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Preparation for industrial pellet production from blends of eucalyptus sawdust and hydrolysis lignin: the optimal variable combinations of co-pelletization

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Abstract

The technology of co-pelletization was adopted to improve the performance of eucalyptus sawdust pellets, and hydrolysis lignin was treated as an effective binder. The main objective of this work was to obtain the optimal variable combinations of co-pelletization for preparation of industrial production. Response surface methodology using a central composite design with five-factor and five-level was employed to design and obtain the optimal variable combinations. Single pellet-making experiments were carried out using a uniaxial piston-cylinder densification apparatus. The effect of variables on responses was analyzed in detail. The selected optimal models for responses are all modified quadratic expressed in the form of regression equations. By setting the desired values of the responses, the optimized variable combinations are 26% hydrolysis lignin adding amount, 11% moisture content, 107-°C temperature, 5500-N pressure, and 3-mm particle size. The validation experiments were performed using the same apparatus according to the optimal variable combinations, and the response values are 24.83 kJ kg−1 for specific energy consumption, 1048.91 kg m−3 for relaxed density, and 31.44 N mm−2 for Meyer hardness. The relative percentage errors between the response predicted values and validation experiment results are all less than 10%.

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Abbreviations

ES:

eucalyptus sawdust

HL:

hydrolysis lignin

RSM:

response surface methodology

SEC:

specific energy consumption of compression/kJ kg−1

RDS:

relaxed density of pellets/kg m−3

H M :

Meyer hardness of pellets/N mm−2

CCD:

central composite design

HHV:

higher heating value of the pellets/kJ kg−1

ANOVA:

analysis of variance

HHVPellet :

higher heating value of the made pellets/kJ kg−1

HHVES :

higher heating value of hydrolysis lignin, 16,964 kJ kg−1

HHVHL :

higher heating value of hydrolysis lignin, 19,049 kJ kg−1

ES%:

mass percent of ES in the pellet

HL%:

mass percent of HL in the pellet

A:

HL mass fraction in the total materials (HL + ES)

B:

moisture weight to the total materials (HL + ES)

C:

balance temperature of the cylinder inner wall

D:

maximum force value during the pelletizing process

E:

material particle size distribution

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Funding

This work was supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (No. 51661145022), the Guangdong Provincial Natural Science Foundation Project (No. 2017B030308002), the Chinese Academy of Sciences Key Laboratory of Renewable Energy (No. y807j91001), and the Heilongjiang Science and Technology Planning Project (No. KS2018KH0090).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Guangzhou Institute of Energy Conversion, Chinese Academy of Sciences, No. 2, Nengyuan Rd, Wushan, Tianhe District, Guangzhou City, 510640, People’s Republic of China

    Weizhen Li, Yang Jiang & Xiuli Yin

  2. Chinese Academy of Sciences Key Laboratory of Renewable Energy, No. 2, Nengyuan Rd, Wushan, Tianhe District, Guangzhou City, 510640, People’s Republic of China

    Weizhen Li, Yang Jiang & Xiuli Yin

  3. Guangdong Provincial Key Laboratory of New and Renewable Energy Research and Development, No. 2, Nengyuan Rd, Wushan, Tianhe District, Guangzhou City, People’s Republic of China

    Weizhen Li, Yang Jiang & Xiuli Yin

  4. School of Chemical Engineering and Energy, Zhengzhou University, No. 100 Science Avenue, Zhengzhou City, 450001, Henan Province, People’s Republic of China

    Weizhen Li, Weiwei Guo & Yan Wang

  5. School of Energy and Power Engineering, Henan University of Animal Husbandry and Economy, No. 16, Beilin Rd, Jinshui District, Zhengzhou City, 450001, Henan Province, People’s Republic of China

    Wenjing Bu

Authors
  1. Weizhen Li
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  2. Wenjing Bu
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  3. Weiwei Guo
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  4. Yang Jiang
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  5. Yan Wang
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  6. Xiuli Yin
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Correspondence to Weizhen Li.

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Statement of novelty

In order to obtain the optimal variable combinations for industrial pellet production, technology of co-pelletization was adopted to improve the performance of eucalyptus sawdust (ES) pellets, and hydrolysis lignin was treated as an effective binder. Experiments designed by response surface methodology were carried out, and response surface models were established to predict response values. The optimized variable combinations are 26% hydrolysis lignin adding amount, 11% moisture content, 107-°C temperature, 5500-N pressure, and 3-mm particle size, and the values of specific energy consumption, relaxed density, and Meyer hardness are 24.83 kJ kg−1, 1048.91 kg m−3, and 31.44 N mm−2, respectively. These results can make preparation for industrial pellet production of co-pelletization.

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Li, W., Bu, W., Guo, W. et al. Preparation for industrial pellet production from blends of eucalyptus sawdust and hydrolysis lignin: the optimal variable combinations of co-pelletization. Biomass Conv. Bioref. 10, 513–521 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1007/s13399-019-00444-y

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