The influence of size fraction on the compressibility of pine sawdust and the effectiveness criterion for densification

Abstract

Particulate matter from biomass, e.g. wood sawdust, is very diverse. The basic parameter describing the densification process of particulate matter is its compressibility, quantified by the coefficient of compressibility. Knowing this coefficient for a specific material is a basic prerequisite for the application of compressibility equations describing the densification process, and for calculating the workload in the production process of high-grade solid biofuel. This paper deals with a methodology for determining the compressibility factor for sawdust on the basis of experiments to quantify pine sawdust. The experiments were performed in two stages. The first stage was an experimental investigation of the influence of size fraction on the final compressibility of pine sawdust. The results show the behaviour of the pressure load when the parameters of the particulate matter are changed. In the second stage, the experiments are evaluated and optimized to achieve minimum energy input of the process and a maximum degree of densification. The research results will be used to develop new technologies and machinery for biomass densification to achieve a high-grade solid biofuel. © Czech Technical University in Prague, 2014.