Production, Characterization, and Evaluation of Pellets from Rice Harvest Residues

Abstract

Pellets from residues from rice harvest (i.e., straw and husk) were produced and their main properties were evaluated. Firstly, rice straw pellets were produced at lab scale at varying operational conditions (i.e., load compression and wt % of feeding moisture content) to evaluate their suitability for palletization. Successively, rice straw and husk pellets were commercially produced. All the samples were characterized in terms of their main physical, chemical, and physico-chemical properties. In addition, axial/diametral compression and durability tests were performed to assess their mechanical performance. All the analyzed properties were compared with the established quality standards for non-woody pellets. In general, rice straw pellets presented suitable properties for their use as pelletized fuels. Rice husk pellets fell out of the standards in recommended size or durability and thus preliminary treatments might be required prior their use as fuels.

Experimental and Theoretical Fuel Property Comparison of Four Different Waste Biomass with A Commercial Counterpart

“…For physical characterization applications, rst, the bulk densities of pellets were calculated and secondly, after obtaining pellet densities, the porosity amount expressing the compressibility ratio was found according to the formula given in Eq. 1 Within the scope of the study, these density values were obtained depending on the volume changes due to the xed mass obtained by using precision scales [44].…”

“…In this subsection Eq. 2 is presented to calculate the theoretical higher heating values of the samples which are depending on the xed carbon amounts (FC), the amount of volatile matter (VM) and the amount of ash (A) [44,45]. This process was carried out to compare the actual analysis results with the theoretically obtained results and presented in the next section.…”

Experimental Study on the Mechanical Properties of Biomass Briquettes from a Mixture of Rice Husk and Pine Sawdust

“…In the case of briquettes density, 16 repetitions were performed, since it is not a destructive test. For the tests of maximum compression and determination of the elastic modulus, five repetitions were used as recommended in American Society for Testing and Materials ASTM E9-89 [21]. For the mechanical durability index tests two repetitions were performed.…”

Effect of Compaction Pressure and Moisture Content on Quality Parameters of Perennial Biomass Pellets

“…These plants have low soil requirements and, therefore, can be grown in lower-class soils without competing with food crops. Research on energy crops is being conducted in many research centers where the process of densification is studied [21,22], as well as the impact of other biomass additives [23,24] but also the combustion process [25]. Observations The above recommendations apply to the pelletising process, where apart from moisture and pressure, the quality obtained is also influenced by temperature, which is considered together with moisture to be the most important factor determining the pelletising process and which extends the technological moisture range to the mentioned values.…”

“…The literature on the subject lacks clear, unequivocal evidence of the susceptibility of the aforementioned energy plant species to the pressure compaction process [2,24,25] especially species relatively recently recognized as energetic. In the process of producing compact biofuels, the value of the compacting pressure used is important [43].…”