Optimal Design for Rice Straw Briquetting Process Based on Experiments
Ineffective utilization of agricultural crop straw is a big problem in agricultural developing countries. In this study, optimization design was carried out for the rice straw briquetting process based on experiments. A briquetting test platform designed by the authors was used to measure the specific energy consumption, extrusion pressure, as well as the density and compressive strength of the products made by rice straw under different technological parameters. These parameters included moisture content, temperature, pressure and pressing speed. Finally, optimal technological parameters were provided based on the experimental data. Results show that, lower energy consumption and better products quality are achieved when the moisture content is within 15% ∼ 20%, the temperature is within 110 °C ∼ 120 °C, the pressure is within 50 MPa ∼ 60 MPa and the pressing speed is within 40 mm/min ∼ 60 mm/min.