Dr. Ajay Dalai and colleagues have been using computed tomography techniques to examine lab-produced pellets. At the Canadian Light Source at University of Saskatchewan (USask), Dalai is focused on exploring canola meal pellets as an eco-friendly alternative to coal and natural gas for both heat and energy.
“The potential of using biomass for bioenergy is enormous and exciting,” says Dalai, Canada Research Chair of Bio-energy and Environmentally Friendly Chemical Processing in USask’s College of Engineering.
In addition to generating significant revenue for the agriculture industry, “we all have a responsibility to create an environment that will be good for our children and grandchildren,” adds Dalai.
In 2019, Canada produced over 18 million tonnes of canola. The oil extraction process leaves about 60% of canola meal behind, while about 40% is fed to livestock. Dr. Dalai sees the leftover materials from production as potential biocoal.
However, Dalai states that the challenge is to produce high-quality pellets suitable for storage and transportation to facilities where it can be burned to produce heat and power.
Tomography allows Dalai to assess the impact of different additives and different amounts of water on the mechanical strength of the pellet and the amount of energy produced when burned.
After years of meticulous research, Dr. Dalai’s canola research moves into its next phases of scaled-up pellet production and commercialization.
“We’ve been working for five or six years on this project. It’s time to produce the pellets on a large scale to see the consistency of the product,” states Dalai.
Dalai and his team will investigate alternative, lower-cost additives and apply their recipe to other biomaterials such as canola hull, mustard meal and hull, and oat hull.
Dalai is also interested in combining agriculture biomass with forest residue to create new formulations.