Pressing apparatus, pressing method, method for producing lignin extract

Abstract

To provide a wood fuel production system and method for biomass power generation that enables efficient dewatering of wood.SOLUTION: A wood fuel production system for biomass power generation of the present invention comprises: a drying apparatus that dries wood, which is the raw material for fuel, to a predetermined dryness level suitable for input into the furnace of a biomass power generation facility; and a compression apparatus that extracts moisture contained in the wood sent to the drying apparatus by compression using rollers capable of continuously applying pressure to the wood.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 1

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The present invention relates to a woody fuel production system and method.

Background Art

[0002] In recent years, attempts have been made to effectively utilize wood waste as fuel (see, for example, Patent Document 1).

Prior Art Documents

Patent Documents

[0003]

Patent Document 1

Summary of the Invention

Problems to be Solved by the Invention

[0004] As a method of biomass power generation using wood as fuel for power generation, for example, there are a direct combustion method in which biomass fuel is burned in a boiler to generate steam and drive a steam turbine, and a pyrolysis gas method in which the fuel is heat-treated and gasified to drive a gas turbine. In the direct combustion method, biomass fuel is burned in a combustion furnace, and the heat is used to turn the water in the boiler into steam to drive the steam turbine. Therefore, the direct combustion method is adopted in large-scale facilities with a power generation capacity of about several MW in order to make the conversion efficiency of thermal energy a commercial value. On the other hand, in the pyrolysis gas method, biomass fuel is heated in a gasification furnace to generate gas such as methane, and the generated gas is used to drive a gas engine or a gas turbine. Therefore, even if the pyrolysis gas method is adopted in a small-scale facility of about several tens of kW, the conversion efficiency of thermal energy can be made a commercial value.

[0005] Incidentally, when using wood as fuel for biomass power generation, if the wood contains a high amount of moisture, the internal temperature in the combustion furnace or gasification furnace will decrease, reducing the overall thermal energy conversion efficiency of the system. For this reason, in order to use wood as fuel for biomass power generation, it is necessary to reduce the moisture content of the wood beforehand to make it a high-quality woody fuel before putting it into the furnace. For example, the moisture content of green wood is usually around 50-65%, but to use it in a pyrolysis gas type biomass power generator, the moisture content needs to be reduced to around 15%.

[0006] Furthermore, wood undergoes thermal decomposition and gasification at temperatures above approximately 300°C. However, lignin contained in the cell walls of plants recombine to form modified tar when the temperature drops below approximately 500°C after gasification (some literature states that the thermal decomposition temperature of wood is approximately 180°C). Therefore, if the temperature of the combustion furnace or gasification furnace is low, modified tar accumulates inside the furnace, inhibiting combustion and gasification. This inhibition of combustion and gasification due to the accumulation of modified tar leads to various problems such as generator shutdowns, decreased power generation efficiency, increased furnace replacement frequency, and increased maintenance costs. Therefore, in biomass power generators using wood fuel, it is conceivable to raise the furnace temperature to above approximately 1000°C to prevent problems caused by lignin recombination. However, raising the furnace temperature causes problems with the furnace's durability. For this reason, there is a need for wood that does not easily accumulate modified tar inside the furnace even without raising the furnace temperature.

[0007] To address these challenges, one could consider methods such as heating and drying the wood used for biomass power generation, or dewatering it by pressurizing it with a piston. However, in the case of heat drying, it takes a considerable amount of time to dry the wood to the moisture content mentioned above, and the heat energy that could be used for hot water supply and air conditioning is consumed in the heating and drying of the wood. Furthermore, in the case of pressurizing with a piston, continuous processing is difficult because pressurization cannot be achieved without moving the piston back and forth, and when the pressurization is released, the moisture that seeped out of the wood becomes compressed. During the process of restoring its volume, the wood reabsorbs water, resulting in poor dewatering efficiency.

[0008] Therefore, the present invention provides a method for efficiently dewatering wood. Compression technology The objective is to provide this. [Means for solving the problem]

[0009] To solve the above problems, the present invention involves compressing the wood, which is the raw material for the fuel, with rollers.

[0010] More specifically, the present invention relates to a wood fuel production system for biomass power generation, comprising: a drying device for drying wood, which is the raw material for fuel, to a predetermined degree of dryness so that it can be fed into the furnace of a biomass power generation facility; and a pressing device for extracting moisture contained in the wood sent to the drying device by pressing the wood with rollers that can continuously pressurize the wood.

