Classifications

• • C—CHEMISTRY; METALLURGY
  • C10—PETROLEUM, GAS OR COKE INDUSTRIES; TECHNICAL GASES CONTAINING CARBON MONOXIDE; FUELS; LUBRICANTS; PEAT
  • C10L—FUELS NOT OTHERWISE PROVIDED FOR; NATURAL GAS; SYNTHETIC NATURAL GAS OBTAINED BY PROCESSES NOT COVERED BY SUBCLASSES C10G OR C10K; LIQUIFIED PETROLEUM GAS; USE OF ADDITIVES TO FUELS OR FIRES; FIRE-LIGHTERS
  • C10L5/00—Solid fuels
  • C10L5/40—Solid fuels essentially based on materials of non-mineral origin
  • C10L5/44—Solid fuels essentially based on materials of non-mineral origin on vegetable substances
• • C—CHEMISTRY; METALLURGY
  • C10—PETROLEUM, GAS OR COKE INDUSTRIES; TECHNICAL GASES CONTAINING CARBON MONOXIDE; FUELS; LUBRICANTS; PEAT
  • C10L—FUELS NOT OTHERWISE PROVIDED FOR; NATURAL GAS; SYNTHETIC NATURAL GAS OBTAINED BY PROCESSES NOT COVERED BY SUBCLASSES C10G OR C10K; LIQUIFIED PETROLEUM GAS; USE OF ADDITIVES TO FUELS OR FIRES; FIRE-LIGHTERS
  • C10L5/00—Solid fuels
  • C10L5/02—Solid fuels such as briquettes consisting mainly of carbonaceous materials of mineral or non-mineral origin
  • C10L5/34—Other details of the shaped fuels, e.g. briquettes
  • C10L5/36—Shape
  • C10L5/363—Pellets or granulates
• • Y—GENERAL TAGGING OF NEW TECHNOLOGICAL DEVELOPMENTS; GENERAL TAGGING OF CROSS-SECTIONAL TECHNOLOGIES SPANNING OVER SEVERAL SECTIONS OF THE IPC; TECHNICAL SUBJECTS COVERED BY FORMER USPC CROSS-REFERENCE ART COLLECTIONS [XRACs] AND DIGESTS
  • Y02—TECHNOLOGIES OR APPLICATIONS FOR MITIGATION OR ADAPTATION AGAINST CLIMATE CHANGE
  • Y02E—REDUCTION OF GREENHOUSE GAS [GHG] EMISSIONS, RELATED TO ENERGY GENERATION, TRANSMISSION OR DISTRIBUTION
  • Y02E50/00—Technologies for the production of fuel of non-fossil origin
  • Y02E50/10—Biofuels, e.g. bio-diesel
• • Y—GENERAL TAGGING OF NEW TECHNOLOGICAL DEVELOPMENTS; GENERAL TAGGING OF CROSS-SECTIONAL TECHNOLOGIES SPANNING OVER SEVERAL SECTIONS OF THE IPC; TECHNICAL SUBJECTS COVERED BY FORMER USPC CROSS-REFERENCE ART COLLECTIONS [XRACs] AND DIGESTS
  • Y02—TECHNOLOGIES OR APPLICATIONS FOR MITIGATION OR ADAPTATION AGAINST CLIMATE CHANGE
  • Y02E—REDUCTION OF GREENHOUSE GAS [GHG] EMISSIONS, RELATED TO ENERGY GENERATION, TRANSMISSION OR DISTRIBUTION
  • Y02E50/00—Technologies for the production of fuel of non-fossil origin
  • Y02E50/30—Fuel from waste, e.g. synthetic alcohol or diesel

