• Food Engineering Progress
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• v.15 no.3
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• pp.262-268
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• 2011

The effects of pellet moisture content on physical properties (expansion ratio, density and breaking strength) of vacuum-puffed Yukwa (non-oil puffed Yukwa) were investigated in this study. The Yukwa was made from the waxy rice steeped at 25 and $30^{\circ}C$ for 3, 5 and 10 days with pellet drying times (6, 8 and 10.5 hr). As the drying time increased from 6 to 10.5 hr at $50^{\circ}C$, the highest value of pellet moisture content (29.4%) was found in the samples made from the steeped waxy rice at $25^{\circ}C$ for 5 days after 6 hr drying, while the lowest value (16.3%) was found at $25^{\circ}C$ for 3 days after 10.5 hr drying. Both redness and yellowness values of vacuum-puffed Yukwa increased as the drying time increased. The expansion ratio of Yukwa was greatly affected by drying time, ranging from 2.07 (26.8% pellet moisture content) to 7.01 (24.0% pellet moisture content). From the data, it can be concluded that the pellet moisture content had a significant influence on the physical characteristics of vacuum-puffed Yukwa. With vacuum puffing condition of 3 min heating and 2 min puffing, the pellets with about 25% moisture content showed higher expansion ratio, and lower density and breaking strength.

• Journal of The Korean Society of Grassland and Forage Science
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• v.36 no.4
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• pp.271-279
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• 2016

The objective of this study was to determine the effect of the moisture content and pellet mill type on the physical and chemical characteristics of Italian ryegrass (IRG) pellet. Moisture content of raw material significantly (p<0.05) affected IRG pellet formation. Moisture content at 25% was the best condition for IRG pellet formation in terms of shape, power load and temperature changes. The hardness of pellet was decreased when moisture content was increase. However, the hardness of pellet was not affected by pellet mill type. Moisture content at 30% dramatically (p<0.05) decreased the durability compared to moisture content at 25%. Dry matter content of IRG pellet was increased (p<0.05) after pelleting. Total count of microorganism was decreased in pellet due to pressure heat and moisture losses during the pelleting process. These results indicated that the proper moisture content of Italian ryegrass pelleting would be at 25%. In addition, Roll & flat die type would be more suitable than Ring die and Die & flat die type in IRG pelleting. Pelleting works would be beneficial for improving forage quality and long storage.

• Food Engineering Progress
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• v.23 no.3
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• pp.186-192
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• 2019

This study was conducted to improve functionality and nutrition for the utilization of ginseng. Ginseng powder pellets containing various moisture contents (1%, 4%, 7% or 10%) were prepared and mixed with rice as 1:1 (w/w). Then, samples were puffed at 180, 190, 200, 210 or 220℃. The puffed ginseng snacks were analyzed for appearance, color, hardness, specific volume and principal component analysis. For appearance analysis, when snack samples containing ginseng pellets with moisture content of 7% or higher were puffed at 200℃, they showed unbroken round shape. For color analysis, the values of L* and a* tended to increase as the moisture content of pellet and puffing temperature increased. As the water content of pellet and the pumping temperature increased, the specific volume of the puffed ginseng snack increased, while the hardness of the sample decreased. In conclusion, all results supposed that the processing conditions including moisture of pellet and puffing temperature had influenced on the physicochemical properties of puffed ginseng snack.

• Journal of Biomedical and Translational Research
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• v.19 no.4
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• pp.103-109
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• 2018

Aspergillus luchuensis 34-1 was inoculated into wheat pellets with different conditions of raw materials to produce nuruk. The degree of substrate reactivity improvement of steam treated raw materials compared with that of non-heat treated was analyzed. The water content of the pellet was adjusted to 25% and 35%, and steam treatment for 10 minutes improved the substrate reactivity at 2.1-fold and 3.1-fold, and sterilization was also possible. The characteristics of improvement pellet nuruk were investigated according to the degree of crushing and water content of raw materials according to the temperatures and humidities ($23^{\circ}C$, $30^{\circ}C$ and RH 60%, RH 80%). The pH of the pellet nuruk was higher depending on the temperature, humidity and moisture content of the koji were lower, and the pH of the flour-pellet nuruk was lower than that of 2 mm milling wheat-pellet nuruk according to milling degree. It can be seen that the milling degree affects the growth of mold. The acidity and amino acid were generally higher as fermentation time increased. Also, the higher the incubation temperature, humidity and moisture content, the higher the value. Glucoamylase activity was significantly the highest in moisture content 35% D2b nuruk, cultured at $30^{\circ}C$ and 80% RH for 38 hours. This is higher than the previous reports on glucoamylase of rice-koji or commercial nuruk using fungi isolated from traditional nuruk. From these study, it is expected that making of improvement pellet nuruk would save the fermentation time considerably compared with traditional nuruks.