[0011] In the wood fuel production system described above, the wood is compressed by the rollers of a compression device, so the moisture remaining in the wood's vascular tissue is removed by the compression. Then, the wood that has been dewatered by the compression device is dried in a drying device. Dewatering by compression using rollers can be done in a much shorter time than, for example, dewatering by heating. Therefore, dewatering by compression using rollers consumes less energy than dewatering by heating. Consequently, the wood fuel production system described above makes it possible to efficiently dewater wood.

[0012] Furthermore, the pressing device may have an input port into which strips of wood can be fed in along the direction of the wood's vessels. In a wood fuel production system with such a pressing device, moisture remaining in the wood's vessels is squeezed out of the vessels by the compression of rollers along the longitudinal direction of the vessels, making it possible to dewater the wood even more efficiently.

[0013] Furthermore, the pressing device may have a first roller that presses the wood from above and a second roller that presses the wood from below. With a wood fuel production system having such a pressing device, the wood can be pressed from above and below by the rollers, making it possible to dewater the wood continuously and efficiently.

[0014] In addition, the roller may have an outer peripheral surface that contacts the wood formed of iron. With such a pressing device using such a roller, in addition to dehydrating the wood, lignin contained in the wood can be efficiently extracted.

[0015] Also, the roller may have at least either protrusions or grooves provided on its outer peripheral surface. With such a pressing device using such a roller, lignin contained in the wood can be more efficiently extracted.

[0016] Further, the pressing device may be one that efficiently removes lignin from the wood by continuously pressing the wood with the roller.

[0017] Moreover, the present invention can also be grasped from the aspect of a method. For example, the present invention is a method for manufacturing woody fuel for biomass power generation, which includes a drying step of drying wood, which is a raw material of the fuel, to a predetermined dryness that can be introduced into the furnace of a biomass power generation facility, and a pressing step of extracting moisture contained in the wood sent to the drying step by pressing with a roller capable of continuously pressing the wood.

Effects of the Invention

[0018] With the above-described woody fuel manufacturing system and method for biomass power generation, dehydration of the wood can be efficiently performed.

Brief Description of the Drawings

[0019] [Figure 1] FIG. 1 is a diagram showing a woody fuel manufacturing system according to an embodiment. [Figure 2] FIG. 2 is a diagram showing the internal configuration of the pressing device. [Figure 3] FIG. 3 is a first diagram explaining the state of dehydration in the pressing device. [Figure 4] FIG. 4 is a second diagram explaining the state of dehydration in the pressing device. [Figure 5]Figure 5 is a diagram capturing the structural changes in wood before and after dehydration in the pressing device using an electron microscope. [Figure 6] Figure 6 is an image diagram showing the structural changes in wood before and after dehydration in the pressing device. [Figure 7] Figure 7 is a diagram capturing the end face of wood before and after dehydration in the pressing device using an electron microscope. [Figure 8] Figure 8 is a table verifying the difference in pressing effects when compressing wood and wood chips with the pressing device. [Figure 9] Figure 9 is a diagram showing a modified example of the front guide. [Figure 10] Figure 10 is a diagram exemplifying variations in the shapes of the pressing surfaces of the upper roller, front roller, and rear roller. [Figure 11] Figure 11 is a table showing the extraction amount of lignin by the pressing device. [Figure 12] Figure 12 is a microscopic image capturing the antiviral effect against influenza virus.

Embodiments for Carrying Out the Invention

[0020] Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described. The embodiments shown below exemplify one embodiment of the present invention and do not limit the technical scope of the present invention to the following forms.

[0021] Figure 1 is a diagram showing a woody fuel production system 1 according to an embodiment. The woody fuel production system 1 is a system for producing woody fuel for biomass power generation and includes a pressing device 2 and a drying device 3. The pressing device 2 presses wood, which is the raw material of the woody fuel for biomass power generation, and squeezes out the moisture contained in the wood. Further, the drying device 3 dries the wood pressed by the pressing device 2.

[0022] The wood fed into the compression device 2 can take various forms, including strips of wood cut into rod-shaped pieces, wood chips cut into small pieces of a few centimeters in size, and other forms. The wood fed into the compression device 2 is, for example, waste wood generated during the lumbering process at sawmills 4 located throughout Japan, as shown in Figure 1.

[0023] The wood fuel production system 1 of this embodiment supplies the produced wood fuel to a biomass generator 5. Various types of generators capable of generating electricity using wood fuel can be used as the biomass generator 5. Specific examples of the biomass generator 5 include, for example, a pyrolysis gas type biomass generator that heats biomass fuel in a gasification furnace to generate gas such as methane, and uses the generated gas to drive a gas engine or gas turbine, and a direct combustion type biomass generator that burns biomass fuel in a combustion furnace, and uses the heat to turn water in a boiler into steam to drive a steam turbine.

