Researchers at the Warsaw University of Life Sciences (SGGW) have found an ideal way to produce pellets from biomass, which reduces production costs, increases calorific value, and uses energy crops and juice residues.

‘I processed material from energy crops into pellets by pressure agglomeration, i.e. compacting loose biomass into a stable form’, says Dr Magdalena Dąbrowska from the Department of Biosystems Engineering of the Institute of Mechanical Engineering at SGGW.

‘I added calcium carbonate to the biomass – a widely available, neutral additive that absorbs water from the material. I have shown that if it is applied at a rate of 10-15%, much wetter biomass (30-40% or even 50%) can be used for production. This eliminates the need to re-dry the material and thus reduces the cost of production. We also save time and we do not need to have a production line equipped with a dryer’, explains the SGGW researcher.

The researchers also found a solution to increase the calorific value of pellets. By adding rapeseed cake, or oilseed residue, to the straw, the heating value of the pellets was significantly increased.