Insights into the pelletization behaviors of artificial lignocellulosic biomass based on cellulose, hemicellulose and lignin: A simplex lattice mixture design approach.

The use of high quality densified pellet as an alternative to traditional fossil fuels is a promising avenue of research due to their interesting higher density, superior heating values, and enhanced combustion performance. However, little is known about the pelletization behaviors from the aspect of lignocellulosic biomass fundamental components (cellulose, hemicellulose and lignin) and their mixtures. This study presents an artificial biomass developed based on cellulose, hemicellulose and lignin using a simplex lattice design approach, aiming to understand the detailed role of major components and its effects on pellet quality. The correlation between the experimental data obtained from the simplex lattice design and the predicted response parameters were effectively explained by Scheffé's special cubic model, with a coefficient of determination beyond 90 %. Parameter estimates showed a significant synergetic effect of each components for density and Meyer hardness. Results revealed that xylan may be softened like lignin and thereby potentially act as binder. The use of a high cellulose concentration resulted in enhanced pellet strength by acting as a supporting skeleton. Xylan and cellulose played a major role in the thermal degradation of densified pellets. Based on the results obtained, the optimal components composition was determined to be 34.5 % lignin, 36.3 % cellulose, and 29.2 % xylan. Under this, the pellet exhibited the best density and Meyer hardness beyond 1500 kg/m and 80 N/mm, respectively. The results provide a foundation for future efforts to be able to predict pellet properties from the perspective of biomass composition.