Ultrasonic Vibration-Assisted Pelleting in Manufacturing of Cellulosic Biofuels: An Investigation on Biomass Particle Size

Biofuels made from cellulosic biomass are an alternative to petroleum-based liquid transportation fuels. However, several technical barriers have hindered cost-effective manufacturing of cellulosic biofuels, such as low density of cellulosic feedstocks (causing high transportation and storage costs) and low sugar yield in enzymatic hydrolysis. Ultrasonic vibration-assisted (UV-A) pelleting can increase the density of cellulosic feedstocks and the sugar yield in enzymatic hydrolysis. A hypothesis for UV-A pelleting to increase sugar yield is that UV-A pelleting reduces the particle size of cellulosic biomass. This paper reports an experimental investigation on effects of UV-A pelleting on biomass particle size. Particle sizes before and after UV-A pelleting are measured and compared. The results show that there is no significant difference between particle sizes before and after UV-A pelleting. Therefore, the hypothesis is rejected.