Abstract
We present yield stress measurements of a concentrated suspension of Miscanthus x giganteus, a biomass substrate for the production of biofuels and chemicals. The particle porosity and the apparent solid packing fraction are quantified, and a simple relationship between volume and mass fractions proposed. The relationship between yield stress and solid concentration was measured with the maximum torque method of Dzuy and Boger (J Rheol 27: 321–349, 1983) for concentrations between 11 and 15 %, just below maximum packing. In the range of concentrations considered, the measured dependence of the yield stress on concentration appears to be significantly stronger than that reported for corn stover, a plant for which reliable data is available: the apparent power law exponent is found to be larger than 10, while the corresponding exponent reported for corn is in the range 4–6. We argue that differences in particle rigidity between corn and Miscanthus may play a role in explaining this result.
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Acknowledgments
This study was supported by the UK Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council (BB/I00534X/2) and the IBTI Network. We wish to thank Dr. Jeremy Bartosiak-Jentys and Prof. David J. Leak, U. of Bath, for providing batches of Miscanthus and for helping with the characterisation of the material. We also thank Prof. Paul Luckam (Imperial College London) for stimulating discussions. Finally, we would like to thank undergraduate students Mian Gao and Qawie Sabli for helping with some preliminary results.
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Botto, L., Preuss, K., Robertson, L.X. et al. Physical characterisation and yield stress of a concentrated Miscanthus suspension. Rheol Acta 53, 805–815 (2014). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00397-014-0794-y
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00397-014-0794-y