[0024] In Figure 1, three sawmills 4 are shown for one wood fuel production system 1, but the wood fuel production system 1 is not limited to this configuration. For example, the wood fuel production system 1 may accept wood from two or fewer sawmills 4, or it may accept wood from four or more sawmills 4. Furthermore, the wood fuel production system 1 is not limited to a configuration that supplies wood fuel to a single biomass generator 5. Alternatively, for example, wood fuel could be supplied to multiple biomass power generators 5.

[0025] Figure 2 shows the internal configuration of the compression device 2. As shown in Figure 2, the compression device 2 is a compression device equipped with an upper roller 21, a front roller 22, and a rear roller 23. The upper roller 21 is a roller for compressing the wood fed into the input port 2A from above. The front roller 22 and the rear roller 23 are rollers for compressing the wood fed into the input port 2A from below. The compression device 2 dewaters the wood fed into the input port 2A by squeezing it between the upper roller 21 and the front roller 22, and further squeezing it between the upper roller 21 and the rear roller 23. Note that the compression device 2 may be equipped with, for example, two rollers, or four or more rollers.

[0026] The upper roller 21, front roller 22, and rear roller 23 are rotated by an electric motor via a power transmission mechanism such as gears. The compression surfaces (outer circumferential surfaces) of the upper roller 21, front roller 22, and rear roller 23 may be provided with teeth or grooves to catch the wood fed into the input port 2A. Details of the shape of the compression surfaces of the upper roller 21, front roller 22, and rear roller 23 will be described later.

[0027] In addition to the above, the compression device 2 is provided with an upper guide 24 and a front guide 25 for forming the input port 2A. The upper guide 24 is a member that forms the upper guide surface of the input port 2A. The front guide 25 is a member that forms the lower guide surface of the input port 2A. Because the compression device 2 is provided with such an upper guide 24 and a front guide 25, when a rod-shaped piece of wood is fed into the input port 2A and wound between the upper roller 21 and the front roller 22, even if the part of the wood that is not wound moves up and down, the range of movement is limited to a certain range by the upper guide 24 and the front guide 25. Furthermore, the upper guide 24 is positioned so that the guide surface of the wood has a slightly upward inclination angle compared to the front guide 25. As a result, the size of the opening surface of the input port 2A gradually increases in the direction of the opening, making it easy to feed wood into it.

[0028] Furthermore, the compression device 2 is equipped with a front scraper 26 between the front roller 22 and the rear roller 23 for scraping off wood that has been pressed against the compression surface of the front roller 22. The front scraper 26 also serves to guide the wood so that it moves from the space between the upper roller 21 and the front roller 22 towards the space between the upper roller 21 and the rear roller 23.

[0029] Furthermore, the compression device 2 is equipped with an upper scraper 27 for scraping off the wood pressed against the compression surface of the upper roller 21, positioned behind the upper roller 21 when viewed from the input port 2A. The upper scraper 27 also serves to guide the wood that has passed between the upper roller 21 and the rear roller 23 so that it moves diagonally downward from the discharge port 2B.

[0030] Furthermore, the compression device 2 is equipped with a rear scraper 28 for scraping off wood that has been pressed against the compression surface of the rear roller 23, positioned behind the rear roller 23 when viewed from the input port 2A. The rear scraper 28 also serves to guide the wood so that it passes between the upper roller 21 and the rear roller 23 and lands on the rear guide 29, which forms a guide surface that directs the wood diagonally downward from the discharge port 2B.

[0031] In addition to the above, the compression device 2 is equipped with an adjustment mechanism for fine-tuning the height of the upper roller 21. The adjustment mechanism is a manual adjustment mechanism with a fine-tuning screw. The adjustment mechanism is equipped with a spring, and if wood of excessive thickness is fed into the input port 2A, the spring will... It is compressed, causing the upper roller 21 to move upward.

[0032] Figure 3 is the first diagram illustrating the dewatering process in the compression device 2. When the electric motor of the compression device 2 is started, the upper roller 21, front roller 22, and rear roller 23 rotate. Therefore, as shown in Figure 3(A), when wood 6 is fed into the input port 2A while the compression device 2 is operating, the wood 6 is drawn in between the upper roller 21 and the front roller 22. The space between the upper roller 21 and the front roller 22 is adjusted by an adjustment mechanism to be narrower than the thickness of the wood 6. Therefore, when the wood 6 is drawn in between the upper roller 21 and the front roller 22, it is compressed. Then, as shown in Figure 3(B), the wood 6 is drawn in between the upper roller 21 and the rear roller 23 and compressed further before being discharged from the discharge port 2B. As shown in Figure 3(C), the wood 6 that has been dewatered by the compression device 2 is thinner than before dewatering and is discharged from the discharge port 2B. The amount of adjustment in the adjustment mechanism depends on the thickness of the wood 6 (approximately 5-50 mm) and the type of wood, but it is desirable to adjust it so that a pressure of 15 MPa or more is applied to the wood 6.