• Journal of Soil and Groundwater Environment
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• v.22 no.6
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• pp.112-119
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• 2017

In this study, the availability of cow manure as raw material for solid fuel production was investigated. Since the water content of the cow manure was too high, it was dewatered using a laboratory hydraulic compressure ($11.3kg/cm^2$). The moisture content of the cow manure decreased from 82.01% to 73.36 wt.%. The dewatered cow manure was homogenized by the experimental apparatus and then put into the rotating cylindrical apparatus. From the consecutive processes, the cow ball-shaped pellet which size ranged from 3.0 to 25.0 mm was produced. The major factor for making palletized fuel from cow manure was the moisture content. Based on the experimental data, the moisture content of cow manure for pelletizing cow manure was identified as 65~75 wt.%. When the moisture content of the cow manure was lower than 30 wt.%, the diameter of the pellets maded from cow manure was smaller than 3 mm. On the other hand, when the water content of the cow manure was higher than 75 wt/%, the diameter of the processed pellets tended to be larger than 25 mm. The characteristics of the processed cow manure pellets was analyzed to be in accordance with the livestock solid fuel quality standard. The pyrolysis characteristic of the pellet was analyzed by raising the heating temperature of the experimental equipment from 200 to $900^{\circ}C$. The mass change between of 20 and $130^{\circ}C$ corresponds to the amount of moisture contained in the cow manure. The amount of moisture was about 15% of the total weight of cow manure samples. The cow manure pellet was thermally stable up to $280^{\circ}C$. It can be interpreted that combustion of cow manure pellet does not occur until the surface temperature reaches $280^{\circ}C$. The mass change of pellet between of 280 and $450^{\circ}C$ was considered to be due to the vaporization of volatile organic compounds (VOCs) present in the cow manure pellet. The maximum production of VOCs was showed near $330^{\circ}C$.

• Journal of Biosystems Engineering
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• v.43 no.2
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• pp.119-127
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• 2018

Purpose: Fermented feedstuffs have been found to improve productivity, reduce manure odor, and increase immunity. However, because there is not a commercialized pelletizing system for fermented total mixed ration (TMR) for pig feeding in Korea, a pelletizing system using TMR fermented feed was developed. Methods: The particle size, density, and volumetric density of the TMR feeds used in the test were measured. The pellet durability index (PDI, %) value of the pelletized TMR feed based on its moisture content, and the amount of pellet production based on the rotation speed of the compression roller were measured. Results: The test materials, TMR1 and TMR2, were approximately compressed to 387 kg/m3 with 18.2% (w.b.) and 544 kg/m3 with 22.2% (w.b.), respectively. Throughout this pellet molding test, the moisture content from 15 to 20% (w.b.) of mixture feedstuffs, including fermented forage, could be used for pellet molding. Based on the results, a small-scale pellet molding system of fermented TMR was designed and manufactured for pig farms. As rotation speed increased, the throughput increased, whereas the moisture content decreased by approximately 2% (w.b.) because of pellet molding. The best yield of pellets with 94.2% PDI was of 536 kg/h at 135 rpm rotation speed. Conclusions: Although the throughput of the prototype increased as the rotation speed increased, it was difficult to operate because of the greater noise and the lower PDI (%) at the higher rotation speed of the pellet molding rotor. It was found that the best production of pellets using the prototype was 536 kg/h having a PDI of 94.2% or more at a rotation speed of 135 rpm.

• Journal of Forest and Environmental Science
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• v.25 no.2
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• pp.127-130
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• 2009

This study has been carried out to investigate the characteristics of the commercial wood pellets such as moisture content, heating value, ash content, and chemical component. The wood pellets from national forestry cooperatives federation and China were evaluated to see if they can be 1st or 2nd class of Korea standard. Indonesian pellet was estimated to be a 3rd class because of the heating value and high ash content. It is considered that there is a quality difference in wood pellets in accordance with the production nations. It could be originated from the difference of raw materials produced in different region.

