Sugar Yield Comparison of Wheat Straw Processed by Two Pelleting Methods for Cellulosic Biofuel Manufacturing

2012 ◽  
Author(s):  
Qi Zhang ◽  
Pengfei Zhang ◽  
Meng Zhang ◽  
Xiaoxu Song ◽  
Z. J. Pei ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Power Consumption ◽  
Wheat Straw ◽  
Sugar Yield ◽  
Cellulosic Biomass ◽  
Experimental Comparison ◽  
Low Density ◽  
Pellet Quality ◽  
Transportation Fuels ◽  
Cellulosic Biofuel ◽  
Higher Temperature

Biofuels made from cellulosic biomass are an alternative to petroleum-based liquid transportation fuels. However, low density of cellulosic biomass causes high costs in biomass transportation and handling in cellulosic biofuel manufacturing. Such costs can be reduced by pelleting processes that can densify cellulosic biomass. Ultrasonic vibration-assisted (UV-A) pelleting and ring-die pelleting are two pelleting methods. A previous study has compared the two pelleting methods in terms of pellet quality and pelleting power consumption. This paper reports an experimental comparison on sugar yields of wheat straw processed by the two pelleting methods under different combinations of pretreatment variables. Results show that wheat straw processed by UV-A pelleting has higher sugar yield than that processed by ring-die pelleting when the higher temperature and longer time are applied in pretreatment. Under other combinations of pretreatment variables, wheat straw processed by UV-A pelleting has lower sugar yield than that processed by ring-die pelleting.

Effects of Water Soaking on Biomass Particle Size in Cellulosic Biofuel Manufacturing

2012 ◽  
Author(s):  
Hera Wu ◽  
Pengfei Zhang ◽  
Qi Zhang ◽  
Z. J. Pei
Keyword(s):  
Particle Size ◽  
Sugar Yield ◽  
Cellulosic Biomass ◽  
Particle Sizes ◽  
Cellulosic Biofuels ◽  
Transportation Fuels ◽  
Cellulosic Biofuel ◽  
Before And After ◽  
Invasive Method ◽  
Biomass Particle Size

Cellulosic biofuels are an alternative to petroleum-based liquid transportation fuels. However, manufacturing costs of cellulosic biofuels are high partially due to low density and sugar yield of cellulosic biomass. Previous studies show that UV-A pelleting can increase the density and sugar yield of cellulosic biomass. A hypothesis for UV-A pelleting to increase the density and sugar yield of cellulosic biomass is that UV-A pelleting can reduce biomass particle size. To test this hypothesis, biomass particle sizes before and after UV-A pelleting need to be compared. Soaking pellets in water is an efficient and non-invasive method to separate pellets into particles. However, water soaking itself might change biomass particle size. This paper reports an investigation on effects of water soaking on biomass particle size. The biomass particle sizes before and after water soaking are measured and compared. Results show that effects of water soaking on biomass particle size are dependent on the initial particle size (particle size before water soaking) and time period of water soaking.

Ultrasonic Vibration-Assisted Pelleting of Cellulosic Biomass for Biofuel Manufacturing: A Study on Pellet Cracks

2012 ◽  
Vol 134 (5) ◽  
Author(s):  
Yongjun Tang ◽  
Pengfei Zhang ◽  
Defu Liu ◽  
Z. J. Pei ◽  
Weilong Cong
Keyword(s):  
Ultrasonic Vibration ◽  
Crack Formation ◽  
Crack Size ◽  
Experimental Results ◽  
Cellulosic Biomass ◽  
Pellet Quality ◽  
Experimental Conditions ◽  
Transportation Fuels ◽  
Cellulosic Biofuel ◽  
First Time

Biofuels produced from cellulosic biomass are an alternative to petroleum-based liquid transportation fuels. The costs of cellulosic biofuel manufacturing are high partly due to the low density of raw cellulosic materials. Processing cellulosic biomass into pellets can increase density and handling efficiency of cellulosic feedstocks, resulting in reduction of transportation and handling costs. The literature on ultrasonic vibration-assisted (UV-A) pelleting includes studies about effects of pelleting parameters on pellet quality, pelleting temperature, charring, and sugar yield. However, there are no studies on pellet cracks. This paper, for the first time, presents a study on pellet cracks in UV-A pelleting of wheat straw. It first describes experimental conditions and then presents experimental results about effects of pelleting parameters on crack size. Afterward, it proposes a hypothesis on crack formation in UV-A pelleting and discusses some evidences that support this hypothesis. Finally, it provides explanations to experimental results based on the hypothesis.

