Ultrasonic-vibration-assisted pelleting of wheat straw: an experimental investigation

Energy security, economy, environment sustainability are all driving the USA to develop alternative liquid transportation fuels that are domestically produced and environmental friendly. Bioethanol produced from cellulosic biomass can significantly reduce the use of fossil fuels in the transportation section. However, significant hurdles must be overcome for cost-effective manufacturing of cellulosic bioethanol. Cellulosic feedstocks have a low bulk density, causing high costs in transportation and storage. To address this problem, this paper reports an experimental investigation on ultrasonic-vibration-assisted (UV-A) pelleting of wheat straw. Results show that pellet density and durability were greatly improved with the assistance of ultrasonic vibration.