2: 280–285.

Adapa P K, Tabil L G, Schoenau G J. Compaction characteristics of barley, canola, oat and wheat straw. Biosystems Engineering, 2009; 104(3): 335–344.




Copyright (c)



2023-2026 Copyright IJABE Editing and Publishing Office