Transport of Compressed Woody Biomass: Correlating Rheology and Microcompounder Measurements

Abstract

Transport of milled solid biomass can be problematic in biomass conversion processes due to the material’s high cohesiveness, low bulk density, and poor flowability. Here, the goal is to investigate the flow behavior of compressed biomass under conditions similar to compression-screw feeders. To mimic the flow of woody biomass inside a compression-screw feeder, two lignocellulosic biomass feedstocks were fed to a co-rotating twin-screw microcompounder. Force and screw speed from the microcompounder were correlated to viscosity in a traditional rheometer, where low-density polyethylene served as a control. The deformation of compressed biomass in a lab-scale compounder is strongly dependent on screw speed and moisture content. Shear stress in woody biomass decreased with the shear rate, indicating negative plastic viscosity. Moreover, viscosity decreased one order of magnitude as screw speed increased from 10 to 90 rpm. Increasing moisture from 10 to 50% reduced the viscosity of the compressed biomass by 60%.

Flow and crystallization of saturated fatty acid methyl esters and their binary mixtures

“…In a similar system, the stable β polymorph formed with slow cooling for a sample of lard (Campos et al, 2002; Mohanan et al, 2015). At faster cooling rate of 1°C/min, the viscosity increase at lower temperatures because the crystals do not have time to develop their structure and network (Fakhrabadi et al, 2021; Mohanan et al, 2015). We hypothesis that additional time leads to the formation of larger and more stable crystals.…”

Effect of process parameters on quality of alfalfa block

“…Excessive moisture content could create an ideal environment for microbial growth and enzyme activity (Zheng et al 2011), leading to the decay and degradation of forage blocks (Tumuluru et al 2011). Additionally, it reduces the adhesive strength between particles, thereby weakening the overall structural integrity of the forage blocks (Akbari et al 2021). During the production of alfalfa feed blocks, it had been observed that as the moisture content increases within the range of 15% to 25%, the density of the formed blocks decreased (Du 2023).…”