Assessing The Effect Of Pressing Matrix Diameter And Compacting Pressure On Density And Durability Of Pellets

Pellets made of biomass for energy purposes can be considered as a significant type of biofuel. The efficiency of biopellets depends upon many factors; therefore, in our paper we have focused our attention on measuring the physical properties of biopellets made from lucerne hay and maize stover. The chemical composition of biomass materials is characterised. Biopellets were made on the hydraulic press and their durability was measured on the own instrument designed according to the ASABE S269.4 standard. As the biomass particle size plays an important role in the process of pellets producing, the particle size distribution was determined. According to our experiments, both pressure and diameter had no effect on the durability of pellets for both materials, especially with the pressure force of 100 MPa and 125 MPa, whereas with increasing the pressure force to 150 MPa for the die diameter 20 mm for both lucerne hay and maize stover, a significant increment occurred in the durability of pellets.