Dust and Particulate Matter Generated during Handling and Pelletization of Herbaceous Biomass: A Review

Abstract

Using straw and herbaceous crops to replace or augment fossil fuels is becoming popular as access to forest biomass becomes environmentally stricter and more expensive. The low bulk density raw biomass is pre-processed and densified into pellets to facilitate handling and use. Dust is generated during collection, baling and debaling, grinding, drying, and densifying processed herbaceous biomass. Abundant literature deals with dust generated during the industrial handling of woody biomass, grains, and other crops like cotton. But the information on handling herbaceous biomass in the open literature is scarce. This paper reviews the available literature on dust generation from handling and processing of herbaceous biomass. Limited available data shows that herbaceous biomass species have a lower ignition temperature than woody biomass. The paper identifies several crucial pieces of information needed to ensure safety in the handling and pelleting of herbaceous crops.