Increased resource efficiency through innovative new raw material handling in the production of fuel pellets
| Reference number | |
| Coordinator | Sveriges Lantbruksuniversitet - Sveriges Lantbruksuniversitet SLU Fakulteten f skogsvetenskap |
| Funding from Vinnova | SEK 3 650 000 |
| Project duration | November 2021 - December 2023 |
| Status | Ongoing |
| Venture | Circular and biobased economy |
| Call | Increased resource efficiency for a circular industry |
Purpose and goal
The residual product sawdust is an excellent raw material for the production of fuel pellets. A problem with sawdust is self-heating and fires when storing the produced pellets. Our project idea is to streamline the industrial handling of sawdust so that storage times are reduced, the product gets an increased value while the problems with material losses, self-heating and fires in pellet storages are reduced.
Expected effects and result
Our project idea is expected to provide increased resource efficiency, better process control, reduced self-heating problems and emission of toxic gases when storing pellets, while we get an increased quality of the product through higher strength and less fines generation. The Swedish resource-efficient raw material handling model changes the world market for sawdust at the same time the raw material base and profitability for the pellets producers will increase.
Planned approach and implementation
1) Separation of sawdust from small timber and coarse timber. Small timber sawdust contain a high proportion of sapwood and coarse timber sawdust contain a high proportion of heartwood, which have different properties for pellet production. 2) Evaluate drying techniques in combination with the impact of the different sawdust fractions on pellet quality and storage properties. 3) Develop rapid spectroscopic methods to assess the quality of the raw material for pelleting and for process control.