[0033] Figure 4 is the second diagram illustrating the dewatering process in the compression device 2. The compression device 2 can dewater not only rod-shaped wood 6 as shown in Figure 3, but also wood chips 7 cut into pieces of about 5 cm in size, for example. To dewater wood chips 7, for example, as shown in Figure 4(A), the wood chips 7 are fed into the input port 2A while the compression device 2 is operating. The wood chips 7 are then drawn in and compressed between the upper roller 21 and the front roller 22. Then, as shown in Figure 4(B), the wood chips 7 are drawn in and further compressed between the upper roller 21 and the rear roller 23, and are discharged from the discharge port 2B. The wood chips 7 that have been dewatered by the compression device 2 are then discharged from the discharge port 2B in a smaller size than before dewatering, as shown in Figure 4(C). As described above, the pressing device 2 is equipped with a front scraper 26, so even small pieces like wood chips 7 can be dewatered without falling down between the front roller 22 and the rear roller 23.

[0034] Figure 5 shows the structural changes in wood before and after dewatering in a pressing device, as captured by an electron microscope. Figure 6 is an illustrative diagram showing the structural changes in wood before and after dewatering in a pressing device. As can be seen from Figures 5 and 6, lignin, which was trapped within the cellulose before pressing, flows out of the cellulose when mechanical rupture occurs due to the pressure of the rollers. The lignin that has flowed into the gaps within the wood fibers then moves in a direction corresponding to the rotation direction of the rollers and is discharged from the end grain, etc.

[0035] Figure 7 shows electron microscope images of the end grain of wood before and after dewatering in the compression device 2. As can be seen in Figure 7(A), the wood before dewatering in the compression device 2 has a honeycomb structure of wood fibers, and vessels are formed to transport water absorbed from the roots to the branches and leaves. Therefore, the wood before dewatering retains moisture within these vessels.

[0036] As can be seen in Figure 7(B), after dewatering in the compression device 2, the wood fibers that make up the wood change shape from a honeycomb to a square, but the vessels themselves are not destroyed. Therefore, the compression device 2 can be said to be a device that compresses the vessels by compressing the wood 6 or wood chips 7, and discharges the moisture remaining in the vessels from the end openings of the vessels on the end face. For this reason, in order to efficiently discharge the moisture in the vessels by the compression of the compression device 2, it is preferable to feed the wood in a direction that is aligned with the longitudinal direction of the vessels. Therefore, although the compression device 2 can also dewater wood chips 7 as illustrated in Figure 4, when considering the efficiency of dewatering, it is presumed that the dewatering method illustrated in Figure 3, that is, feeding rod-shaped wood 6 along the longitudinal direction of the wood 6 (the longitudinal direction of the vessels), is preferable.

[0037] Figure 8 is a table showing the difference in compression effect when wood 6 and wood chips 7 are compressed using compression device 2. As can be seen from the results for "Roll-type compression machine 1" in Figure 8, when wood chips 7 were compressed, the amount of water extracted from the wood chips 7 in the first dewatering was only 0.33% by weight of the wood. Therefore, a second dewatering was attempted, but the amount remained at 2.22%.

[0038] On the other hand, when the strip-shaped wood 6 was compressed, the amount of water extracted from the wood 6 in the first dewatering was 13.27% by weight of the wood. The dimensions of the wood 6 were 100 mm wide, 10 mm thick, and 1000 mm long. Furthermore, when a second dewatering attempt was made, the amount extracted was 0.32%. This is presumed to be because most of the amount of water that could be dewatered by the compression device 2 was removed in the first dewatering.

[0039] As can be seen from the results of the "Roll-type Press 2" in Figure 8, tests were also conducted when the amount of wood chips 7 was increased or when two types of wood 6 with alternating thicknesses were prepared. The dimensions of "Strip Board A" in Figure 8 are 100 mm wide, 10 mm thick, and 1000 mm long. On the other hand, the dimensions of "Strip Board B" are 100 mm wide, 15 mm thick, and 1000 mm long. It was confirmed that even when the amount of wood chips 7 was increased or the thicknesses were alternating, the wood 6 could be dewatered more efficiently than the wood chips 7.

