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Improving the physical, mechanical and energetic properties of Quercus spp. wood pellets by adding pine sawdust

BACKGROUND: Biomass usage for energy purposes has emerged in response to global energy demands and environmental problems. The large amounts of by-products generated during logging are rarely utilized. In addition, some species (e.g., Quercus spp.) are considered less valuable and are left in the cu...

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Autores principales: Núñez-Retana, Víctor Daniel, Rosales-Serna, Rigoberto, Prieto-Ruíz, José Ángel, Wehenkel, Christian, Carrillo-Parra, Artemio
Formato: Online Artículo Texto
Lenguaje:English
Publicado: PeerJ Inc. 2020
Materias:
Acceso en línea:https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7443319/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/32879806
http://dx.doi.org/10.7717/peerj.9766
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author Núñez-Retana, Víctor Daniel
Rosales-Serna, Rigoberto
Prieto-Ruíz, José Ángel
Wehenkel, Christian
Carrillo-Parra, Artemio
author_facet Núñez-Retana, Víctor Daniel
Rosales-Serna, Rigoberto
Prieto-Ruíz, José Ángel
Wehenkel, Christian
Carrillo-Parra, Artemio
author_sort Núñez-Retana, Víctor Daniel
collection PubMed
description BACKGROUND: Biomass usage for energy purposes has emerged in response to global energy demands and environmental problems. The large amounts of by-products generated during logging are rarely utilized. In addition, some species (e.g., Quercus spp.) are considered less valuable and are left in the cutting areas. Production of pellets from this alternative source of biomass may be possible for power generation. Although the pellets may be of lower quality than other types of wood pellets, because of their physical and technological properties, the addition of different raw materials may improve the characteristics of the oak pellets. METHODS: Sawdust from the oak species Quercus sideroxyla, Q. rugosa, Q. laeta and Q. conzattii was mixed with sawdust from the pine Pinus durangensis in different ratios of oak to pine (100:0, 80:20, 60:40, 40:60 and 20:80). Physical and mechanical properties of the pellets were determined, and calorific value tests were carried out. For each variable, Kolmogorov–Smirnov normality and Kruskal–Wallis tests were performed and Pearson’s correlation coefficients were determined (considering a significance level of p < 0.05). RESULTS: The moisture content and fixed carbon content differed significantly (p < 0.05) between the groups of pellets (i.e., pellets made with different sawdust mixtures). The moisture content of all pellets was less than 10%. However, volatile matter and ash content did not differ significantly between groups (p ≥ 0.05). The ash content was less than 0.7% in all mixtures. The addition of P. durangensis sawdust to the mixtures improved the bulk density of the pellets by 18%. Significant differences (p < 0.05) in particle density were observed between species, mixtures and for the species × mixture interaction. The particle density was highest in the 80:20 and 60:40 mixtures, with values ranging from 1,245 to 1,349 kg m(−3). Bulk density and particle density of the pellets were positively correlated with the amount of P. durangensis sawdust included. The mechanical hardness and impact resistance index (IRI) differed significantly (p < 0.05) between groups. The addition of pine sawdust decreased the mechanical hardness of the pellets, up to 24%. The IRI was highest (138) in the Q. sideroxyla pellets (100:0). The mechanical hardness and IRI of the pellets were negatively correlated with the amount of P. durangensis sawdust added. The bulk density of the pellets was negatively correlated with mechanical hardness and IRI. The calorific value of mixtures and the species × mixture interaction differed significantly between groups. Finally, the mean calorific value was highest (19.8 MJ kg(−1)) in the 20:80 mixture. The calorific value was positively related to the addition of P. durangensis sawdust.
