Joint Project of Agriculture and Engineering: Rice Straw Pellet Burning Experiment on December 24, 2021 and January 18, 2022

The “Development of a Next-Generation Farm Model with Energy Recycling” team, consisting of Tatsuya SUDO (D1), Yanyingjiao ZHANG (M2), Takuya HIGASHITANI (M2), and Koki CHIGIRA (D1) conducted experiments to burn rice straw pellets at FM Fuchu (University farm in Fuchu campus).

Facility horticulture, where crops are grown indoors, has the advantage of not being affected by the weather, but it also has the problem of consuming a large amount of energy. The purpose of this experiment is to collect basic data to examine whether rice straw, one of the agricultural residues, can be utilized as an energy source for heating and other purposes in facilities. Pellets made from rice straw were burned in a pellet grill, and the combustion duration and amount of ash generated were measured. In addition, they also measured and compared the results of using commonly available wood pellets and a mixture of wood pellets and rice straw pellets. They aim to examine the feasibility of the business probability of an energy-circulating next-generation farm.