INFLUENCE OF DEGREE OF FRAGMENTATION ON CHOSEN QUALITY PARAMETERS OF BRIQUETTE MADE FROM BIOMASS OF CUP PLANT SILPHIUM PERFOLIATUM L.

Abstract

Energy plant species are plants characterized by high annual growth, resistance to disease and pests, small habitat requirements and adaptation to the Polish climatic conditions. A new species, characterized by high values of pro energetic attributes is cup plant Silphium perfoliatum L. The aim of the research was to determine the influence of the material fragmentation degree on the selected quality parameters of briquette from cup plant biomass. Briquetting was conducted at the pressure of agglomeration: 27 MPa, 37 MPa, 47 MPa. The research material was cup plant shoots pre-chipped to the theoretical length L = 10 mm and then milled into a hammer mill using a sieve with the diameter of holes: o10 mm (S10) and o6 mm (S6). The obtained briquette quality was assessed according to the guidelines included in. Accordance with these requirements determined the specific density of the briquette. Further the durability of the obtained briquettes according to was determined. It has been shown that the greater degree of material fragmentation causes an increase in the investigated quality parameters but the briquette obtained from the chipped raw material is characterized by allowed standard quality, so in the cup plant briquetting process we can skip the grinding stage.