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.

Cost Estimates of Cellulosic Ethanol Manufacturing: A Literature Review

2011 ◽  
Author(s):  
P. F. Zhang ◽  
Z. J. Pei
Keyword(s):  
Cellulosic Ethanol ◽  
Cost Model ◽  
Cellulosic Biomass ◽  
Data Sources ◽  
Manufacturing Costs ◽  
Cost Estimates ◽  
Transportation Fuels ◽  
Wide Range ◽  
Economic Analyses ◽  
Cost Components

Cellulosic ethanol is one type of renewable energy, and can be used to replace petroleum based transportation fuels. The technologies of converting cellulosic biomass into ethanol are relatively mature. However, the manufacturing costs of cellulosic ethanol are too high to be competitive. Economic analyses of cellulosic ethanol manufacturing have appeared regularly to estimate manufacturing costs of cellulosic ethanol. But the estimated manufacturing costs of cellulosic ethanol have a wide range due to differences in used assumptions. It is very difficult to judge which one is most reliable among the markedly different cost estimates in the literature. This paper reviews the literature on cost estimates in manufacturing of cellulosic ethanol. Cost estimates of each manufacturing process are summarized. Cost components and their data sources are discussed. This review provides a foundation to develop a comprehensive cost model for cellulosic ethanol manufacturing.

Ultrasonic Vibration-Assisted Pelleting of Cellulosic Biomass: A Review

2013 ◽  
Vol 805-806 ◽  
pp. 151-155
Author(s):  
Kang Qi Fan ◽  
Yong Jun Tang ◽  
Yang Fang
Keyword(s):  
Ultrasonic Vibration ◽  
Large Scale ◽  
Cost Effective ◽  
Cellulosic Biomass ◽  
Ultrasonic Power ◽  
Cellulosic Biofuels ◽  
Transportation Fuels ◽  
Pellet Density ◽  
And Storage ◽  
Biomass To Ethanol

Increasing concerns about reliable supplies and envi­ronmental consequences of petroleum-based fuels have made it important to develop sustainable green sources for liquid transportation fuels. One such source is cellulosic biomass. However, high costs associated with transportation and storage of low-density cellulosic biomass has hindered large-scale, cost-effective manufacturing of cellulosic biofuels. Ultrasonic vibration-assisted (UV-A) pelleting can increase biomass density, improve storability, and reduce transportation costs. This paper reviews the state of the art of this technique, covering the effects of different process parameters on pellet quality, pellet charring, pellet crack, and sugar yield. It can be concluded that pellet density increases with an increase in ultrasonic power and pelleting pressure, and with a decrease in biomass moisture content and particle size. However, large ultrasonic power may lead to the charring of cellulosic biomass, which adversely affects the conversion of cellulosic biomass to ethanol. In addition, some problems associated with UV-A pelletingof cellulosic biomass are proposed.

Ultrasonic-Vibration Assisted Pelleting for Cellulosic Ethanol Manufacturing: An Experimental Investigation of Power Consumption

2011 ◽  
Author(s):  
Qi Zhang ◽  
Pengfei Zhang ◽  
Z. J. Pei ◽  
Jonathan Wilson ◽  
Leland McKinney ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Particle Size ◽  
Power Consumption ◽  
Ultrasonic Vibration ◽  
Cellulosic Ethanol ◽  
Cellulosic Biomass ◽  
Ultrasonic Power ◽  
Material Particle ◽  
Manufacturing Costs ◽  
Lower Power ◽  
And Storage

Ethanol produced from cellulosic biomass is an alternative to petroleum-based transportation fuels. However, its manufacturing costs are too high for cellulosic ethanol to be competitive. Cellulosic feedstocks have low density, causing their transportation and storage expensive, contributing to high manufacturing costs of cellulosic ethanol. Pelleting can increase the density of cellulosic feedstocks and reduce their transportation and storage costs. Ultrasonic vibration-assisted (UV-A) pelleting is a new pelleting method. Effects of input pelleting parameters (ultrasonic power, pelleting pressure, and particle size) on pellet quality and sugar yield have been studied. However, the effects of these parameters on power consumption in UV-A pelleting have not been studied. Since power consumption directly affects ethanol manufacturing costs, lower power consumption is desirable. The objective of this paper is to study effects of different input parameters (biomass material, particle size, ultrasonic power, and pelleting pressure) of UV-A pelleting on power consumption. Four types of biomass materials (big bluestem, corn stover, sorghum stalk, and wheat straw) were studied. Sorghum stalk consumed the least power. Pelleting pressure, particle size and ultrasonic power significantly affected power consumption of all four materials. Higher ultrasonic power and pelleting pressure resulted in lower power consumption. In addition, this paper also compares power consumption between UV-A pelleting and ring-die pelleting (a traditional pelleting method).

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.

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.