Size Reduction of Cellulosic Biomass in Biofuel Manufacturing: Separating the Confounding Effects of Particle Size and Biomass Crystallinity

2013 ◽  
Vol 135 (2) ◽  
Author(s):  
Meng Zhang ◽  
Xiaoxu Song ◽  
Pengfei Zhang ◽  
Z. J. Pei ◽  
T. W. Deines ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Particle Size ◽  
Metal Cutting ◽  
Milling Process ◽  
Sugar Yield ◽  
Size Reduction ◽  
Cellulosic Biomass ◽  
Future Research ◽  
Transportation Fuels ◽  
Cellulosic Biofuel ◽  
Reduction Methods

Increasing demands and concerns for reliable supply of liquid transportation fuels make it important to find alternative sources to petroleum-based fuels. Cellulosic biofuels provide one such alternative in the short to medium term. Size reduction is the first step for converting biomass into biofuels. In the literature, there are inconsistent reports about the effects of particle size and biomass crystallinity on sugar yield (proportional to biofuel yield). An important reason for this inconsistence is that particle formation in current size reduction methods is not well controlled, causing the effects of these two variables confounded. One paper investigating the confounding effects of particle size and biomass crystallinity using a metal-cutting (milling) process was previously published in this journal. This paper presents a follow-up study. In this study, a lathe was used to produce poplar wood particles with the same crystallinity but different sizes, making it possible to study the effects of particle size on biofuel yield independently without being confounded by the effects of biomass crystallinity. Results showed that, for the three levels of particle size used in this study, sugar yield increased as particle size became smaller. This study also revealed future research opportunities to understand the effects of size reduction and biomass crystallinity in cellulosic biofuel manufacturing.

An Experimental Comparison of Two Pelleting Methods for Cellulosic Ethanol Manufacturing

2011 ◽  
Author(s):  
Qi Zhang ◽  
Pengfei Zhang ◽  
Z. J. Pei ◽  
Jonathan Wilson ◽  
Leland McKinney ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Cellulosic Ethanol ◽  
Cellulosic Biomass ◽  
Experimental Comparison ◽  
Low Density ◽  
Manufacturing Costs ◽  
Transportation Fuels ◽  
Pellet Density ◽  
Energy Consumptions ◽  
Preliminary Research ◽  
And Storage

Ethanol produced from cellulosic biomass is an alternative to petroleum-based transportation fuels. However, manufacturing costs of cellulosic ethanol are too high to be competitive. Low density of cellulosic feedstocks increases their handling and transportation costs, contributing to high overall costs of cellulosic ethanol manufacturing. Pelleting can increase density of cellulosic feedstocks, reduce transportation and storage costs, and make cellulosic ethanol production more competitive. UV-A (ultrasonic vibration-assisted) pelleting is a new pelleting method (available only in lab scale now). Preliminary research showed that UV-A pelleting could significantly increase pellet density and pellet durability but it has never been compared with other pelleting methods (e.g., using an extruder, a briquetting press or a ring-die pelleting). The objectives of this research are to compare UV-A pelleting with ring-die pelleting in terms of pellet density, pellet durability, energy consumptions of pelleting. The results will be useful to find a better pelleting method for cellulosic ethanol manufacturing.

Effects of Ultrasonic Treatments on Cellulose in Cellulosic Biofuel Manufacturing: A Literature Review

2010 ◽  
Author(s):  
P. F. Zhang ◽  
Z. J. Pei
Keyword(s):  
Large Scale ◽  
Morphological Structure ◽  
Degree Of Polymerization ◽  
Sugar Yield ◽  
Cellulosic Biomass ◽  
Cellulosic Biofuels ◽  
Crystallinity Degree ◽  
Transportation Fuels ◽  
Cellulosic Biofuel ◽  
Low Efficiency

Cellulosic biofuels are one type of renewable energy, and have been proposed to replace traditional liquid transportation fuels. Cellulosic biomass is the feedstocks in cellulosic biofuel manufacturing. Cellulose accounts for approximately 30% of the total weight in cellulosic biomass. Glucose, one type of monosaccharide convertible to ethanol, can be obtained by hydrolyzing the polymeric structure of cellulose. Currently enzymatic methods are the most common for the hydrolysis of cellulose. However, the low efficiency of enzymatic hydrolysis increases production cost and hinders the large-scale manufacturing of cellulosic biofuels. Ultrasonic treatments applied on cellulosic biomass were found to improve the efficiency of hydrolysis and subsequently increase the sugar yield of hydrolysis. To understand the effects of ultrasonics on cellulose, investigations have been conducted on the effects on cellulose characteristics caused by ultrasonic treatments during hydrolysis. This paper reviews the effects of ultrasonic treatments on cellulose during hydrolysis in terms of sugar yield and some characteristics of cellulose, such as accessibility, crystallinity, degree of polymerization, and morphological structure.

