Niger Converts Agricultural Residues Into Biomass Pellet Fuel

Date: 02/23/2021 08:54:43 From: wood-pellet-plant.com Clicks:

One of the main causes of deforestation in Africa is the cutting of trees for cooking purposes. Even though gas and other fuels are available, in theory, their diffusion is slower than the increase of the population that continues to use wood as a fuel. Today I will introduce to you the process of converting agricultural residues into biomass pellet fuel in Niger, using agricultural residues and tree pruning branches instead of wood as raw materials for fuel pellets. This system is inseparable from agricultural waste crushers, biomass pellet machines, cooling systems, screening systems and packaging systems.

Table 1 Niger main agricultural crops production and estimate of residual mass

The agricultural residues have different uses.

• some residues are used to feed animals. In this case, livestock is left free to access the fields where the residues are, and the animals directly feed on the edible part of the residues.
• some residues are simply left on the ground, and they degrade under the action of environmental factors.
• some residues are burned directly in the fields, before seeding or transplanting a new crop, if their mass is seen as an obstacle to the agricultural operations.
• in some areas where wood fuel is particularly scarce, some kind of residues, as the biggest millet stalks, are already used by the local population to be burned for cooking purposes.

The use to feed animals is particularly important in Niger, as it is reported that already 37.8% of cereals residues, and 85.7% of legumes residues, are already used, for this purpose. When using agricultural residues, a special attention has to be given to the preservation of soil quality, to prevent an excessive removal of crop residues to depress physical and nutritional characteristics of the land. Where the removal of residues is already high, further removal should be avoided, in order to protect the soil characteristics. Other residues that can be used as a raw material to produce pellets are tree pruning and dry leaves. Those residues are abundant in urban areas, and, after they are gathered in piles, they are often set in fire directly in the streets, in order to reduce their mass.

How to Make Agricultural Waste Residues Pellets?

(1) Fragmentation: Use a fragmentation machine to break the incoming agricultural waste residues into small pieces.

(2) Crushing: Use a agricultural waste residues straw crusher to crush the broken agricultural waste residues into small particles that meet the requirements.

agricultural waste residues straw crusher

(3) Drying: The crushed particles are dried. The average water content of the raw materials purchased in this project is about 20%, and it needs to be dried to 5% before production. The dryer is used in this project. Biomass hot air stove, the fuel is biomass pellets, and the temperature of the dryer is controlled at 150-250℃.

(4) Granulation: The dried granules are conveyed to the agricultural waste residues pelletizer through the conveyor for granulation, and the finished product is made by extrusion molding. The extrusion process is a physical process without any adhesive and no chemical reaction.

agricultural waste residues pelletizer

(5) Inspection: The unformed or unqualified particles are screened out by the screening machine, and this part of the particles enters the crushing device to be reused without discharge.

(6) Packing and warehousing: the products that have passed the inspection are packed and put into the warehouse.

The above is the article for you: Niger Converts Agricultural Residues Into Biomass Pellet Fuel. If you are interested in our products or project solutions, please contact us. We will give you the best product quality and the best price. Email: enquiry@pellet-richi.com