Effectiveness of die hole on wood pellet density quality improvement

Abstract

The characteristics of wood pellets determine the quality of the formation process determines the characteristics produced. One of the process variables was the hole in the die. The aim of the study was to increase the density value of wood pellets by modifying the hole with a slope angle of 450. The method of this study started from modifying the hole by making taper shapes on the hole of the surface, raw material preparation, mixing, printing, drying, and analysis stages. Whereas the variation in the administration of tapioca adhesive was carried out differently starting from 10%, 15% and 20% tapioca adhesive. The results showed that the modification of the die shape in this case the die hole from a straight shape to a tapered shape and enlarged at the end of the hole greatly influenced the characteristics of wood pellets, especially in the resulting density value. The characteristics of wood pellets produced in this study that water content ranged from 10.49% - 7.13%, the heating value ranged from 17077-17291 J/g and the density ranged from 0.82 g/cm3 - 0.86 g/cm3.