Impact of Anatomical Fractionation of Corn Stover on Hammer Mill Throughput and Energy Consumption

Program Document · Mon Jul 24 04:00:00 EDT 2023

OSTI ID:1994911

Thompson, David N.; Hartley, Damon S.

The goal of this Case Study was to quantify the impacts of variable moisture and ash on hammer mill throughput and energy consumption and on loss of very wet stover that causes failures in the first stage grinder and that are not able to be fed to conversion, as compared to a status quo Base Case system. Also considered was convertible carbohydrate content (minimum total carbohydrate specification), maximum ash content and the delivered feedstock cost impacts of not being able to feed stover that did not meet the total carbohydrate specification to the conversion reactor. Laboratory data on the impacts of moisture content and tissue fraction on throughput and energy consumption in a stage 2 hammer mill were received from FCIC Subtask 5.1: Preprocessing, Corn Stover Preprocessing (Neal Yancey and Sergio Hernandez, INL). Additional air classifier throughput, energy consumption and separation efficiency data were obtained from FCIC Subtask 5.1 (Neal Yancey, INL) for the new air classifier, which has three exit streams (lights, middle and heavies). These data were utilized to develop the necessary response surface equations to perform throughput analysis using discrete event simulation. Because the ash contents and particle sizes had not been analyzed in the laboratory at the time of the model runs, we assumed that the ash distributed proportionally with total mass into the lights and heavies in an air classifier having two exit streams (lights and heavies) and that the lights fraction from the air classifier was not removed.

• Research Organization: Idaho National Laboratory; Idaho National Laboratory
• Sponsoring Organization: USDOE Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy (EERE), Bioenergy Technologies Office (EE-3B) (Bioenergy Technologies Office Corporate)
• OSTI ID: 1994911
• Report Number(s): DOE/EE-2736; 8974
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

ash content
grinding
moisture content