Effect of Temperature on Densification Pressure and the Unit Density in Production of Corn Straw Pellet with a Post-Heating Method

Abstract

In the biomass densification process, a lot of energy is needed to prevent its spring-back and to overcome the friction between the material and the channel surface of the die so as to build up pressure. However, moisture, particle size, temperature, and type of material all influence the densification pressure, pellet quality, and the density. The research was aimed to find out how the densification pressure and density were affected by the die temperature based on an open-end densification method using a self-developed pellet extruder. When the piston fixed in the front of the extruder moved in a reciprocating way, the raw material was pressed into the opening die, which had a heater wrapped up. Crushed corn straw with a particle size under 4 mm and with a given moisture content of 10% was used to be compacted by the extruder. The results showed that with the increase of the die temperature, the value of densification pressure decreased; however, the quality of pellets was not good at temperatures higher than 140 °C. The proper temperature for corn straw densification was 100 °C, and the value of the unit density was above 1.0 g/cm³. Meanwhile, the surface quality of the pellet was comparatively good. The reference values of the friction coefficient at different temperatures were provided.