Elsevier

Biomass and Bioenergy

Volume 113, June 2018, Pages 31-44
Biomass and Bioenergy

Review
Fine grinding of wood – Overview from wood breakage to applications

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.biombioe.2018.03.007Get rights and content
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Highlights

  • Breakage behavior of wood and fine grinding mechanisms are presented.

  • Graphical comparison of the energy consumption of wet/dry fine grinding is given including the effect of pre-treatments.

  • Applications and requirements of wood powder are reviewed.

Abstract

Due to its abundance, wood is the pre-eminent lignocellulosic raw material for a sustainable bioeconomy based society. Wood is widely used as fuel, construction material, and raw material in cellulose and lignocellulose based products. Besides the established uses of wood powder, like co-firing with coal and biofuel production, there are also novel uses and process applications, e.g., advanced wood-plastic composites and biochemical production are emerging for which the pulverization or fine grinding of wood is an essential pre-treatment step. Due to the tenacious nature of the wood matrix, size reduction is an energy intensive process and thermal or chemical pre-treatment may be needed to improve economy.

This paper provides a broad overview of the fine grinding of wood. First, wood breakage mechanisms and the mechanisms of size reduction are presented, followed by fine grinding techniques and wood pre-treatment methods. A comparison of the specific energy consumption of wood fine grinding in both a gaseous and liquid environment is illustrated. Additionally, examples are given of the role played by pre-treatment methods in decreasing energy consumption. The particle aspect ratio is discussed briefly. Finally, the use and requirements of wood powders in various applications are discussed.

Keywords

Pulverization
Milling
Size reduction
Wood powder
Energy consumption
Aspect ratio

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