Scaled-up pulverizing for lignocellulose biomass using a vibratory mill with ring media

Japanese cedar pulverization differences related to mill chamber size on the vibration mill with ring media (tandem ring mill) were investigated to accumulate data for scaled-up pulverization as pretreatment for enzymatic saccharification. Pulverization was conducted using tandem ring mills of three types: HV30, TR3000, and HV70. Their respective mill chamber inner diameters and interior lengths were 278 mm and 216 mm, 280 mm and 1640 mm, and of 669 mm and 3000 mm. Pulverization results were compared in terms of particle size, enzymatic saccharification efficiency and energy efficiency. Results demonstrate that the HV30 was more effective for preparing powder for high enzymatic saccharification than other tandem ring mills. However, the pulverization efficiency was lower for the HV70 with a large mill chamber. Results showed a similar relation between energy consumption and the saccharification efficiency irrespective of the length differences of HV30 and TR3000. The TR3000 showed a slight performance advantage for unit energy consumption for scaled-up pulverization. (C) 2018 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.