Design of a Knife Mill with a Drying Adaptation for Lignocellulose Biomass Milling: Peapods and Coffee Cherry

Effective grinding of residual agricultural materials helps to improve yield in the production of chemical compounds through hydrothermal technology. Milling pretreatment has different types of pre-treatment where ball mills, roller mills, and finally, the knife mill stand out. The knife mill being...

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Main Authors: Paula Andrea Ramírez Cabrera, Alejandra Sophia Lozano Pérez, Carlos Alberto Guerrero Fajardo
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: MDPI AG 2025-05-01
Series:Designs
Subjects:
Online Access:https://www.mdpi.com/2411-9660/9/3/57
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author Paula Andrea Ramírez Cabrera
Alejandra Sophia Lozano Pérez
Carlos Alberto Guerrero Fajardo
author_facet Paula Andrea Ramírez Cabrera
Alejandra Sophia Lozano Pérez
Carlos Alberto Guerrero Fajardo
author_sort Paula Andrea Ramírez Cabrera
collection DOAJ
description Effective grinding of residual agricultural materials helps to improve yield in the production of chemical compounds through hydrothermal technology. Milling pretreatment has different types of pre-treatment where ball mills, roller mills, and finally, the knife mill stand out. The knife mill being a mill with continuous processing, its multiple benefits and contributions highlight the knife milling process; however, it is a process that is generally carried out with dry biomass that generates extra processing of the biomass before grinding, implying longer times and wear than other equipment. This work presents the design of a knife mill with an adaptation of free convection drying as a joint process of knife milling and drying. The design is based on lignocellulosic biomass, and the knife milling results are presented for two biomasses: peapods and coffee cherries. The knife mill is designed with a motor, a housing with an integrated drive system, followed by a knife system and a feeding system with a housing and finally the free convection drying system achieving particle sizes in these biomasses smaller than 30 mm, depending on the time processed. The data demonstrate the significant impact of particle size on the yields of various platform chemicals obtained from coffee cherry and peapod waste biomass. For coffee cherry biomass, smaller particle sizes, especially 0.5 mm, result in higher total yields compared to larger sizes while for peapod biomass at the smallest particle size of 0.5 mm, the total yield is the highest, at 45.13%, with notable contributions from sugar (15.63%) and formic acid (19.14%).
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institution Kabale University
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publishDate 2025-05-01
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series Designs
spelling doaj-art-53ca8a717d5c4fc8b84b4e4f5bd8bb572025-08-20T03:27:18ZengMDPI AGDesigns2411-96602025-05-01935710.3390/designs9030057Design of a Knife Mill with a Drying Adaptation for Lignocellulose Biomass Milling: Peapods and Coffee CherryPaula Andrea Ramírez Cabrera0Alejandra Sophia Lozano Pérez1Carlos Alberto Guerrero Fajardo2Departamento de Química, Facultad de Ciencias, Universidad Nacional de Colombia, Sede Bogotá, Bogotá 111321, ColombiaDepartamento de Química, Facultad de Ciencias, Universidad Nacional de Colombia, Sede Bogotá, Bogotá 111321, ColombiaDepartamento de Química, Facultad de Ciencias, Universidad Nacional de Colombia, Sede Bogotá, Bogotá 111321, ColombiaEffective grinding of residual agricultural materials helps to improve yield in the production of chemical compounds through hydrothermal technology. Milling pretreatment has different types of pre-treatment where ball mills, roller mills, and finally, the knife mill stand out. The knife mill being a mill with continuous processing, its multiple benefits and contributions highlight the knife milling process; however, it is a process that is generally carried out with dry biomass that generates extra processing of the biomass before grinding, implying longer times and wear than other equipment. This work presents the design of a knife mill with an adaptation of free convection drying as a joint process of knife milling and drying. The design is based on lignocellulosic biomass, and the knife milling results are presented for two biomasses: peapods and coffee cherries. The knife mill is designed with a motor, a housing with an integrated drive system, followed by a knife system and a feeding system with a housing and finally the free convection drying system achieving particle sizes in these biomasses smaller than 30 mm, depending on the time processed. The data demonstrate the significant impact of particle size on the yields of various platform chemicals obtained from coffee cherry and peapod waste biomass. For coffee cherry biomass, smaller particle sizes, especially 0.5 mm, result in higher total yields compared to larger sizes while for peapod biomass at the smallest particle size of 0.5 mm, the total yield is the highest, at 45.13%, with notable contributions from sugar (15.63%) and formic acid (19.14%).https://www.mdpi.com/2411-9660/9/3/57knife millingmilling pretreatmentpeapod biomasscoffee cherry biomassmilling designmachine design
spellingShingle Paula Andrea Ramírez Cabrera
Alejandra Sophia Lozano Pérez
Carlos Alberto Guerrero Fajardo
Design of a Knife Mill with a Drying Adaptation for Lignocellulose Biomass Milling: Peapods and Coffee Cherry
Designs
knife milling
milling pretreatment
peapod biomass
coffee cherry biomass
milling design
machine design
title Design of a Knife Mill with a Drying Adaptation for Lignocellulose Biomass Milling: Peapods and Coffee Cherry
title_full Design of a Knife Mill with a Drying Adaptation for Lignocellulose Biomass Milling: Peapods and Coffee Cherry
title_fullStr Design of a Knife Mill with a Drying Adaptation for Lignocellulose Biomass Milling: Peapods and Coffee Cherry
title_full_unstemmed Design of a Knife Mill with a Drying Adaptation for Lignocellulose Biomass Milling: Peapods and Coffee Cherry
title_short Design of a Knife Mill with a Drying Adaptation for Lignocellulose Biomass Milling: Peapods and Coffee Cherry
title_sort design of a knife mill with a drying adaptation for lignocellulose biomass milling peapods and coffee cherry
topic knife milling
milling pretreatment
peapod biomass
coffee cherry biomass
milling design
machine design
url https://www.mdpi.com/2411-9660/9/3/57
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