Biomass Deconstruction
Idaho National Laboratory
Description
Size reduction is an essential preprocessing step. Biomass deconstruction is strongly dependent on tissue structure, distribution, moisture content, stress history, and method of milling. Different breakage modes result in different particle morphologies which in turn impact downstream processes, flow handling performance and conversion yields.
Capability Bounds
Wide range of bench- and pilot-scale mills (g/hr to tonnes/hr) that use different breakage mechanisms (impact, shearing, attrition, rotary shear) for both wet and dry feedstocks. Examples include hammer mills, knife mills, shredders, ball mills, cryomills, and rotor mills.
Unique Aspects
Strategic pairing of size reduction technology with impact on mechanical fractionation and flow handling and conversion characterization. Presents expertise in various comminution technologies to help inform mill selection and operating conditions for different biomass materials. Diagnostics to measure impact of size reduction techniques providing in-depth particle structure, density, and morphological characterization.
Availability
Available for collaboration on competitively funded projects, commercial tests, and user facility collaborations. Bench-scale, pilot-scale, and floor space to bring in rented equipment of interest for specialized testing.
Benefit
Can explore different size reduction technologies and mechanisms. Can be paired with fractionation and feed and handling unit operations to measure overall impact. Can evaluate scaling laws for size reduction with different sizes of equipment.
Capability Expert(s)
Tiasha Bhattacharjee, Jordan Klinger, Neal Yancey, John Aston
References
Xia, Y., Klinger, J., Bhattacharjee, T., Aston, J., Small, M., & Thompson, V. (2023). An experiment-informed discrete element modelling study of knife milling for flexural biomass feedstocks. Biosystems Engineering, 236, 39-53.
Hamed, A., Xia, Y., Saha, N., Klinger, J., Lanning, D. N., & Dooley, J. H. (2023). Particle size and shape effect of Crumbler® rotary shear-milled granular woody biomass on the performance of Acrison® screw feeder: A computational and experimental investigation. Powder Technology, 118707.
