Pelletization of biomass waste with potato pulp content

Abstract

A b s t r a c t. This paper presents the results of a research on the influence of potato pulp content in a mixture with oat bran on the power demand of the pelletization process and on the quality of the produced pellets, in the context of use thereof as a heating fuel. The tests of the densification of the pulp and bran mixture were carried out on a work stand whose main element was a P-300 pellet mill with the 'flat matrix-densification rolls' system. 24 h after the pellets left the working system, their kinetic durability was established with the use of a Holmen tester. The research results obtained in this way allowed concluding that increasing the potato pulp content in a mixture with oat bran from 15 to 20% caused a reduction of the power demand of the pellet mill. It was also established that as the pulp content in a mixture with oat bran increases from 15 to 25%, the value of the kinetic durability of the pellets determined using Holmen and Pfost methods decreases.K e y w o r d s: pelletization, biomass waste, potato pulp, pellet quality INTRODUCTION According to Szyszlak-Barg³owicz et al. (2012), biomass ranks fourth worldwide as an energy source, after coal and oil. In all its forms, biomass currently covers approximately 14% of the world energy needs. Biomass is the most important source of energy in developing countries, providing 35% of their energy. In developed countries, biomass energy use is also substantial.A rich source of energy from biomass is also the agriculture and food industry, which generates huge amounts of post-production waste (eg buckwheat hulls obtained during the production process of groats in grain processing plants, fruit pomace left over from the production of fruit juices, rapeseed pomace obtained during rapeseed oil production, or herbal waste). For the purposes of heating or as fodder, industry practice also includes densification of various types of mixtures of waste raw materials, eg from the agriculture and food industry, or of combinations of various types of waste materials of plant origin with other additives (also of plant origin). This includes producing heating pellets from a mixture of off-quality grain (granary waste) combined with oak sawdust and waste left over from the process of apple juice production (Stolarski, 2006); from a mixture of wheat, oat, and maize harvest waste in combination with straw, sawdust, and used edible oil (Niedzió³ka et al., 2008); from hardwoods, softwoods and grasses (Stelte et al., 2011); from a mixture of tobacco waste with herbal waste (Obidziñski, 2012b); from compost obtained from mushroom production (Ryu et al., 2008); from a mixture of waste left over after trimming olive trees (Carone et al., 2010); from a mixture of waste wood and straw (Shaw et al., 2009); by pelletization of a mixture of chestnut and pine sawdust; or from a mixture of grape waste and coffee husks (Gil et al., 2010).Some of the types of waste in the densified mixture can play the role of a natural binder and make the produced pellets more durable, and have...

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