Densification Impact on Raw, Chemically and Thermally Pretreated Biomass: Physical Properties and Biofuels Production Tumuluru Jaya Shankar

First-generation ethanol plants did not have many operational challenges as the feedstocks (e.g., corn) used for fuel production are dense, stable, storable, and shippable commodity-type products with fewer conversion challenges. In the second-generation biofuels, the feedstocks used are agricultural and forest residues, dedicated energy crops, industrial wastes, and municipal solid waste. These feedstock properties led the first-generation large-scale biorefineries to grow exponentially.

One way to overcome some of the feeding, handling, transportation, and variable moisture challenges is to densify the biomass. When the industry tested these feedstocks for biofuel production, they faced flowability, storage, transportation, and conversion issues. Pellet mills and briquette presses are commonly used to produce densified products.

The densified products have uniform size, shape, higher