Effects of harvest time and pretreatment on drying of erianthus biomass
2017
Kanai, I. ((Tokyo University of Agriculture (Japan). Faculty of Agriculture, Department of Agriculture), (Tokyo University of Agriculture (Japan). Graduate School of Agriculture)) | Masuda, M. | Morita, S.
As a countermeasure for global warming and depletion of fossil fuel, bioenergy has become a focus of attention in the world and also in Japan especially after the Great East Japan Earthquake. Bioenergy has been required to be derived from cellulosic raw material to avoid possible competition with food production. We have been focusing on Erianthus (Saccharum spp)., a perennial Csub(4) grass, as cellulosic raw material for bioenergy, because it shows high yield performance as well as high tolerance to environmental stresses including poor soil conditions. To make pellets from Erianthus biomass, its water content has to be 15% or less with less energy for drying from the viewpoint of Life Cycle Assessment in the whole system. In this study, we examined the time course of the water content during drying biomass harvested at different times in winter in one- and two-year Erianthus populations. We harvested Erianthus in December, January, February and March, respectively to dry. The water content of Erianthus at standing decreased gradually to reach the lowest in February through March. The less the water content at harvest, the faster the time to be less than 15% water content. The two-year Erianthus effects of four pretreatments (cut into 30 cm increments, air-drying, chopped and injury) were also examined. As a result, only injury of biomass showed significant effects on drying. When harvesting in February through March was followed by injury pretreatment, it took around 30-46 hours at 80 degrees to attain 15% water content, which is the recommendation from the viewpoint of energy utilization in the system.
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