The development of energy resources or feed and fertilizer from agricultural biomass is becoming increasingly important. The use of agricultural biomass for energy can also make an important contribution to solving the CO2 problem. The generally high water content of agricultural biomass causes problems for an economically efficient use of this raw material. This is especially true of transportation and storage for the industrial production of biomass raw material. The project has as its goal the development of a production-ready conditioning method for dehydrating and further conditioning agricultural biomass in a way that is both energy and cost efficient. The approach used is an eco-efficient method using an extruder technology for the mechanical dehydration. At the same time the economic conditions, the structure of the procurement and sales markets and their logistics as well as the integration in the local conditions of German markets are taken into account. This involves the development of value chains and business models that account for market volatilities of conventional and alternative raw materials and enable the use of neglected biomass sources.
At the following link there is a brief description of the project in the form of a poster presentation: Project poster "Conditioning of Biomass"
Work packages in detail: the study involves the sub-areas technical development, supporting economic analysis and the identification of potential and acceptance:
Technical development (Rehart GmbH): Development of a prototype extruder, test series and technical tests, technical test to assure readiness for production, development of an extruder ready for production.
Supporting economic study (CSM): Identification of the procurement and sales markets for sustainable raw materials, cost calculations and sensitivity analysis for a number of inputs and outputs, development of a logistics concept for procurement and sales, conceptualisation of value chains and business models.
Identification of potential and acceptance (Pellet Power GbR): Studies of regional and raw material potentials and quality requirements, identification of technology acceptance, tests of the use of potential products.

Remarks: We would like to thank the DBU (German Environmental Foundation) for funding and support for this project.