Definitions

• the present invention relates to a pellet and a process for the preparation of a pellet.
• Wood pellets are a fuel obtained from dried virgin sawdust which is then compressed in the form of small cylinders with a diameter of a few millimetres. Due to the pressing, the heating value of pellets (gross heating value approximately exceeding 3800 Kcal/kg) having equal volume, but not weight, is generally higher than wood.
• wood pellets currently known have a relatively low heating value with respect to that of other fuels such as coal, for example (gross heating value approximately exceeding 7500 Kcal/Kg) , petrol (gross heating value approximately exceeding 10986 Kcal/Kg) and diesel (gross heating value approximately exceeding 10499 Kcal/Kg) .
• wood as a raw material for the production of pellets may not always be available at low cost. This is a particularly important consideration in some geographical areas such as parts of Spain, Italy and Greece, for example.
• the object of the present invention is to provide a pellet and a process for the preparation of a pellet which overcome, at least partly, the drawbacks of the known art and, at the same time, are easy and inexpensive to implement.
• a pellet and a process for the preparation of a pellet are provided as claimed in the following independent claims and, preferably, in any one of the claims depending directly or indirectly on the independent claims .
• diameter of a particle means the diameter of a sphere equivalent to the particle.
• Equivalent sphere means the sphere having diameter equal to the maximum length of the particle .
• figure 1 illustrates an enthalpic curve relative to a pellet produced in accordance with the present invention (the y axis shows the enthalpy variation - in mW - and the x axis shows the temperature - in 0 C )
• figure 2 illustrates an enthalpic curve relative to a mixture for preparation of the pellet of figure 1 (the y axis shows the enthalpy variation - in mW - and the x axis shows the temperature - in 0 C) .
• a process for the preparation of a pellet.
• a mixture of a first particulate of a first vegetable material and at least one second particulate of a second vegetable material different from the first vegetable material is extruded at a temperature ranging from approximately 7O 0 C to approximately HO 0 C.
• the extrusion is performed at a temperature ranging from approximately 75°C to approximately 9O 0 C, in particular at approximately 80 0 C.
• the pellet obtained by extrusion has a temperature ranging from approximately 55°C to approximately 65°C.
• the extrusion is performed via holes with a diameter ranging from approximately 3 mm to approximately 10 mm.
• the mixture has an oily vegetable component above approximately 4% in weight, advantageously below approximately 25% in weight, advantageously below approximately 20% in weight .
• the mixture has an oily component ranging from approximately 5% to approximately 15% in weight .
• the weight percentage of a component is expressed as a weight percentage of said component with respect to the overall weight, for example of the mixture or the pellet.
• a sufficient quantity of the oily vegetable component allows good blend of the first and second material. Furthermore, it has been experimentally observed that with excessive percentages of the oily vegetable component, the pellet is inclined to crumble and moulds tend to form on its surface.
• the oily component is combined with at least one of the first and second materials.
• the oily component consists of vegetable lipids.
• the vegetable lipids can be: simple and/or complex lipids and/or derivatives and/or a mixture thereof.
• the vegetable lipids contain a majority of unsaturated or polyunsaturated fatty acids, often in the form of triglycerides .
• the mixture has a humidity (water) content ranging from approximately 10% to approximately 25% in weight, advantageously 15% to 20%.
• the mixture has a vegetable starch component ranging from approximately 5% to approximately 20% in weight, advantageously approximately 7% to approximately 14% in weight.
• the vegetable starch consists of approximately 20% in weight of amylose and approximately 80% in weight of amylopectin.
• the mixture has a vegetable fibre component of below 80% in weight, advantageously below 70% in weight, advantageously above approximately 40%.
• the vegetable fibres consist of cellulose and hemicellulose .
• the mixture comprises at least a third, advantageously at least a fourth, vegetable material different from the first and second vegetable material.
