POWER CONSUMPTION STUDY IN KNIFE MILLING OF WHEAT STRAW

摘要

To produce cellulosic biofuel, biomass needs to be processed for transportation and storage. Biomass is milled into particles to increase surface area, which eventually increases biofuel yield. This experiment focused on the specific energy a knife mill consumed to mill wheat straw. In this study, wheat straw was collected and milled at 1720 rpm. Sieves with sizes of 8 mm, 2 mm, 1.5 mm, 1 mm, and 0.25 mm were used on the mill to obtain different particle sizes. Power consumption was monitored using a multimeter equipped with an amp clamp. The power consumption data showed that specific energy increased as the sieve size decreased. The specific energy increased from 61 kWh/t to 657 kWh/t when decreasing the sieve size from 8 mm to 0.25 mm.