Fuel Properties of Bio-Pellets Produced from Selected Materials under Various Compacting Pressure

AbstractThe purpose of this study is to investigate the fuel properties of biomass pellets prepared from six different biomasses: bamboo sawdust, eucalyptus sawdust, corn cob, rubber tree branches, palm fibre and lippia grass. These materials were milled into small particles less than 5mm before binderless pelletization using the labscale hydraulic press under forces of 56-166MPa for 20seconds into the pellets. Thermal degradation of each biomass was analyzed by TGA. The increase in compaction pressure makes the L/D ratio of pellets decrease and the pellet density increase, and rather maintained the constant value after 139MPa was applied. Moreover, higher applied pressure also gave the pellets with higher tensile strength and less water impermeability