Densification of Biomass: Mechanisms, Models, and Experiments on Briquettingand Pelleting of Biomass

To reduce dependency on fossil fuels, there istremendous interest in using biomass feedstocks forproducing fuels, heat, power, chemicals, andbio-products. Biomass feedstocks such as corn stoverand switchgrass are often collected in baled forms,which involve a lot of handling, storage, andtransportation costs because of low bulk density ofbales. Densification of biomass feedstocks intobriquettes and pellets can reduce the cost andincrease the efficiency of handling, storage,transportation, and use of biomass feedstocks. Thisbook provides the fundamentals of densificationmechanisms of biomass feedstocks studied using alaboratory-scale densification apparatus, apilot-scale roll press briquetting machine, apilot-scale ring-die pelleting machine, andconstitutive modeling. This book reveals that theNATURAL BINDERS in the biomass feedstocks such aslignin, protein, starch and sugars can be activatedusing moisture and temperature (steam) to manufacturehigh quality briquettes and pellets without addingchemical additives (binders). This book is a veryuseful resource for briquetting and pelletingindustries as well as biomass densification researchers.