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1 INTRODUCTION
Biomass combustion has been the main energy
generation source for years and currently it is the most
important energy in underdeveloped countries.
Nowadays, it is an alternative as a renewable energy
resource, since it can be considered nearly a zero- CO2
emissions fuel. The reason is that the CO2 captured by
photosynthesis during its growth is the same that the
quantity of CO2 that the biomass emits to the atmosphere
during combustion.
However, this fuel frequently needs to be pretreated to
tailor its physical properties to combustion applications.
Range of particle size reductions commonly applied to
biomass are: chunking (50-250 mm), chipping (5-50 mm)
and grinding (0-80 mm) [1]. Usually biomass must be
chunked or chipped previously to grind. In most of the
different energetic technologies, the milling process is a
necessary pretreatment that offers the following
advantages [2]:
Initial densification
Raw
Material
Milled
material
1 2
1 Mill case
2 Feed hopper
3 Floating hammers
4 Cutting blades
5 Steel sieve (2 - 5 mm)
Data
0.930x1.150
11
50-100
< 2 or 5
Wood chips,
herbaceous biomass
Item
Hammer Mill size (m x m)
Power (kW)
Inlet particle size (mm)
Outlet particle size (m)
Material
Data
1.100x1.265
4
2 -5
<0.5 or 1 mm
Wood chips,
herbaceous biomass
B. Duplex mill
The duplex mill has a mixed system with hammers and
strikers. It has also two internal sieves with different
screen sizes, 1 or 0.5 mm.
B.1. Duplex mill.
As the A.1 configuration, particles pass trough the
mill once before being transported by pneumatic
conveying to the hopper. Internal screen determines
the final particle size.
B.2. Duplex mill with recirculation to the same mill.
In case of finer particle sizes are necessary, this
configuration allows the particle to pass several
times trough the mill until the suitable size is
reached.
A.1. Configuration
A.2 Configuration
B.1 Configuration
B.2 Configuration
Bag filter
Biomass bin
B.1
Duplex mill
Screw feeder
Raw biomass
storage bin
B.2
Primary air
Recirculated
product from
classifier
Secondary air
A.2
Belt conveyor
Dryer
Screen
classifier
Hammer
mill
A.1
Figure 5: Milling configurations A and B
Bag filter
Biomass bin
Recirculated
product from
classifier
Raw biomass
storage bin
Screw feeder
Primary air
Secondary air
Duplex mill
Screen
classifier
Dryer
Belt conveyor
Hammer
mill
M =
3 BIOMASS ANALYSES
3.1 Biomass sample
Samples are taken from the different flows involved in
each experiment, before (raw material) and after (grinded
material) the milling processes.
W w Wd
100
Ww
(1)
Dar (atM ar ) =
(m2 m1 )
V
(2)
M1
M2
M3
P1
P2
P3
A.1
A.1
C.1
A.1
A.1
C.1
Hammer mill
Screenclassifier
Duplex mill
(internal screenporesize)
(screenporesize)
(internal screenporesize)
Yes (5mm)
Yes (2mm)
Yes (2mm)
Yes (5mm)
Yes (2mm)
Yes (5mm)
No
No
Yes (1mm)
No
No
Yes (1mm)
No
No
Yes (1mm)
No
No
Yes (1mm)
100
90
80
70
60
50
40
30
20
10
0
5 mm
2 mm
1 mm
16%
10%
10%
13%
8%
8%
3%
2%
2%
13,0%
15,3%
15,3%
10,0%
11,6%
10,1%
3,0%
3,7%
5,2%
Corn straw
Pine chips
80
70
60
50
40
Process P1
30
Process P2
20
Process P3
10
Process M1
Process M2
Process M3
0,5
1,5
2,5
0
0
0,5
1,5
2,5
3,5
Size (mm)
3,5
Size (mm)
Pine chips
%increased respect i
%increased respect i
56,6
175,1
210
214,5
---------------209,43
271,02
279,05
248,5
331,7
340,0
370,1
---------------33,47
36,80
48,93
M1
M2
M3
P1
P2
P3
5mm
2mm
1mm
5mm
2mm
1mm
8,67
59,75
63,77
32,77
111,44
221,5
Corn straw
Pine chips
250,00
Corn straw
Pine chips
200,00
150,00
100,00
50,00
0,00
5 CONCLUSIONS
Pf<0.5
Pf 1dp<2
p<1mm
p<2mm
p<5mm
REFERENCES
[1]
[2]
[3]
[4]
[5]
6 FUTURE RESEARCH
Future research will analyze the moisture content
decrease, bulk density increase, granulometries obtained
and the energy requirement registered with the same
materials varying the used milling configurations to get
the minimum energy requirement for each particle size
and kind of biomass.
[6]
[7]
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
[8]
This study is part of the projects ENE 200405137/ALT, funded by the Spanish Ministry of Education
and Science and the project CENIT CO2 (DT 02 09 SA
OA) funded by CDTI. We wish to thank CESEFOR and
Unin Fenosa Generacin for supplying the forest residue
biomass.
[9]
[10]
NOMENCLATURE
M
Ww
Wd
Dar(atM)
m2
m1
V
Pf<5
Pf<2
Pf<1
Moisture content.
weight of the wet sample.
weight fo the dry sample.
bulk density of the biomass as received and
with a moisture content of M.
weight of the filled container in kg.
weight of the empty container in kg.
net volume of the measurement container in
m3.
Final weight of material passing the 5mm
screen.
Final weight of material passing the 2mm
screen.
Final weight of material passing the 1 mm
screen.
[11]
[12]
[13]
[14]
[15]
[16]
[17]
[18]
[19]
[20]
[21]
[22]
[23]
[24]
[25]
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Red
Elctrica
Espaola.
http://www.ree.es/sistema_electrico/pdf/infosis/In
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