• Journal of the Korean Wood Science and Technology
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• v.45 no.6
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• pp.703-719
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• 2017

Miscanthus had a higher lignin content (19.5 wt%) and carbohydrate (67.6 wt%) than other herbaceous crops, resulting in higher pellet strength and positive effect on combustion. However, miscanthus also contains a high amount of hydrophobic waxes on its outer surface, cuticula, which limits the pellet quality. The glass transition of lignin and cuticula were related to forming inter-particle bonding, which determined mechanical properties of pellet. To determine the effects of surface waxes, both on the pelletizing process and the pellet strength were compared with raw and extracted samples through solvent extraction. In addition, to clarify the relationship between pellet process parameters and bonding mechanisms, the particle size and temperature are varied while maintaining the moisture content of the materials and the die pressure at constant values. Furthermore, kraft lignin was employed to determine the effect of kraft lignin as an additive in the pellets. As results, the removal of cuticula through ethanol extractions improved the mechanical properties of the pellet by the formation of strong inter-particle interactions. Interestingly, the presence of lignin in miscanthus improves its mechanical properties and decreases friction against the inner die at temperatures above the glass transition temperature ($T_g$) of lignin. Consequently, it could found that the use of kraft lignin as an additive in pellet reduced friction in the inner die upon reaching its glass transition temperature.

• Clean Technology
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• v.22 no.4
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• pp.286-291
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• 2016

In this study we made fuel pellet from miscanthus biomass and investigated changes of physiological characteristics and electricity consumption of pelletizing process in comparison with fuel pellet made of pine sawdust. We also examined combustion characteristics including ash content and clinker forming ratio with fuel pellet made of mixing with micanthus biomass and lime powder. Bulk density of ground-miscanthus and pine sawdust were $158g\;L^{-1}$ and $187g\;L^{-1}$, respectively. Bulk density of ground miscanthus was lower than that of pine sawdust, but increased to $653g\;L^{-1}$ after pelletizing, which was similar to $656g\;L^{-1}$ of pine sawdust pellet. Moisture content in raw miscanthus and ground miscanthus were 17.0% and 11.8%, respectively. Moisture content in ground miscanthus was similar to that of pine saw dust and decreased to 6.73% after pelletizing, which was 7.7% lower than that of pine sawdust pellet. Although $27kWh\;ton^{-1}$ were required for compaction press that was an additional process in miscanthus pelleitizing, total required electricity was $193kWh\;ton^{-1}$ which was similar to $195kWh\;ton^{-1}$ of pine sawdust pellet pelleitizing. Pellet durability and pelletizing ratio of miscanthus were 98.0% and 99.7%, respectively, which were similar to 98.1% and 99.4% of pine sawdust pellet. When lime mixing ratio increased, ash melting degree and clinker forming ratio of miscanthus pellet increased. While higher heating value and clinker forming ratio of miscanthus pellet decreased.

• Journal of the Korean Wood Science and Technology
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• v.45 no.4
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• pp.382-398
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• 2017

This study was conducted to identify the potential of Quercus mongolica (QUM), Pinus densiflora (PID) and Pinus rigida (PIR) as a raw material for pellet production. Larix kaempferi (LAK), which has mostly been used for pellet production in Korea, was also used as a control. All specimens contained very minimal amounts of sulfur and chlorine. Ash content of LAK was the lowest, followed by PID, PIR and QUM. For the size distribution, the mass fraction between 0.42 mm and 0.25 mm was the highest in PIR. Most fuel characteristics of the produced wood pellets improved with the use of 12% moisture content (MC) particles and the increase of the ratio of length to diameter of a hole in flat-die (L/D ratio). When the MC, bulk density and durability of QUM, PID, PIR and LAK pellets was compared with the standards of the KFRI and ISO, the use of wood particles of 12% MC and flat-die with an L/D ratio of 5.00 for PID particles are suitable for high-quality pellets in the aspects of all fuel characteristics. For PIR and QUM, further work is needed to seek the optimum conditions for the production of high-quality and durable pellets.