The measured energy consumption was, remarkably lower for
the fibrillation of carrot, 0.9 kWh/kg compared to that of the BSG
21 kWh/kg (see Table 3). The grinding of carrot to the nanofiber
size is very energy efficient, the energy consumption of commercial
wood pulp requires 13 kWh/kg in the similar grinding process.
The process efficiency was also evaluated in terms of the strength
and modulus of the networks as a function of the grinding time, as
shown in Fig. 8. The increased strength and stiffness observed with
the process time signified a more efficient separation of nanofibers
from the bleached carrot residue, supporting the trends found in
the viscosity during processing, where a peak was reached after
only 10 min of grinding