Briquetting of Poplar Wood from Short Rotation Coppice—The Effects of Moisture Content and Hammer Mill Screen Size

Okey Francis Obi and Ralf Pecenka ()
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Okey Francis Obi: Department of Systems Process Engineering, Leibniz-Institute for Agricultural Engineering and Bioeconomy, 14469 Potsdam, Germany
Ralf Pecenka: Department of Systems Process Engineering, Leibniz-Institute for Agricultural Engineering and Bioeconomy, 14469 Potsdam, Germany

Energies, 2023, vol. 16, issue 3, 1-14

Abstract: Studies on the use of biomass from short rotation coppices for briquette production as a sustainable biofuel have been scarce in the literature. This study investigated the effects of two process variables, hammer mill screen size at three levels (5.3, 10.3, and 25.4 mm) and moisture content at three levels (13.6, 19, and 25% (w.b.)), on the properties of briquettes from poplar Max-4 trees. The whole tree was divided into two fractions, the crown and the stem, and briquettes were produced from them. The effects of the variables on compressed density, relaxed density, relaxation ratio, and the shatter index of the briquettes were analyzed. The results showed that the combined interaction of the variables had no significant effects ( p > 0.05) on the compressed density, relaxed density, and relaxation ratio of the briquettes. However, hammer mill screen size and moisture content both significantly influenced the shatter index irrespective of the tree fraction ( p < 0.05). Hammer mill screen sizes of 5.3 and 10.3 mm at moisture contents of 13.6 and 19% (w.b.) resulted in good quality briquettes across the properties investigated for both the crown and stem poplar tree fractions. This study shows that high-quality briquettes can be produced from poplar Max-4 woody biomass.

Keywords: poplar chips; briquettes; densification; fast growing energy tree; tree fractions; bioenergy; short rotation coppice (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: Q Q0 Q4 Q40 Q41 Q42 Q43 Q47 Q48 Q49 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2023
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