Physical and Energy Properties of Fuel Pellets Produced from Sawdust with Potato Pulp Addition
Sławomir Obidziński,
Paweł Cwalina,
Małgorzata Kowczyk-Sadowy,
Aneta Sienkiewicz,
Małgorzata Krasowska,
Joanna Szyszlak-Bargłowicz,
Grzegorz Zając,
Tomasz Słowik,
Jacek Mazur,
Marek Jankowski
Affiliations
Sławomir Obidziński
Department of Agri-Food Engineering and Environmental Management, Bialystok University of Technology, Wiejska 45E, 15-351 Białystok, Poland
Paweł Cwalina
Department of Agri-Food Engineering and Environmental Management, Bialystok University of Technology, Wiejska 45E, 15-351 Białystok, Poland
Małgorzata Kowczyk-Sadowy
Department of Agri-Food Engineering and Environmental Management, Bialystok University of Technology, Wiejska 45E, 15-351 Białystok, Poland
Aneta Sienkiewicz
Department of Agri-Food Engineering and Environmental Management, Bialystok University of Technology, Wiejska 45E, 15-351 Białystok, Poland
Małgorzata Krasowska
Department of Agri-Food Engineering and Environmental Management, Bialystok University of Technology, Wiejska 45E, 15-351 Białystok, Poland
Joanna Szyszlak-Bargłowicz
Department of Power Engineering and Transportation, Faculty of Production Engineering, University of Life Sciences in Lublin, Głęboka 28, 20-612 Lublin, Poland
Grzegorz Zając
Department of Power Engineering and Transportation, Faculty of Production Engineering, University of Life Sciences in Lublin, Głęboka 28, 20-612 Lublin, Poland
Tomasz Słowik
Department of Power Engineering and Transportation, Faculty of Production Engineering, University of Life Sciences in Lublin, Głęboka 28, 20-612 Lublin, Poland
Jacek Mazur
Department of Food Engineering and Machines, Faculty of Production Engineering, University of Life Sciences in Lublin, Głęboka 28, 20-612 Lublin, Poland
Marek Jankowski
Wood Production Plant PANBAH Marek Jankowski, 12-203 Trzonki, Poland
This paper presents the findings of a study of the pelleting process of pine sawdust with the addition of waste in the form of potato pulp (as a natural binder), in the context of producing fuel pellets. The process of pelleting was carried out for sawdust and for a mixture of sawdust and potato pulp (10, 15, 20, and 25%). The highest moisture content was obtained in the case of pellets produced from a mixture of straw with a 25% potato pulp content, i.e., 26.54% (with a potato pulp moisture content of 85.08%). Increasing the potato pulp content in a mixture with sawdust from 10 to 25% reduced the power demand of the pelletizer by approx. 20% (from 7.35 to 5.92 kW). The obtained density values for pellets made from a mixture of sawdust and potato pulp (over 1000 kg∙m−3) with a potato pulp content of 10% make it possible to conclude that the obtained pellets meet the requirements of the ISO 17225-2:2021-11 standard. Increasing the potato pulp content from 0 to 25% caused a slight decrease in the heat of combustion, i.e., from 20.45 to 20.32 MJ∙kg−1, as well as in the calorific value, from 19.02 to 18.83 MJ∙kg−1 (both for dry sawdust matter and the mixture). The results of the laboratory tests were used to verify the densification process of mixtures of sawdust and potato pulp under industrial conditions at the PANBAH plant, using pelleting mixtures with a 5%, 10%, and 25% content of potato pulp. Industrial research also confirmed that the use of the addition of potato pulp in a mixture with sawdust significantly reduces the power demand of the pelletizer, and it also increases the kinetic strength of the obtained pellets.
