A

REPORT ON
BIOMASS PREPROCESSING AND
MATERIAL HANDLING EQUIPMENTS

ABELLON CLEAN ENERGY LIMITED

SUMITTED BY
ARPAN NAPAVLIYA
GOURAV SINGH
SWAPNEEL TANK

ABELLON CLEAN ENERGY LIMITED

INTRODUCTION
In this report we had discussed about Biomass supply chain and biomass preprocessing.
In the first half of the report we are going to discuss about what is biomass,sources of biomass and
terminologies releated to biomass and some key points releated to biomass.
In the second half of the report we are going to discuss about pellets specifications,biomass
preprocessing,biomass
types,agriwaste
problems,machine
handling
equipments
design,operations,maintenance and saftey.
I hope that you will like our work and this report will help you to explore more information in detail
about biomass supply chain and its preprocessing.

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SUPPLY CHAIN MANAGEMENT

BIOMASS:

Living or recently lived organisms are called biomass.

SOURCES OF BIOMASS:

Agricultural wastes

animal wastes

slaughter houses

fishery wastes

municipal solid wastes.

SOFT WOOD TREES GENERALLY USED AS BIOMASS ARE:

popler

spruce

fir

pine

ceder

HARD WOOD TREES GENERALLY USED AS BIOMASS ARE:

Teak

oak

sal

ash

maple

SUSTAINABILITY: Sustainability is the process of meeting the present generation demands

without compromising with the future generation needs.
SUSTAINABILITY IS OF THREE TYPES:
1.Economical Sustainability
2.Social Sustainability
3.Envoirnmental Sustainability
WORLD WIDE FUND FOR NATURE: The world wide fund for nature is an international non
governmental organization founded on April 29,1961 and is working on issues regarding the
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conservation,research and restoration of the envoirnment.

CHAIN OF CUSTODY: It is the process which is used for sustainable forestry management.
ASH FUSION TEMPERATURE: The temperature at which ash particles fuses togeather to form
clinkers is known as ash fusion temperature.Generally ash fuses togeather at temperature between
600 to 800 degree celcicus.
CARBON SINK: A carbon sink is a natural or artificial reservior which acclumates or stores large
amount of carbon containing compounds for indefinate time.
CARBON FOOTPRINT: carbon footprint are of two tyes:

Positive carbon footprint:no addition of carbon to atmosphere.

Negative carbon footprint:addition of carbon to atmosphere.

SOME KEY POINTS:

Total 30% of world is the forest area.

Trees are the lungs of earth.

In India 20 speices are there which we can grow for cuttting as a biomass in future but we
requires special permission from government.

Bulk density is the critical factor of the biomass.

Moisture content is also the important factor.

SUPPLY CHAIN: It is the process from the collection of raw materials.

Some important points releated to supply chain:

Transportation cost is calculated on per per tonnnes basis.

Cotton is sown over 29lakh hectares in India.

Cummin is used as a fuel in bricks preperation.

Procipes is an south american species which is brought to India.

In Malasiya palm trees are grown mosty.

In India joint forestry management government and rural people together work for
plantation.

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Fig No1:Biomass Supply Chain

EQUIPMENTS RELEATED TO SUPPLY CHAIN:

To cut cotton we had brought a machine from turkey in 2008.

Euro chipper is brought from europe for chipping process.

Tub grinder machine is used for grinding the raw material at a faster rate as compared to
other machines.

SPECIES WHICH WE CANNNOT GROW FOR CUTTING AS A BIOMASS ARE:

Sandal wood

Sag

Sesame

khair

mahua

GOVERNMENT PROCEDURE TO BE FOLLOWED FOR CUTTING PLANTS AND

TREES FOR BIOMASS ARE:

Firstly we have to plant trees by our own.

The trees can be grown by two methods they are:

Seeding

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Plant tissue culture

It is important to take receipt form the place from where we had purchased the small sapling
or seeds.

Then the trees are allowd to grow fully for some years.

After that we need to take governmental forest transit pass to cut the trees to be used as
biomass.

The above all procedure is commonly known as CHAIN OF CUSTODY SYSTEM.

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MATERIAL HANDLING DESIGN, OPERATION, MAINTAINACE

AND SAFETY
PELLET SPECIFICATIONS:
1. Bulk Density:
It is the kg of material per unit volume.
Raw material Bulk density is around 120 kg/ m3 (Cotton stalk), around 220-250 kg/m3
(Woody Biomass).
After chipping operation the bulk density increases from 120 to 250 kg/m3.
After hammer mill operation the bulk density increases from 250 to 650 kg/ m3.
2.

Moisture:
Raw material has moisture content of about 20 to 50 %.
Target is to reduce the moisture from 20-50 % to 6-8% in pallet.
In Canada plant sometimes the moisture content goes as high as 65 % because of snowfall
ice melting in the plant.