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spelling pubmed-74433192020-09-01 Improving the physical, mechanical and energetic properties of Quercus spp. wood pellets by adding pine sawdust Núñez-Retana, Víctor Daniel Rosales-Serna, Rigoberto Prieto-Ruíz, José Ángel Wehenkel, Christian Carrillo-Parra, Artemio PeerJ Biotechnology BACKGROUND: Biomass usage for energy purposes has emerged in response to global energy demands and environmental problems. The large amounts of by-products generated during logging are rarely utilized. In addition, some species (e.g., Quercus spp.) are considered less valuable and are left in the cutting areas. Production of pellets from this alternative source of biomass may be possible for power generation. Although the pellets may be of lower quality than other types of wood pellets, because of their physical and technological properties, the addition of different raw materials may improve the characteristics of the oak pellets. METHODS: Sawdust from the oak species Quercus sideroxyla, Q. rugosa, Q. laeta and Q. conzattii was mixed with sawdust from the pine Pinus durangensis in different ratios of oak to pine (100:0, 80:20, 60:40, 40:60 and 20:80). Physical and mechanical properties of the pellets were determined, and calorific value tests were carried out. For each variable, Kolmogorov–Smirnov normality and Kruskal–Wallis tests were performed and Pearson’s correlation coefficients were determined (considering a significance level of p < 0.05). RESULTS: The moisture content and fixed carbon content differed significantly (p < 0.05) between the groups of pellets (i.e., pellets made with different sawdust mixtures). The moisture content of all pellets was less than 10%. However, volatile matter and ash content did not differ significantly between groups (p ≥ 0.05). The ash content was less than 0.7% in all mixtures. The addition of P. durangensis sawdust to the mixtures improved the bulk density of the pellets by 18%. Significant differences (p < 0.05) in particle density were observed between species, mixtures and for the species × mixture interaction. The particle density was highest in the 80:20 and 60:40 mixtures, with values ranging from 1,245 to 1,349 kg m(−3). Bulk density and particle density of the pellets were positively correlated with the amount of P. durangensis sawdust included. The mechanical hardness and impact resistance index (IRI) differed significantly (p < 0.05) between groups. The addition of pine sawdust decreased the mechanical hardness of the pellets, up to 24%. The IRI was highest (138) in the Q. sideroxyla pellets (100:0). The mechanical hardness and IRI of the pellets were negatively correlated with the amount of P. durangensis sawdust added. The bulk density of the pellets was negatively correlated with mechanical hardness and IRI. The calorific value of mixtures and the species × mixture interaction differed significantly between groups. Finally, the mean calorific value was highest (19.8 MJ kg(−1)) in the 20:80 mixture. The calorific value was positively related to the addition of P. durangensis sawdust. PeerJ Inc. 2020-08-20 /pmc/articles/PMC7443319/ /pubmed/32879806 http://dx.doi.org/10.7717/peerj.9766 Text en © 2020 Núñez-Retana et al. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/) , which permits unrestricted use, distribution, reproduction and adaptation in any medium and for any purpose provided that it is properly attributed. For attribution, the original author(s), title, publication source (PeerJ) and either DOI or URL of the article must be cited.
spellingShingle Biotechnology
Núñez-Retana, Víctor Daniel
Rosales-Serna, Rigoberto
Prieto-Ruíz, José Ángel
Wehenkel, Christian
Carrillo-Parra, Artemio
Improving the physical, mechanical and energetic properties of Quercus spp. wood pellets by adding pine sawdust
title Improving the physical, mechanical and energetic properties of Quercus spp. wood pellets by adding pine sawdust
title_full Improving the physical, mechanical and energetic properties of Quercus spp. wood pellets by adding pine sawdust
title_fullStr Improving the physical, mechanical and energetic properties of Quercus spp. wood pellets by adding pine sawdust
title_full_unstemmed Improving the physical, mechanical and energetic properties of Quercus spp. wood pellets by adding pine sawdust
title_short Improving the physical, mechanical and energetic properties of Quercus spp. wood pellets by adding pine sawdust
title_sort improving the physical, mechanical and energetic properties of quercus spp. wood pellets by adding pine sawdust
topic Biotechnology
url https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7443319/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/32879806
http://dx.doi.org/10.7717/peerj.9766
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