Biomass Upgrading to Solid Fuels and Biomaterials
Herty is committed to innovation and technology transfer by continually expanding our biomass processing capabilities and meeting the laboratory and scale-up demands of our customers.
The Herty Center’s biomass processing area includes a fully integrated 1-ton per hour pellet line comprising several unit operations (Dryer, Hammer Mills, Pellet Mills, Mixer) allowing for pre-commercial scale testing and pellet production. Developmental work can be staged via small-scale scoping studies and extended through pilot scale demonstration and production trials. The unit operations can be used alone or in combination with other unit operations to test and develop process schemes. We will work with you to conduct online testing and analysis or obtain samples for subsequent analyses in our laboratories. If your pellet facility is interested in testing new feedstocks, reducing cost via process optimization and investigating ways to enhance pellet quality, contact us to work with you to develop and/or execute your project and program needs.
Energy pellet developers need to understand technology risk, especially how feedstock selection will impact product quality and process performance. With our dedicated 1-ton per hour pellet line, Herty can work with you to validate feedstock performance and determine interactions between feedstock type and processing conditions. Let Herty help you de-risk your project!
As the global demand for biomass-derived energy pellets continues to expand, industry focus is expected to quickly migrate from project development to ways of lowering operating costs. Process optimization and the utilization of low-cost feedstocks are expected to be of special interest. This new focus will present opportunities for targeted research that can utilize low-value wood and biomass feedstocks, increase yields, and improve product quality. Let Herty help you understand how to lower your production costs!
Durability; fines generation; off-gassing during shipment. These are just examples of the quality challenges that Herty can help you overcome. For example, minimizing fines generated during production and enhancing conversion to pellets across the pellet mill can lead to higher product yields and improved profitability. Assuming a market price of $175 per ton, a typical pellet mill would realize $525,000 per year in wood savings for each additional percent increase in overall yield. Sounds attractive? Let Herty work with you to achieve higher yields and revenues!
Low-cost alternatives to wood-based feedstocks such as bark, bagasse and other agricultural residues are exciting new feedstock options for lowering production costs. Let Herty work with you to validate pre-treatment and blending strategies that can allow your mill to utilize these low-cost alternatives.
For advanced fuels and bio-based chemical developers, Herty can supply “on-spec” biomass in quantities as small as 100 kg. Bring us your harvested materials and we will deliver a uniform feedstock with known moisture and particle size distribution. We can treat single-stream feeds or blend feedstocks to deliver a feedstock that meets your specifications.
Herty’s pelleting lines are ideally suited for quantifying the impact of additives, such as lignin, starch and proteins to develop a range of pelletized products, including energy pellets and animal feed. Our line is fully instrumented, which allows for precise control of addition rates. Herty is your one-stop-shop for evaluating additives!
For more information please contact Dr. Omar Ali.
| Ancillary Processing Equipment | ||
|---|---|---|
| Equipment | Make/Model | Use |
| Attrition Mill | Herty Proprietary | Lab scale grinding of both wet and dry samples. |
| Hammer Mill | Schutte-Buffalo Wet and Dry Hammermills | Enables wet and dry milling of biomass (wood and non-woods) to produce on-spec feedstocks. |
Last updated: 7/20/2017