Advanced understanding of pelletization

The use ofbiomass in the energy sector has become a significant player in the battle against the dependence of fossil fuels. A major part of the biomass is pelletized, which enables a flexible and efficient utilization of the biomass. However, there is still large optimization potentials related to the production of fuel pellets. However, these potentials can only be exploited through a fundamental understanding of the pelletization process. The project is a direct continuation of the EFP-project: ''Fundamental understanding ofpelletization'' (33031-0037 EFP-2005) and will continue to develop the knowledge already established areas, that were found to be of special interest in the previous project will be further explored in the applied for project. This concerns questions on how the process parameters (e.g. temperature and pressure) and the material parameters (e.g. moisture content) influence on the pellet durability and questions related to the advanced understanding of the fundamental interactions between the structure ofwood and straw and the mechanical properties of the materials. In addition, practical aspects such as particle size distributions in connection with combustion, creation of dust during handling and energy optimization are addressed. The project is formulated as a research project, aiming at an understanding of the mechanisms and process parameters that control the pelletization properties. The established knowledge in the field ofwood science has not previously been connected with production ofbiopellets, which is crucial in order to understand the complex mechanisms that are in play when wood and straw are subjected to high pressures and temperatures. Demonstration will be an important part of the project. The developed knowledge will be used to test new procedures at large scale facilities and the theoretical models will be compared med results from large scale tests. One goal is to show that it is possible, based on a lab-scale test, to predict how a certain material will behave at a large scale pellet plant (e.g. the straw pellet factory in Køge)