Ultrasonic-Vibration Assisted Pelleting for Cellulosic Biofuel Manufacturing: Investigation on Power Consumption With Design of Experiment

2012 ◽  
Author(s):  
Qi Zhang ◽  
Pengfei Zhang ◽  
Z. J. Pei ◽  
Graham Pritchett ◽  
Meng Zhang ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Particle Size ◽  
Moisture Content ◽  
Power Consumption ◽  
Ultrasonic Vibration ◽  
Alternative Fuels ◽  
Cellulosic Biomass ◽  
Ultrasonic Power ◽  
Cellulosic Biofuel ◽  
Input Parameters ◽  
Two Parameters

Cellulosic biomass is abundantly available in the nature. It is an attractive feedstock to make alternative fuels to petroleum-based transportation fuels. Because of low bulk density and irregular shape, raw biomass materials are difficult to handle, transport, and store. Pelleting can increase the density of cellulosic biomass. Pellets can be easily handled, resulting in reducing their transportation and storage costs. Ultrasonic vibration-assisted (UV-A) pelleting is a new pelleting method. Moisture content, particle size, pelleting pressure, and ultrasonic power are four important input parameters affecting pellet quality and sugar yield (proportional to biofuel yield). However, their effects on power consumption in UV-A pelleting have not been adequately investigated. Since power consumption directly affects ethanol manufacturing costs, it is desirable to understand how input parameters affect power consumption. This paper reports an experimental investigation of power consumption in UV-A pelleting. A 24 factorial design is employed to evaluate the effects of four input parameters (moisture content, particle size, pelleting pressure, and ultrasonic power) on power consumption in UV-A pelleting. Results show that three input parameters (moisture content, particle size, and ultrasonic power) significantly affect power consumption. Higher moisture content, lower ultrasonic power, and larger particle size result in higher power consumption. Only one interaction of two parameters is significant, i.e. with the increase of pelleting pressure, power consumption will increase at the high level of particle size while decrease at the low level of particle size.

Ultrasonic Vibration-Assisted Pelleting of Sorghum Stalks: Effects of Pressure and Ultrasonic Power

2010 ◽  
Author(s):  
Qi Zhang ◽  
P. F. Zhang ◽  
Timothy Deines ◽  
Z. J. Pei ◽  
Donghai Wang ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Enzymatic Hydrolysis ◽  
Ultrasonic Vibration ◽  
Large Scale ◽  
Cost Effective ◽  
Sugar Yield ◽  
Cellulosic Biomass ◽  
Ultrasonic Power ◽  
Cellulosic Biofuels ◽  
Transportation Fuels ◽  
Low Efficiency

Cellulosic biofuels can be used to replace traditional liquid transportation fuels. Cellulosic biomass is feedstock in manufacturing of cellulosic biofuels. However, the low density of cellulosic biomass feedstock hinders large-scale and cost-effective manufacturing of cellulosic biofuels. Another bottleneck factor in manufacturing of cellulosic biofuels is the low efficiency of the enzymatic hydrolysis of cellulosic biomass materials resulting in a low sugar yield. Ultrasonic vibration-assisted (UV-A) pelleting can increase the density of cellulosic biomass feedstocks via combined effects of mechanical compression and ultrasonic vibration of the tool on the cellulosic biomass. Meanwhile ultrasonic vibration may act as a beneficial pretreatment for enzymatic hydrolysis, which can possibly increase the efficiency of hydrolysis and obtain a higher sugar yield. The pressure and the ultrasonic power are important parameters in UV-A pelleting. Their effects on pellet quality (density, durability, and stability) and sugar yield (after hydrolysis) are experimentally investigated.