• the vegetable materials are obtained, independently of one another, from a raw material chosen from the group consisting of: woody stalks and branches, grassy stalks (stems) and branches, leaves, fruit, seeds .
• grassy stalks indicates stalks that do not have secondary growth (in diameter) .
• woody stalks indicates stalks that have secondary growth.
• the type of vegetable material can be selected according to the heating value required, the content of the various components, availability and cost (which can be affected by the period of the agricultural year and/or the geographical area) .
• the vegetable materials are obtained, independently of one another, from a raw material chosen from the group consisting of: wood, straw, grass, leaves, grassy stalks, sunflower, maize, colza, grapes, olives, sorghum.
• the vegetable materials are obtained, independently of one another, from a raw material chosen from the group consisting of: wood, straw, grass, maize cob, maize seed, main body (stalk) of sunflower, sunflower inflorescence, sunflower seed, main body of sorghum, sorghum seed, main body of colza, colza seed, sunflower cake (i.e. remains of sunflower seeds after pressing), grape pomace (i.e. remains of grapes after pressing), grape seeds, olive pomace (i.e. remains of olives after pressing) .
• a raw material chosen from the group consisting of: wood, straw, grass, maize cob, maize seed, main body (stalk) of sunflower, sunflower inflorescence, sunflower seed, main body of sorghum, sorghum seed, main body of colza, colza seed, sunflower cake (i.e. remains of sunflower seeds after pressing), grape pomace (i.e. remains of grapes after pressing), grape seeds, olive pomace (i.e. remains of olives after pressing) .
• the first vegetable material is obtained from a raw material chosen from the group consisting of: woody stalks and branches, grassy stalks (stems) and branches, leaves.
• the first vegetable material is obtained from raw material chosen from the group consisting of: wood, straw, grass, maize cob, main body (stalk) of sunflower, sunflower inflorescence, main body of sorghum, main body of colza, sunflower cake.
• the mixture comprises at least 20% in weight of wood (advantageously at least 25%), advantageously no more than 70%.
• the second material is obtained from a raw material chosen from the group consisting of: sunflower seeds, maize seeds, colza seeds, sorghum seeds, grape seeds, olive pomace, sunflower cake.
• the third (and possibly the fourth) material is obtained from a raw material chosen from the group consisting of: sunflower seeds, maize seeds, colza seeds, sorghum seeds, grape seeds, olive pomace, sunflower cake .
• the mixture comprises at least 15% in weight of sunflower seeds (advantageously at least 25%) , advantageously no more than 50%.
• one or more of the materials are dried and ground (for example sawdust can be obtained from the wood) before extrusion so as to obtain the first and/or the second particulate.
• ground for example sawdust can be obtained from the wood
• the particulates consist of particles with mean diameter ranging from approximately 0.01 to approximately 30 mm, advantageously approximately 0.1 to approximately 10 mm.
• the particles can be seeds.
• a pellet comprising a combination of a first vegetable material and at least one second vegetable material different from the first material.
• the pellet has an oily vegetable component above approximately 4% in weight, advantageously below 25% in weight, advantageously below 20% in weight.
• the pellet has an oily component ranging from approximately 5% in weight to approximately 15% in weight.
• the oily component consists of vegetable lipids, which can be: simple lipids, complex lipids or derivatives or a mixture thereof.
• the vegetable lipids contain a majority of unsaturated or polyunsaturated fatty acids, often in the form of triglycerides.
• the pellets have a diameter of 3 mm to 10 mm.
• the pellet has a humidity component (water) below or equal to approximately 15% in weight, advantageously approximately 8% to approximately 14%.
• the pellet has a vegetable starch component ranging from approximately 5% to approximately 20% in weight, advantageously approximately 7% to approximately 14% in weight.
• the vegetable starch consists of approximately 20% in weight of amylose and approximately 80% in weight of amylopectin .
• the pellet has a vegetable fibre component of below 80% in weight, advantageously below 70% in weight, advantageously above approximately 40% in weight.