3.

Ash:
Generally Ash content in raw material(Agri-biomass) is about 8-12%.
In case of pine, spruce, fur which is used in canada has ash content less than 1%.
In our gandhidham plant we get raw material from south africa and south ease asia and the
ash content in this type of raw material is about 3-5 %.
Eco shakti is made from Pine wood.
Contribution to ash is from two side : Internal and External.
Internal : Because of inherent properties of the raw materia there is nothing much we can do
about this.
External: Sand and clay particles which is also called impurities.
In pine, spruce and fur the inherent ash content is very less.

4.

GCV:
The above factors decide the Gross Calorific value of the raw material.
Bio pellets 4000 to 4200 kcal/kg.
As mositure increases then value of GCV decreases.

5. Size and Length:

6 mm diameter and 10-15 mm length(According to requirement) for bio pellets.
Size of the bio mass has to be appropriate because it will affect the bulk density and the
supply carrying capacity of the bio pellets.
Bigger bio pellets are difficult to burn compared to smaller ones.
6. Colour:
People in the world are having different perceptions about the colour of the bio pellets.
In Europe the people ask for white coloured pellets while in USA people ask for the dark
colour pellets.
Colour of the bio pellets depends on the colour of the raw material

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BIOMASS PREPROCESSING:
Definition: It is the primary process to remove the sand , silica, dust particles, metal particles etc
from the raw material with the help of various material handling equipments like Vibrating screen,
Magnetic separator , Crusher, hammer etc. To make the raw material available for the processing.
PROBLEMS IF WE DO NOT DO PREPROCESSING:
Sand particles are not removed which increases ash content
Metal particles are not removed which creates problem in hammer mill and pellet mill
Moisture is not removed which hampers durability
Proper sizing is not done which affects the crushing operation
PREPROCESSING IN THE OPERATION:

Sand and silica particles are removed in the rotary screen and vibro screen

Moisture is removed in drier, hammer mill etc..

Proper sizing is done in crushing and hammer mill

BIOMASS TYPES:
1.Agri waste :
Cottan stalk
Prosopis
Cumin
2.Wood Waste:
Wood log
Wood strip
Saw dust

Fig No2:Types Of Biomass

PROBLEMS OF AGRI WASTE:

1.If the waste is of low density :

Jamming in chutes

More raw material feeding is required if we want to achieve desired output

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Fibrous material gets stuck in chain link and sprucket and will trip the motor

Reduces the efficency of the hammer mill as the small particles will come out of the blade
and the blades will not be abled to cut the particles

2.If the waste is of high density :

Chance of breaking the screen, flappers and conveyers

Difficulty in crushing the logs
Machine will consume more power in crushing the material
Chance of tripping the motor because of the overload
In canada we have debarker and chipper for the size reduction operation.

WHY MATERIAL HANDLING IS NEEDED:

To reduce unit material handling cost.
Eliminate unnecessary handling.
Handling material in batch lots.
Minimise required handling time.
Replace handling equipments as appropriate.
Reduce overhead.
Minimise non productive labour.
Prevent damage to material.
Conserve the floor space.
To avoid the excessive stock storage.
Movement of the material in such a way that lesser space is required.
CRITERIA FOR MATERIAL HANDLING:
Direction of load travel.
Length of load travel.
Properties and characteristics of raw material.
Rate of flow of material.
Kind of production process.
BASIC EQUIPMENTS OF MATERIAL HANDLING:
1.

Belt Conveyer:
Cost : Rs. 5 Lakh for 500 meter lengh.
Power consumption : Rs. 120 / hour.
There are two pulleys at each end.
Gear motor is attached at discharge point.
If we keep the gear motor on the feeding side than the belt which carries the raw material
will be loosen and material spillage will be high.
Impact idlers are attached which act as a shock absorbers. They are made up of rubber
linings.
Scrappers are set nearby feeding end on the reverse side of the belt to remove the material or
stones coming on the reversible belt. If we do not use the scrapper then the material or small
stones will be in contact with the pulley and damage may occur.
Distance between two pulleys' axis remains constant.
Motor which is attached to pulley will be AC motor.
Gearbox manufacturing companies in India : Elecon and Siemens (Major Companies).

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2.

Electrical motor manufacturing companies : Crompton Greevs, ABB, Siemens.

