Assessment of Factors Affecting Productivity of Briquetting Presses and Quality of Briquettes

Alexandru Muntean

Doctoral thesis

Abstract:

The solid biofuel represents an affordable and efficient alternative of fossil fuel that makes its use very attractive in many countries. Considering this fact it is necessary to pay a special attention to the problems related to the quality and production efficiency of densified biofuel in the form of briquettes. The work represents the practical and theoretical research directed to the increasing of the production efficiency of high-quality briquettes on the screw and piston briquetting presses taking into consideration different factors. All used biomass was initially processed - ground by the hammer mill in three fractions and dried. For the efficient use of equipment, there was evaluated the work and determined optimal operation modes with the application of the possible settings. An important part of the work was devoted to the study of temperature influence on the densification process of biomass and the determination of the optimal working temperature of the briquetting equipment.In the framework of the research there were determined the properties of obtained solid biofuel and evaluated their interrelation with the properties of initial raw material and the specific working conditions (parameters) of equipment. In the result of the research performed, it was found that biomass with particles of small size is more suitable for the production of briquettes. Smaller particles permit to obtain briquettes with dense structure and high durability. The use of biomass of smaller fraction size that has a homogeneous structure can prevent the segregation of the particles during the densification. The studies demonstrated that densification of the raw material of smaller fraction has a positive impact on the rise of the temperature during the briquetting process that has a positive effect on the quality of biofuel. The performed research has indicated that for the production of high-quality solid biofuel on the piston briquetting press, the fibrous or wooden materials of high density are more suitable. The most proper operational speed of the screw as well as the optimal working temperature for the screw briquetting press were determined in the research, too.

Keywords

Agglomeration, Briquettes, Densification, Screw briquetting press, Piston briquetting press, Segregation of particles

Jazyk práce: English

Datum vytvoření / odevzdání či podání práce: 12. 6. 2020

Obhajoba závěrečné práce

• Vedúci: doc. Bc. Ing. Tatiana Ivanova, Ph.D.
• Oponent: Jiří Bradna, Ph.D.

Czech University of Life Sciences Prague

Faculty of Tropical AgriSciences

Doctoral programme / odbor:
Agricultural Specialization / Sustainable Rural Development in the Tropics And Subtropics