Effects of Moisture Content and Temperature on the Quality of Water Hyacinth Pellets

Abstract

Moisture content and temperature are two important process parameters that greatly influence the quality of biomass pellet fuels. The moisture content of raw material was varied at five levels (8%, 10%, 12%, 14%, 16%) to test its effect on water hyacinth pellet density and diametric compression strength. The experimental conditions included a compressing force of 6 kN, hammer mill screen size of 2 mm, and temperature of 100 °C. Five temperature conditions (80, 90, 100, 110, and 120 °C) were studied under the same conditions and 12% moisture content. In these conditions, the optimal moisture contents for water hyacinth pellet density and diametric compression strength were 12.2% and 11.5%, respectively, and the optimal temperatures were 100.4 °C and 104.3 °C, respectively.