Non-traditional energy plant properties and qualitative indicators

Abstract

Field and laboratory trials with non-traditional energy plants species – fibrous nettle, common mugwort (Artemisia vulgaris L.), cocksfoot grasses (Dactylis glomerata) and common mugwort-cocksfoot grasses mixture were carried out in Aleksandras Stulginskis University and the Lithuanian Research Centre for Agriculture and Forestry. There were investigated plant biomass and energy productivity as well as biomass suitability for biofuel production in Lithuania. After energy plant chopping by drum chopper and milling by hummer mill was determined the fractional composition of plant chaff and mill on the sieves with holes of various diameters. The highest chaff fraction was accumulated on 8 mm and 16 mm diameter sieves (49.0-64.5 %), meanwhile the highest mill fraction was found on 2 mm sieves (33.5-51.9 %). The milled energy plants were granulated by a small capacity (100-120 kg h-1) granulator with a horizontal granulator matrix, the diameter of the pellets was 6 mm. After the pellets production their biometric parameters: dimensions, moisture content, volume and density, were evaluated. Investigated plant moisture content ranged from 10.0 % to 13.1 %. Cocksfoot grass pellets density was sufficiently high and reached 983.8±110.6 kg m-3 DM (dry matter), and the fibrous nettle density was lowest – 762.8±35.3 kg m-3 DM. The ash content of non-traditional energy plants ranged from 6.1 % to 7.0 %. Determined the net calorific value of plant dry mass increased from 17.5 KJ kg-1 (fibrous nettle) to 18.5 KJ kg-1 (common mugwort).