Mathematical model helps make wheat straw pellets for ethanol
Researchers from Kansas State University and Yangzhou University in China have created a mathematical model that advances the science behind the production of ethanol from wheat straw. The model determines factors that affect temperature rise during the pelleting process that precedes the creation of fuel. 
In Kansas, thanks to an international and interdisciplinary collaboration, faculty at Kansas State University’s Institute of Computational and Comparative Medicine and bioenergy researchers at Yangzhou University in China have marked a significant milestone for the production of ethanol fuel from wheat straw.

Their study, “Predictive temperature modeling and experimental investigation of ultrasonic vibration-assisted pelleting of wheat straw,” was recently published in Applied Energy, a top-tier journal in the field of energy. Their work examined factors that affect production of large-scale biomass during ultrasonic vibration-assisted pelleting.

The research team developed a computational and mathematical model to determine factors that impact temperature rise during a pelleting process of biomass. The condensed biomass, or pellets, can be easily handled and transported to make ethanol. Ethanol extracted from pellets can substitute for fossil fuels and mitigate accumulation of greenhouse gases.

By studying the entire pelleting process of biomass, the proposed mathematical model determines the key factors and delivers a new guideline for pellet production by avoiding unnecessary experiments.