4. Conclusions
The analysis of pellet blends composed by olive pomace and
olive tree pruning was carried out to investigate the improvements
of the physical and chemical properties respect to pure olive
pomace pellets.
The pure 2-phase and 3-phase olive pomace pellets are not in
compliance with European Standard of pellet quality and then
several mixtures with olive tree pruning were produced and
analyzed in the most important physical, chemical and mechanical
features.
The results show that, adding olive tree pruning, the chemical
composition of pellet blends respects the standard requirements in
terms of mechanical durability and nitrogen and copper content;
also the bulk density is enhanced allowing a reduction of transport
and storage economic cost.
Considering all the quality pellet parameters, two pellet blends
have the best behavior as 75PR252 PH among the 2-phase mixtures
and 50PR503 PH between the 3-phase blends, and can be used for
combustion and gasification processes.