Effects on Pellet Properties and Energy Use When Starch Is Added in the Wood-Fuel Pelletizing Process

The production and use of wood-fuel pellets have increased significantly worldwide in recent years. The increased use of biomaterials has resulted in higher raw material prices, and there are no signs that indicate a decrease in raw material competition. Additives can be used for different purposes. Partly, they are used to facilitate the use of new raw materials to increase the raw material base, and partly, they are used to decrease the energy use in the pelletizing process. They are also used to increase durability or shelf life. Consequently, it is necessary to do research that systematically investigates the consequences of using additives. In this work, it is investigated how various percentages of different kinds of starch influence pellet properties, including shelf life and energy use in the pelletizing process. Four different starch grades were used: native wheat starch, oxidized corn starch, native potato starch, and oxidized potato starch. The pellets were produced in a small industrial pellet press located at Karlstad University, Karlstad, Sweden. The result shows that starch increases the durability of the pellets. Oxidized starches increase the durability more than native starches, and the best results were obtained by adding oxidized corn starch. The durability did not decrease with storage time when the pellets were stored indoors during 7 months. The oxidation process was not consistently altered by the addition of starch. The energy consumption of the pellet press decreases when starch is added. Again, the oxidized corn starch showed the best result; when 2.8% of corn starch was added, the average energy consumption was reduced by 14%.