Initial Development of Optimum Biomass Pellets

Renewable energy has become a major focus in today’s world of depleting energy resources. Biomass is starting to be utilized because it can be continually created within a reasonable period of time. Biomass particles are pressurized together in a pellet shape. The pellets are fed into a combustion chamber (stove) and burnt to create energy. The objective of this research is to test a range of pellet compositions and investigate their corresponding characteristics in the combustion process in order to maximize their energy output. The pellets investigated include single materials such as wood or various mixtures such as wood and grass. The pellets were tested to check the various criteria including the moisture content, density and energy content. Moisture content was found using a scale and desiccators. A thermogravimetric analyzer (TGA) was used to determine the burning temperature of biomass, its weight composition and ash content. A calorimeter was used to find energy content. The Coats-Redfern Method along with a TGA was chosen for the analysis of the activation energy of biomass pellets. Among four types of pellets tested, the hardwood premium pellets has the lowest ash content of .66%. Premium Pellets also had the best energy content of 19.16 MJ/kg. Beet Pulp Pellets had the lowest activation energy of all the materials with 99.92 kJ/mol activation energy. Overall the hardwood pellets performed the best but could be improved with the addition of other biomasses. An optimum pellet may be created with a mixture of multiple materials.