Influence of pellet length on breakage by impact

Pelletised materials are commonly used across a wide range of industries as a means of more efficiently storing and handling particulate materials. This work investigates the attrition behaviour of wood pellets with regard to pellet length, pellet forming method, and impact velocity. Sample sizes of 100 pellets were pre-measured and degraded under carefully controlled conditions. The post-test sample was then manually analysed to determine the length of all child particles. The results demonstrated that thermally treated pellets were more durable than white pellets. For both pellet types, the degree of breakage increased with; particle length and impact velocity.