A Study on Amount of Biomass Pellets Used in Durability Testing

2011 ◽  
Author(s):  
Q. Zhang ◽  
P. F. Zhang ◽  
X. X. Song ◽  
M. Zhang ◽  
Z. J. Pei ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Large Scale ◽  
Cost Effective ◽  
Quality Parameter ◽  
Cellulosic Biomass ◽  
Low Density ◽  
Cellulosic Biofuels ◽  
Transportation Fuels ◽  
Important Quality ◽  
Durability Testing ◽  
And Storage

Biofuels are an alternative to petroleum-based liquid transportation fuels. Cellulosic biomass can be used as feedstocks for befoul manufacturing. Low density of cellulosic feedstocks causes difficulties in handling them during transportation and storage, thus hindering large-scale and cost-effective manufacturing of cellulosic biofuels. Pelleting can increase the density of cellulosic feedstocks by compacting bulky biomass into pellets. Pellet durability, an important quality parameter, measures the ability of pellets to withstand impact and other destructive forces during transportation and handling. ASABE standard S269.4 specifies a procedure to determine pellet durability using 500 grams of pellets. However, it does not provide any justification of choosing this amount of pellets. This paper investigates the feasibility of using a smaller amount of pellets (50 grams) to determine pellet durability. Results show that 50 grams of pellets can generate comparable durability results as 500 grams of pellets.

Ultrasonic-Vibration-Assisted Pelleting of Cellulosic Biomass: Effects of Moisture Content

2010 ◽  
Author(s):  
Xiaoxu Song ◽  
Meng Zhang ◽  
Z. J. Pei ◽  
Timothy Deines
Keyword(s):  
Experimental Study ◽  
Moisture Content ◽  
Ultrasonic Vibration ◽  
Transportation Cost ◽  
Cost Effective ◽  
Cellulosic Biomass ◽  
Low Density ◽  
High Transportation Cost ◽  
Biomass Materials ◽  
Pellet Density

Cellulosic biomass is an important source for making biofuels. However, there are several barriers to cost-effective manufacturing of biofuels using cellulosic biomass. One such barrier is related to the high transportation cost due to the low density of cellulosic biomass. Pelleting of cellulosic biomass is one way to increase its density. This paper reports an experimental study on ultrasonic vibration-assisted pelleting of cellulosic biomass. The study was focused on the effects of moisture content (MC) on pellet density of three kinds of cellulosic biomass (wheat straw, switchgrass, and sorghum). The experimental results show that sorghum has the highest density with three levels of MC among these biomass materials. The highest density was found with sorghum of 20% MC.

Optimization of Input Variables in Ultrasonic Vibration-Assisted Pelleting of Cellulosic Biomass Using Multiple Response Surface Methodology

2013 ◽  
Author(s):  
Qi Zhang ◽  
Pengfei Zhang ◽  
Shing Chang ◽  
Z. J. Pei ◽  
Donghai Wang
Keyword(s):  
Response Surface Methodology ◽  
Response Surface ◽  
Ultrasonic Vibration ◽  
Cellulosic Ethanol ◽  
Cellulosic Biomass ◽  
Multiple Response ◽  
Ultrasonic Power ◽  
Pellet Density ◽  
Input Variables ◽  
Multiple Response Surface Methodology

Cellulosic ethanol is an attractive alternative to petroleum-based liquid transportation fuels. However, low density of cellulosic biomass (the feedstock for cellulosic ethanol) causes high costs in biomass logistics and hinders large-scale and cost-effective manufacturing of cellulosic ethanol. Ultrasonic vibration-assisted (UV-A) pelleting can significantly increase the density of cellulosic biomass by compressing raw cellulosic biomass into pellets. Pellet density and durability are two important physical properties of a pellet. In this study, a multiple response surface methodology was employed to optimize the input variables (pelleting time, pressure, and ultrasonic power) in UV-A pelleting of sorghum stalks for simultaneously maximized pellet density and durability. Second-order polynomial models were used to fit the experimental results. Main and interaction effects of the input variables on pellet density and durability were also investigated.

Effects of Die Size on Pellet Quality for Cellulosic Ethanol Manufacturing

2016 ◽  
Author(s):  
Qi Zhang ◽  
Lin Heng ◽  
Jiping Zhou ◽  
Zhichao Li
Keyword(s):  
Experimental Study ◽  
Moisture Content ◽  
Equilibrium Moisture Content ◽  
Cellulosic Ethanol ◽  
Large Scale ◽  
Cellulosic Biomass ◽  
Pellet Quality ◽  
Transportation Fuel ◽  
Biomass Densification ◽  
Pellet Density

Cellulosic ethanol can be used as a sustainable alternative transportation fuel. A major obstacle to restrict large-scale cellulosic ethanol manufacturing is low bulk density of cellulosic biomass that increases costs during transportation, storage and application of biomass. Biomass pelleting can significantly increase density of biomass. Pellets with high density can be handled, transported, stored and utilized easily. Ring-die pelleting, a traditional pelleting method, is widely used in biomass densification industry. This paper reported an experimental study to compare pellet quality (such as equilibrium moisture content, density, and durability) and microstructure of corn stover processed by a ring-die pellet mill with three different die sizes. Results showed that round and bigger die (32 mm instead of 9 mm) results in higher pellet density, durability, and lower equilibrium moisture content.

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.

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