Biomass densification testing equipment for the development of high quality biomass pellets

点击翻译按钮获取中文摘要

Biomass generally comes from the fibrous part of the plant material and thus it is inherently light weighted with low bulk density.  Transporting and storing it in a loose form is prohibitive in cost and in practice.  The overall objective is to deliver premium quality biomass at a low cost to bioconversion facilities.  Increasing the bulk density of biomass through densification is critical to the success of the bioenergy systems. High density granulated biomass can be handled using conventional bulk handling equipment thus making handling of the biomass safe and inexpensive.       Approximately one million tonnes of wood pellets have been produced in Canada each year from forest residues, with plants mainly located in British Columbia. The industry is growing at a rate of more than 20%, with more than 80% pellets exported to Europe. To assist this industry in Canada and to promote the use of renewable biomass energy, we have been conducting researches at UBC's Clean Energy Research Center to solve problems associated with wood pellets processing and handling, such as quality control (moisture, density and composition) of the wood pellets, off-gassing and safety issues related to processing and storage and transport environment. Our researches at UBC in collaboration with Wood Pellet Association of Canada, BIOCAP, Agriculture Canada, FERIC, NRCan and NSERC will demonstrate the environmental benefit of using wood pellets as renewable fuel for heat and power generation, ensure health and safety in storage and handling of wood pellets, optimize durability and shelf-life of wood pellets, enhance energy density of wood pellets and integrate and optimize wood pellet supply chain with respect to cost, quality, and quantity.       The proposed laboratory-scale grinding and compaction equipment is essential for us to achieve those goals, because size reduction and compaction are two key steps of the biomass densification process, which are energy-intensive and determine the quality of wood pellet product.