2 pole motor gives 3000 RPM, 4 pole motor gives 1500 RPM speed of motor.
We set motor, gearbox accrording to the conveyer speed which in our case (biomass) will be
0.2 to 0.5 meter / second.
Scrapper is made up of rubber. It comes in straigh and "V" shape. Scrapper touches belt. In
straight shape scrapper the material is collected only at one side of belt while in the "V"
shape the material can be collected at both the side of the belt.
Simple belt conveyer can be tilted only upto 20 degree angle.
If we want to increase the angle than we will have to use the CHEVRON BELT.
conveyer
Chevron belt conveyer can give inclination upto 30 degree angle.
There will be "V" shaped stripes on the belt which holds the material so that it does not slips
through.
High Angle Belt Conveyer:
This is used for transfer of material to higher angles.
Material can be transferred upto 90 degree angle also.
Clit is a small part of the belt which hinders the material on the belt and holds the material.
Clit of "TC" types are most commonly used

3. Screw Conveyer:
Types :
1. Screw conveyer with shaft.
2. Screw conveyer without shaft.

Flight is set on the shaft in a spiral pattern and responsible for the material movement in the
forward direction.
Thickness of the flight is around 4 to 5 mm.
A motor is used to control the speed of the screws.
Paddle screw conveyer has been used in Vithalapara plant and is kept in conditioner above
the pellet mills.
Paddle screw conveyer performs mixing operation very well. 60 % mixing and 40 %
conveying is done.
Hanger: It is used when the length of the screw conveyer is very high. In this case the shaft
needs support after some length which is provided by the hanger.
Conveyer couplings: It is better to connect the two shaft with coupling rather than having a
single piece shaft.
Trough : It is the case in which the shaft and flight is kept
Advantage of the screw conveyer is that it gives controlled input which is not there if we use
belt conveyer. In Vithalapara plant we use 50 Hz motor to control the screw rotation speed.
Shaft less screw conveyer : Flights are made up of plastics. Plastic has its own advanage.
There is very less friction between metal and plastic.There is no alignment problem.

4. Silo:
In the biomass we have to use the pyramid design which is narrow on the top and wide in
the bottom side.
At the bottom surface fo the silo screws are provided.
Some screws brings the material in the central part and the screws present in the central part
transfer material towards hammer mills.
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5.

Drag chain conveyer:

Sprockets are provided at both the ends.
Take up screw is provided at one only.
Pipe conveyer or tube conveyer is a type of drag chain conveyer which is used to transfer
material in small pipes.
Advantages of Drag chain conveyer :
The conveyer is totally closed hence wind can not drag the material.No spillage of material

6. Bucket Elevator:
It can be used only if the material is granular and uniform in size otherwise the material will
stuck in the pulley.
Bucket elevator can not be used in case of fibrous material
Material can be used to transfer at 90 degree angle.
In our plant we are using plastic bucket though the bucket are available in metal also is there
are chances that the plastic from the bucket may mix with the material and enters in the
pellet mill. If metal particle enters in pellet mill than it is more dangerous compare to the
plastic material.
Ventilation is provided at the top because the whole machine is closed and rotation creates
heat.
7.

Apron Feeder:
Objective: Storage.
Discharge a material at desired speed.
A wheel to adust the movements of the feeding material.

8. Vibrating Screen:
Types : Single Deck
Double Deck
Triple Deck
9. Destoner:
Working Principle :
The sand , stones and the raw material is separated on the basis of density.
Lighter particles are sucked by the sucker present at the top and on the other side the heavy
particles are separated.
Generally used in grain industry to separate grain from small stones
Capacity : 20 tonn / hour
10. Rotary Screen:
Separates the raw material in different sizes.
Vithalapara plant has a rotary screen which separates 2mm, 4mm, 5 to 35 mm.
Rotary screen rotates and separates the material.

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SUMMARY
Biomass is any living or recently lived organisms.It can be obntained from agricultural and human
wastes as well as municipal solid wastes.Biomass is directly releated to the sustainability as it the
process of meeting the current demands without compromising with the future generation
needs.Sustainability is based on the important terminologies such as carbon footprint and carbon
sinkWWF is working on sustainable development.For achiveing a sustainable development biomass
can play an important role and thus the supply chain biomass needs to be properly maintained
which is the process of collection of the raw materials till the end of the finished goods.The supply
chain can be mainted by varios equipments such as euro chipper,grinder,tub grinder etc.The supply
of biomass is under supervision of government and thus we have to follow cahin of custody system
properly.Biomass can be easily converted into pellets form which is the good source of
energy.Some important specifications of pellets are ash content,moisture content,bulk density,GCV
etc.The biomass needs to be preprocessed so that it can be easily converted into pellet form but
there are some problems with preprocessing which needs to be resolved such as difficulty in
crushing logs,jaming of machines etc but these problems can be solved by proper design of maching
handling and processing equipments.The various equipments which can be used for material
handling are:belt conveyors,HABC,DC,screw conveyor,silo,bucket elevator,apron feeder.All these
equipments needs to be maintained propely and saftey of workers is also important which can be
ensured by proper technology and machine designs and by using saftey features such as fire
alarms,temperature sensing devices etc.Thus biomass can be used as a sustainable fuel by using
modern technology and properly designed equipments.

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