The effect of particle size on the bulk density and durability of pellets: bagasse and eucalyptus bark
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Abstract
This research aimed to study the effect of particle size on the bulk density and durability of biomass pellets. In this study, the biomass pellets were made from the distinctive raw materials of bagasse and eucalyptus bark. The particle sizes of the samples were 2 mm, 5 mm and 9 mm. This study applied the pelletization method in the experiment and used the Pellet Fuel Institute (PFI) Standard to verify the pellet durability and the pellet bulk density. The results show that the increase of particle sizes from 2 mm to 9 mm decreased the pellet bulk density of bagasse and eucalyptus bark by 2.92% and 4.94%, respectively. In addition, it was also found that the increase in particle size from 2 mm to 9 mm decreased the pellet durability of bagasse and eucalyptus bark by 0.88% and 1.33%, respectively. When the pellet bulk density and pellet durability of bagasse and eucalyptus bark were compared, it demonstrated that the pellet bulk density of the eucalyptus bark was higher than that of the pellet bulk density of bagasse. With regards to this study, it concludes that the decrease in the values in both the pellet bulk density and the pellet durability depended on the increase in the particle size. Therefore, the optimum particle size to produce pellets from bagasse and eucalyptus bark in this research was 2 mm.
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