Thermochemical and physical transformation of byproducts from industrial oilseeds (meadowfoam and abyssinian) to bioenergy feedstock

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Natures Crops International (NCI) is a value-added processing company in Prince Edward Island that manufactures oils for cosmetics, dietary supplements, and specialty foods. Oils from meadowfoam (Limnanthes alba) and abyssinian (Crambe abyssinica) are used for personal care products and cosmetics. After extraction, a major part of the oil is removed and a portion of that still remains in the solid phase. Therefore, the byproduct of oil extraction would be meals with 70-75% of non-oil solid matter and 15-18% oil content. NCI is interested to find applications, especially in bioenergy sector, for the byproduct meals because they are not registered as animal feed. The objective of the present project is to determine the chemical composition and physical properties of the two byproducts, and to convert them with and without torrefaction to densified form (pellets) according to the standards of bioenergy feedstock. In the first step of the work, the chemical composition of the oilseed meals (from meadowfoam and abyssinian supplied by NCI) including oil, neutral detergent fiber (NDF), acid detergent fiber (ADF), acid detergent lignin (ADL), ash content, carbon (C), hydrogen (H), nitrogen (N), and sulfur (S) will be determined. Torrefaction experiments will be carried out using a microwave reactor with a maximum power of 400 W with nitrogen purging. The combination of power and residence time for torrefaction of the samples will be optimized in the trials. In the next step, a densification/pelletization experiment based on factorial design will be conducted using the single pelleting unit. Three factors will be investigated, namely, temperature (50°C to 90°C), pretreatment (non-treated meals and torrefied meals), and mix formulations (including 7 different combinations with different binders and wood as the filling biomass) on pellet quality. The densified mix formulations will be selected based on the quality attributes, mainly durability index, density, ash, and energy density. The screened formulations will be tested in pilot-scale pelleting for the actual quality evaluation.