Experimental study on specific grinding energy and particle size distribution of maize grain, stover and cob

Jun Fu, Zhao Xue, Zhi Chen, Luquan Ren

Abstract


Reducing the particle size of biomass is of great significance for rational and efficient utilization of biomass. In this study, maize grain, stover, and cob were comminuted at different speeds (2000-2800 r/min) by hammer mill with a mesh size of 2.8 mm. The mechanical energy for smashing three selected samples was obtained directly through the sensor and data testing system. Experimental results demonstrated that the maize cob had the highest total specific energy while the maize grain had the lowest (135.83-181.10 kW·h/t and 27.08-36.23 kW·h/t, respectively). In addition, for the same material, higher hammer mill speed generated more specific energy consumption. And the effective specific energy of maize stover had a similar trend to the total specific one. However, the effective specific grinding energy of maize cob and grain increased initially and then decreased with the increase of rotating speed. The fitting curves of the specific energy to mill speeds were determined, and the range of determination coefficients of the regression equation was 0.933-0.996. Particle size distribution curves were drawn by sieving the pulverized particles of the three samples based on a series of standard sieves. Fourteen relevant parameters characterizing the particle size distribution were calculated according to the screening data. Calculation results demonstrated that larger rotational speed leads to smaller particle sizes. Combining the size parameters, distribution parameters, and shape parameters, it was found that the distributions of the three samples all exhibit a distribution of “well-graded fine-skewed mesokurtic”. The Rosin-Rammler function was considered to be suitable for characterizing the particle size distribution of maize grain, stover, and cob particles with a coefficient of determination between 0.930 and 0.992.
Keywords: maize grain, maize stover, maize cob, specific energy, particle size distribution, comminution
DOI: 10.25165/j.ijabe.20201304.5327

Citation: Xue Z, Fu J, Chen Z, Ren L Q. Experimental study on specific grinding energy and particle size distribution of maize grain, stover and cob. Int J Agric & Biol Eng, 2020; 13(4): 135–142.

Keywords


maize grain, maize stover, maize cob, specific energy, particle size distribution, comminution

Full Text:

PDF

References


Demiral İ, Eryazıcı A, Şensöz S. Bio-oil production from pyrolysis of corncob (Zea mays L.). Biomass and Bioenergy, 2012; 36: 43–49.

Zhu H, Yue J, Li Z B, Zhang Z W. Multi-kernel dictionary learning for classifying maize varieties. Int J Agric & Biol Eng, 2018; 11(3): 183–189.

Wang L, Liu R H, Sun C, Cai W F, Tao Y W, Yin R Z, et al. Classification and comparison of physical and chemical properties of corn stalk from three regions in China. Int J Agric & Biol Eng, 2014; 7(6): 98–106.

Zhao P X, Cui F J, Bu L X, Jiang J X. Biogas production from microbial-alkali pretreated corn stover by solid-state anaerobic digestion. Int J Agric & Biol Eng, 2015; 8(5): 96–104.

Emami S, Tabil L G, Adapa P, George E, Tilay A, Dalai A, et al. Effect of fuel additives on agricultural straw pellet quality. Int J Agric & Biol Eng, 2014; 7(2): 92–100.

Yang W, Fu P, Yi W M. Catalytic fast pyrolysis of corn stover in a fluidized bed heated by hot flue gas: Physicochemical properties of bio-oil and its application. Int J Agric & Biol Eng, 2017; 10(5): 226–233.

Lisowski A, Kostrubiec M, Dąbrowska-Salwin M, Świętochowski A. The characteristics of shredded straw and hay biomass-Part 1-Whole Mixture. Waste and Biomass Valorization, 2018; 9(5): 853–859.

Gil M, Arauzo I. Hammer mill operating and biomass physical conditions effects on particle size distribution of solid pulverized biofuels. Fuel Processing Technology, 2014; 127: 80–87.

Bitra V S P, Womac A R, Chevanan N, Miu P I, Igathinathane C, Sokhansanj S, et al. Direct mechanical energy measures of hammer mill comminution of switchgrass, wheat straw, and corn stover and analysis of their particle size distributions. Powder Technology, 2009; 193(1): 32–45.

Pradhan P, Mahajani S M, Arora A. Production and utilization of fuel pellets from biomass: A review. Fuel Processing Technology, 2018; 181: 215–232.

Ghorbani Z, Masoumi A A, Hemmat A. Specific energy consumption for reducing the size of alfalfa chops using a hammer mill. Biosystems Engineering, 2010; 105: 34–40

Mani S, Tabil L G, Sokhansanj S. Grinding performance and physical properties of wheat and barley straws, corn stover and switchgrass. Biomass and Bioenergy, 2004; 27(4): 339–352.

Soucek J, Hanzlikova I, Hutla P. A fine disintegration of plants suitable for composite biofuels production. Research Institute of Agricultural Engineering, 2003; 49: 7–11.

Mani S, Tabil L G, Sokhansanj S. Grinding performance and physical properties of selected biomass. In: American Society of Agricultural Engineers, St. Joseph, MI, 2002; pp.1-17.

Himmel M, Tucker M, Baker J. Comminution of biomass: hammer and knife mills. Biotechnology and Bioengineering Symposium, 1985; 15: 39–58.

Yang W, Sokhansanj S, Crerar W J, Rohani S. Size and shape related characteristics of alfalfa grind. Canadian Agricultural Engineering, 1996; 38(3): 201–205

Arthur J F, Kepner R A, Dobie J B, Miller G E, Parsons P S. Tub grinder performance with crop

and forest residues. Transactions of the ASAE, 1982; 25: 1488–1494.

Naimi L J, Collard F, Bi X T, Lim C J, Sokhansanj S. Development of size reduction equations for calculating power input for grinding pine wood chips using hammer mill. Biomass Conversion and Biorefinery, 2016; 6: 397–405.

ASABE Moisture measurement-forages. St. Joseph, MI: American Society of Agricultural and Biological Engineers, 2008; S358.2 Dec1988 (R2008)

Anazodo U G N, Norris E R. Effects of genetic and cultural practices on the mechanical properties of corn cobs. J. agric. Engng Res., 1981; 26: 97-107.

Datta R. Energy requirement for lignocelluloses pretreatment process. Process Biochemistry, 1981; 16: 16–19.

Esteban L S, Carrasco J E. Evaluation of different strategies for pulverization of forest biomasses. Powder Technology, 2006; 166(3): 139–151.

Folk R L. Petrology of sedimentary rocks. Austin, Texas: Hemphill Publishing Company, 1974; 182p.

Hinds W C. Aerosol technology: properties, behaviour, and measurement of airborne particles. John Wiley & Sons, 1982; 465p.

Budhu M. Soil Mechanics and foundations (with CD). John Wiley & Sons, 2008; 656p.

Williams O, Lester E, Kingman S, Giddings D, Lormor S, Eastwick C. Benefits of dry comminution of biomass pellets in a knife mill. Biosystems Engineering, 2017; 160: 42–54.

Perfect E, Xu Q, Terry D L. Improved parameterization of fertilizer particle size distribution. Journal of Aoac International, 1998; 81(5): 935–942.




Copyright (c) 2020 International Journal of Agricultural and Biological Engineering

Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.

2023-2026 Copyright IJABE Editing and Publishing Office