• the vegetable fibres consist of cellulose and hemicellulose .
• the pellet comprises at least a third (and, advantageously, at least a fourth) of vegetable material .
• the vegetable materials are defined in accordance with the above in relation to the procedure for preparation.
• the pellet is (or can be) obtained by means of a method in accordance with the above.
• the pellet as defined above has surprisingly shown various advantages, including: relatively high heating value (in particular compared to wood pellets) ; relatively low tendency to disintegrate (in particular compared to wood pellets) ; combustion with relatively long duration and relatively uniform profile (heat emitted/time) ; - relatively low ignition temperature.
• a further advantage of the above with respect to the state of the art lies in the fact that, for the production of pellets, it is not necessary to separate the various plant components (for example the stalk from the seed) and/or perform extraction of the oil. It is also possible to use waste materials such as olive pomace and sunflower cake, for example .
• Particulates particles of wood with mean diameter less than 1 mm; particles of olive pomace with mean diameter less than 5 mm; particles of maize with mean diameter less than 0.1 mm; sunflower seeds
• mixtures were mixed together to obtain the following mixtures:
• Sunflower flour 40% in weight (mean diameter less than 1 mm)
• the different pellets (5 Kg) were tested, separately, in the same boiler, adjusting the boiler thermostat so that the pellets were fed to the boiler at intervals. Feeding began when an external temperature of 100 0 C was detected (at the combustion fume outlet) and stopped when an external temperature of 150 0 C was detected (at the combustion fume outlet) .
• the composite pellets according to the mixtures in example 1 surprisingly showed a higher efficiency than the known wood pellets.
• Wood pellets reference: gross heating value approximately 4000-4500 Kcal/Kg (the heating value varies considerably according to the type of wood and type of production) .
• Pellets obtained from mixture 1 gross heating value exceeding 5010 Kcal/Kg; ignition temperature approximately 400 0 C.
• the pellets obtained from the mixtures as defined above showed surprisingly better characteristics than the raw materials taken individually. Moreover, the pellets are easy to handle (in particular compared to the olive pomace which is powdery), have relatively low ignition temperatures (for example compared to maize, which has an ignition temperature above 700 0 C), have relatively uniform combustion with relatively long duration (in particular compared to the olive pomace and maize which tend to burn very rapidly) and have a relatively low ash content [see example 5 below - in particular compared to olive pomace (6% in weight) and sunflower (3.5% in weight) ] .
• Example 4 An enthalpic analysis was performed on the mixture 1 of particulates (figure 2, relative to 9.06 mg of particulate) and on - a pellet obtained from the mixture 1 (figure 1, relative to 9.12 mg of pellets).
• the two materials show a markedly and surprisingly different behaviour.
• the concavity of figure 2 defines a normalised integral of -701 Jg "1 ;
• the concavity of figure 1 defines a normalised integral of -179 Jg "1 ;
• the peak on the right of figure 2 defines a normalised integral of 9.07 Jg "1 ;
• the peak on the right of figure 1 defines a normalised integral of 32.70 Jg "1 .

Landscapes

• Chemical & Material Sciences (AREA)
• Oil, Petroleum & Natural Gas (AREA)
• Organic Chemistry (AREA)
• Life Sciences & Earth Sciences (AREA)
• Environmental & Geological Engineering (AREA)
• General Life Sciences & Earth Sciences (AREA)
• Geochemistry & Mineralogy (AREA)
• Geology (AREA)
• Processes Of Treating Macromolecular Substances (AREA)
• Solid Fuels And Fuel-Associated Substances (AREA)
• Agricultural Chemicals And Associated Chemicals (AREA)
• Fodder In General (AREA)
• Glanulating (AREA)

Applications Claiming Priority (2)

Publications (1)

Family

ID=39580394

Family Applications (1)

Country Status (3)

Families Citing this family (4)

Family Cites Families (6)

• 2007
  • 2007-02-02 IT ITAP20070004 patent/ITAP20070004A1/it unknown
• 2008
  • 2008-02-04 EP EP08709758A patent/EP2115104A2/en not_active Withdrawn
  • 2008-02-04 WO PCT/IB2008/000243 patent/WO2008093234A2/en not_active Ceased

Non-Patent Citations (1)

Also Published As

Similar Documents

Legal Events