An Experimental Investigation on Cellulosic Biofuel Manufacturing: Effects of Biomass Particle Size on Sugar Yield

2011 ◽  
Author(s):  
Pengfei Zhang ◽  
Qi Zhang ◽  
Z. J. Pei ◽  
Linda Pei
Keyword(s):  
Experimental Investigation ◽  
Particle Size ◽  
Enzymatic Hydrolysis ◽  
Crystallinity Index ◽  
Cost Effective ◽  
Sugar Yield ◽  
Cellulosic Biomass ◽  
Experimental Investigations ◽  
Cellulosic Biofuel ◽  
Biomass Particle Size

Biofuels made from cellulosic biomass are an alternative to petroleum-based liquid transportation fuels. A key barrier to cost-effective manufacturing of cellulosic biofuel is low sugar yield in enzymatic hydrolysis. Particle size and crystallinity index of cellulosic biomass are two important parameters in enzymatic hydrolysis. The current literature contains many experimental investigations about effects of biomass particle size on sugar yield. However, particle size, often reduced by ball milling, is correlated with crystallinity index. Changes in particle size usually cause changes in crystallinity index. Therefore, particle size and crystallinity index may have confounding effects on sugar yield. Relations between particle size and sugar yield are not clear. This paper reports an experimental investigation on sugar yields from switchgrass particles produced by three methods: cutting milling, hammer milling, and manual cutting. The particles have different sizes but the same crystallinity index. Results show that there are no significant differences among sugar yields from these particles of different sizes. Particle size within the tested range has no significant effects on sugar yield.

Temperature On-Line Measured in Ultrasonic Vibration-Assisted Pelleting Cellulosic Biomass

2012 ◽  
Vol 151 ◽  
pp. 245-249 ◽  
Author(s):  
Yong Jun Tang ◽  
Chun Mu Chen ◽  
Guan Wang
Keyword(s):  
Ultrasonic Vibration ◽  
Cellulosic Biomass ◽  
Cellulosic Biofuels ◽  
Manufacturing Costs ◽  
Transportation Fuels ◽  
Cellulosic Biofuel ◽  
Pellet Temperature ◽  
On Line ◽  
Line Measure

Cellulosic biofuels have been proposed to replace part of traditional liquid transportation fuels. Cellulosic biomass is the feedstock in cellulosic biofuel manufacturing. Costs associated with collection and transportation of cellulosic biomass account for more than 80 percent of the feedstock cost. By processing cellulosic biomass into pellets, density and handling efficiencies of cellulosic feedstock can be improved, resulting in reduction of transportation and handling costs. The pellet temperature is one of the most important parameter in Ultrasonic Vibration (UV-A) pelleting. There is very few literature on the pellet temperature of UV-A pelleting. This paper mainly studied how to on-line measure the pelleting temperature, also, the detailed temperature characteristics of the pellet was obtained. The results are valuable for selecting suitable pelleting parameters and controlling the quality of pellet in UV-A pelleting. Also, the accurate measurement of the pellet temperature is helpful to understand pelleting mechanism, charring, and durability issues.

Ultrasonic-Vibration Assisted Pelleting for Cellulosic Ethanol Manufacturing: Effects of Particle Size and Moisture Content on Power Consumption

2012 ◽  
Author(s):  
Qi Zhang ◽  
Pengfei Zhang ◽  
Graham Pritchett ◽  
Z. J. Pei ◽  
Meng Zhang ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Particle Size ◽  
Moisture Content ◽  
Power Consumption ◽  
Ultrasonic Vibration ◽  
Cellulosic Ethanol ◽  
Cellulosic Biomass ◽  
Manufacturing Costs ◽  
Transportation Fuels ◽  
Higher Power ◽  
Input Variables

Ethanol produced from cellulosic materials is an alternative to petroleum-based transportation fuels. However, its manufacturing costs are too high to be competitive at present. Raw cellulosic biomass materials have low density, causing their transportation and handling expensive, contributing to high manufacturing costs of cellulosic ethanol. Pelleting can increase the density of cellulosic biomass and reduce their transportation and handling costs. Ultrasonic vibration-assisted (UV-A) pelleting is a new pelleting method. Earlier studies show that moisture content and particle size have significant effects on pellet quality and sugar yield. However, their effects on power consumption in UV-A pelleting have not been studied. Since power consumption directly affects ethanol manufacturing costs, it is desirable to understand how input variables affect power consumption. The objective of this paper is to study effects of moisture content and particle size on power consumption in UV-A pelleting of wheat straw. Results show that higher moisture content and larger particle size result in higher power consumption.

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