https://doi.org/10.1051/epjconf/201714015004
Assessing the representativeness of durability tests for wood pellets by DEM Simulation – Comparing conditions in a durability test with transfer chutes
1 Indian Institute of Technology Delhi, Department of Mechanical Engineering, Hauz Khas, New Delhi, India - 110016
2 TU Delft, Department of Maritime and Transport Technology, 2628 CD Delft, The Netherlands
* Corresponding author: D.L.Schott@tudelft.nl
Published online: 30 June 2017
Dust generation when handling wood pellets is related to the durability of the product, in other words the wear rate of particles subject to forces. During transport, storage and handling wood pellets undergo different forces when interacting with different pieces of equipment.
This paper assesses the representativeness of the tumbling can test in relation to transfer chutes, by comparing forces acting on wood pellets in durability tests and in transfer chutes using DEM. The study also incorporates effects such as shape and size variations. The results showed that the tumbling can test underestimates compressive and tangential forces. Since the tested material is subject to milder conditions than in reality, it can be concluded that this test is not representative for the conditions in the supply chain of wood pellets.
© The Authors, published by EDP Sciences, 2017
This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License 4.0, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.
