The effects of biomass binders and moisture content on the mechanical durability of rice husk pellets

A. A. Abdul-Rahman, N. Yusoff, A. Abd-Rahman

Research output: Contribution to journalConference articlepeer-review

6 Citations (Scopus)
62 Downloads (Pure)

Abstract

Paddy straw and rice husk (RH) are considered agricultural waste. About 22 wt% of paddy is RH, which is normally disposed of by open burning. Pelletizing RH increases the bulk density of the waste and is capable of providing benefits such as ease of transport and potentially a more efficient fuel for combustion. This will allow for RH to be utilized for more meaningful applications instead of just being burnt. However, one of the main challenges of producing RH pellets is their low durability, causing pellets to be broken into fines and dust during transportation and thus making them unattractive to potential buyers. This work aims to investigate suitable locally-sourced biomass waste as binder compounds that could improve the mechanical durability of RH pellets. Here, the effects of binder types, binder contents and moisture contents on RH pellet durability were evaluated. Palm kernel shell (PKS), palm oil mill effluent (POME) and sawdust were selected due to their abundance in Malaysia. In general, it was observed that the mean durability improved as moisture contents increased. More specifically, pellets with PKS and POME binders improved mean durability whereas sawdust deteriorated the durability. The results presented would be beneficial for the improvement of RH pellet production for domestic and export consumptions.

Original languageEnglish
Article number052013
JournalIOP Conference Series: Materials Science and Engineering
Volume736
Issue number5
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 4 Mar 2020
EventEnergy Security and Chemical Engineering Congress 2019 - Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia
Duration: 17 Jul 201919 Jul 2019

ASJC Scopus subject areas

  • General Materials Science
  • General Engineering

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