Investigation of Steam Explosion Pretreatment of Sawdust and Oat Straw to Improve Their Quality as Biofuel Pellets
Steam explosion pretreatment of sawdust and oat straw under mild, medium, and severe conditions was conducted to improve the quality of pellets generated from these feedstocks. This work examined the effects of temperature, time, and moisture content on the mechanical properties of biomass pellets....
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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MDPI AG
2022-09-01
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| Series: | Energies |
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| Online Access: | https://www.mdpi.com/1996-1073/15/19/7168 |
| _version_ | 1827654569474129920 |
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| author | Chukwuka Onyenwoke Lope G. Tabil Tim Dumonceaux Duncan Cree Edmund Mupondwa Phani Adapa Chithra Karunakaran |
| author_facet | Chukwuka Onyenwoke Lope G. Tabil Tim Dumonceaux Duncan Cree Edmund Mupondwa Phani Adapa Chithra Karunakaran |
| author_sort | Chukwuka Onyenwoke |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Steam explosion pretreatment of sawdust and oat straw under mild, medium, and severe conditions was conducted to improve the quality of pellets generated from these feedstocks. This work examined the effects of temperature, time, and moisture content on the mechanical properties of biomass pellets. From the ANOVA conducted, the <i>p</i>-values of the regression models for all the response variables (dimensional stability, tensile strength, and pellet density) studied were significant (<i>p</i> < 0.05), except for the pellet density of steam-pretreated oat straw pellets. The interaction of these three factors did not significantly affect the response variables of oat straw pellets. In addition, the higher heating value (HHV) of treated biomass increased up to a maximum of about 9.5% and 7% as compared with the non-treated sawdust and oat straw, respectively. In addition, an increment of about 3.6-fold and 3.1-fold in pellet tensile strength of steam-pretreated sawdust and oat straw was observed, respectively. Microstructural examination of the pellets from steam-pretreated biomass revealed that the material contained particles that were more closely bonded and featured a cemented surface with fewer pores when compared to particles from untreated oat straw and sawdust. |
| first_indexed | 2024-03-09T21:46:42Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-4567b60e4d5a4b6984e2c6a6e7cc896e |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 1996-1073 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-03-09T21:46:42Z |
| publishDate | 2022-09-01 |
| publisher | MDPI AG |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Energies |
| spelling | doaj.art-4567b60e4d5a4b6984e2c6a6e7cc896e2023-11-23T20:14:21ZengMDPI AGEnergies1996-10732022-09-011519716810.3390/en15197168Investigation of Steam Explosion Pretreatment of Sawdust and Oat Straw to Improve Their Quality as Biofuel PelletsChukwuka Onyenwoke0Lope G. Tabil1Tim Dumonceaux2Duncan Cree3Edmund Mupondwa4Phani Adapa5Chithra Karunakaran6Department of Chemical and Biological Engineering, University of Saskatchewan, 57 Campus Drive, Saskatoon, SK S7N 5A9, CanadaDepartment of Chemical and Biological Engineering, University of Saskatchewan, 57 Campus Drive, Saskatoon, SK S7N 5A9, CanadaAgriculture and Agri-Food Canada, Saskatoon Research and Development Centre, 107 Science Place, Saskatoon, SK S7N 0X2, CanadaDepartment of Mechanical Engineering, University of Saskatchewan, 57 Campus Drive, Saskatoon, SK S7N 5A9, CanadaDepartment of Chemical and Biological Engineering, University of Saskatchewan, 57 Campus Drive, Saskatoon, SK S7N 5A9, CanadaNational Hydrology Research Centre, Global Institute for Water Security (GIWS), University of Saskatchewan, 11 Innovation Boulevard, Saskatoon, SK S7N 3H5, CanadaCanadian Light Source Inc., 44 Innovation Boulevard, Saskatoon, SK S7N 2V3, CanadaSteam explosion pretreatment of sawdust and oat straw under mild, medium, and severe conditions was conducted to improve the quality of pellets generated from these feedstocks. This work examined the effects of temperature, time, and moisture content on the mechanical properties of biomass pellets. From the ANOVA conducted, the <i>p</i>-values of the regression models for all the response variables (dimensional stability, tensile strength, and pellet density) studied were significant (<i>p</i> < 0.05), except for the pellet density of steam-pretreated oat straw pellets. The interaction of these three factors did not significantly affect the response variables of oat straw pellets. In addition, the higher heating value (HHV) of treated biomass increased up to a maximum of about 9.5% and 7% as compared with the non-treated sawdust and oat straw, respectively. In addition, an increment of about 3.6-fold and 3.1-fold in pellet tensile strength of steam-pretreated sawdust and oat straw was observed, respectively. Microstructural examination of the pellets from steam-pretreated biomass revealed that the material contained particles that were more closely bonded and featured a cemented surface with fewer pores when compared to particles from untreated oat straw and sawdust.https://www.mdpi.com/1996-1073/15/19/7168steam explosionpretreatmentpelletizationsawdustoat strawpellet quality |
| spellingShingle | Chukwuka Onyenwoke Lope G. Tabil Tim Dumonceaux Duncan Cree Edmund Mupondwa Phani Adapa Chithra Karunakaran Investigation of Steam Explosion Pretreatment of Sawdust and Oat Straw to Improve Their Quality as Biofuel Pellets Energies steam explosion pretreatment pelletization sawdust oat straw pellet quality |
| title | Investigation of Steam Explosion Pretreatment of Sawdust and Oat Straw to Improve Their Quality as Biofuel Pellets |
| title_full | Investigation of Steam Explosion Pretreatment of Sawdust and Oat Straw to Improve Their Quality as Biofuel Pellets |
| title_fullStr | Investigation of Steam Explosion Pretreatment of Sawdust and Oat Straw to Improve Their Quality as Biofuel Pellets |
| title_full_unstemmed | Investigation of Steam Explosion Pretreatment of Sawdust and Oat Straw to Improve Their Quality as Biofuel Pellets |
| title_short | Investigation of Steam Explosion Pretreatment of Sawdust and Oat Straw to Improve Their Quality as Biofuel Pellets |
| title_sort | investigation of steam explosion pretreatment of sawdust and oat straw to improve their quality as biofuel pellets |
| topic | steam explosion pretreatment pelletization sawdust oat straw pellet quality |
| url | https://www.mdpi.com/1996-1073/15/19/7168 |
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