Experimental investigations towards understanding important parameters in wet drum granulation of corn stover biomass

摘要

Biofeedstocks such as corn coproducts or biomass such as corn stover are typically densified in a dry process using pellet mills to enhance transportability and use as livestock feed. Our work presents data of an experimental study using a non-traditional means, wet granulation with a lab-scale rotary drum granulator to determine key parameters that affect granule properties and yield of desirable sized granules. Granules were manufactured from corn stover and two liquid coproducts from corn bioprocessing, corn steep liquor (CSL) and corn molasses (CM) by varying corn stover particle size, corn stover:coproduct blend ratio and granulation residence time. The results showed that different formulation and processing parameters affected corn stover granulation. Granulation with an initial particle size of 0.88-0.96 mm (from screen size 6.4 mm), low liquid level (1:4) with CM, and short residence time (0.5 min) could be used to produce desirable sized granules (1.78 to 7.87 mm) for ruminant livestock feed with yields of over 98%. The effect of initial particle size of corn stover particles on density of granular products was significant. Corn stover particle size also positively influenced the granule size and negatively influenced yield of desirable granules. While increased coproduct (CM and CSL) levels in the blend increased the granule particle size and density, yield of desirable granules was reduced. (C) 2016 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.