[0040] Although not shown in the diagram, comparative tests were also conducted between a roll-type press, such as the pressing device 2 of this embodiment, and a piston-type press. However, with the press, almost no moisture was extracted from the wood chips. This may be due to insufficient pressure applied to the wood chips, but it is presumed that the main reason was that the extracted moisture was reabsorbed when the volume of the wood chips recovered after the piston was retracted. Furthermore, the piston-type press is a batch type for replacing wood chips and cannot continuously feed wood like the pressing device 2 of this embodiment. For this reason, the pressing device 2 of this embodiment, which uses rollers, can dewater wood much more efficiently than the piston-type press.

[0041] Furthermore, even if the wood chips 7 are not strip-shaped planks like the wood 6, by modifying the front guide 25 as shown below, for example, the wood chips 7 can be fed into the compression device 2 so that the longitudinal direction of the conduits is aligned with the input direction. Figure 9 shows a modified example of the front guide 25. Figure 9 shows the compression device 2 as viewed from above.

[0042] In this modified example, it is assumed that the wood chips 7 are cut into rectangular parallelepipeds. It is also assumed that the wood chips 7 are cut so that the longitudinal direction of the rectangular parallelepipeds follows the direction of the wood vessels. In this modified example, the front guide 25 has a mounting surface 25A on which the wood chips 7 are placed, a front inclined surface 25B that forms a downward slope from the mounting surface 25A, and a rear inclined surface 25C that slopes downward from the front inclined surface 25B into the input port 2A. Guide walls 25D are provided on the front inclined surface 25B and the rear inclined surface 25C to align the orientation of the wood chips 7 so that the longitudinal direction of the wood chips 7 follows the direction of input. Therefore, the wood chips 7 placed on the mounting surface 25A in an appropriate orientation are aligned by the guide walls 25D and then input into the input port 2A. Consequently, the compression device 2 can efficiently dewater wood, even small pieces of wood like wood chips 7, just as it can dewater wood 6.

[0043] In the wood fuel production system 1, wood dewatered by the compression device 2 is dried in the drying device 3. In the drying device 3, the wood is dried by heating. Examples of heating methods include heat generated by burning fuel. In the drying device 3, the wood is dried until it reaches a dryness level that allows it to be fed into the furnace of the biomass power generator 5 (an example of a "predetermined dryness level" as referred to in this application), for example, a dryness level with a moisture content of about 15%. In the wood fuel production system 1, Because the wood is dewatered in the compression device 2 before being dried in the drying device 3, the drying time in the drying device 3 is shortened, and the amount of thermal energy consumed in the drying device 3 is reduced. Therefore, the thermal energy that would have been used to dry the wood can be effectively utilized for other equipment, such as hot water supply or air conditioning.

[0044] Furthermore, in the wood fuel production system 1, lignin contained in wood can also be extracted by dehydration in the pressing device 2. Lignin is recognized to have efficacy as a pesticide to control plant diseases and as a medicinal substance that exhibits antitumor effects. Lignin is one of the main components that make up the cell walls of plants and is contained in lignocellulose. Therefore, in order to extract lignin, a process to extract lignin from lignocellulose is required, and it is not easily extracted by ordinary pressing. However, recent research has found a method of contacting lignin-containing materials such as lignocellulose with iron ions as one way to efficiently extract lignin from lignin-containing materials. Therefore, in the pressing device 2, the pressing surfaces of the upper roller 21, front roller 22, and rear roller 23 are made of iron, so that lignin can be efficiently extracted from wood.

[0045] Figure 10 illustrates variations in the shape of the compression surfaces of the upper roller 21, front roller 22, and rear roller 23. The compression device 2 may, for example, have an upper roller 21 made of iron with spiral projections or grooves on its outer surface, and front rollers 22 and rear rollers 23 made of iron with smooth outer surfaces without projections or grooves, as shown in Figure 10(A). Alternatively, the compression device 2 may have front rollers 22 and rear rollers 23 made of iron with linear projections or grooves on their outer surfaces, as shown in Figure 10(B). Furthermore, the compression device 2 may have front rollers 22 made of iron with grooves or projections corresponding to the projections or grooves on the upper roller 21, and projections or grooves that circumferentially surround its outer surface, as shown in Figure 10(C). The compression device 2 may also have upper rollers 21, front rollers 22, and rear rollers 23 with other forms of grooves or projections.

[0046] If the outer surfaces of the iron upper roller 21, front roller 22, and rear roller 23 are provided with various forms of protrusions and grooves, the contact area of ​​the outer surfaces that come into contact with the lignocellulose increases compared to when the outer surfaces are smooth. Therefore, the lignocellulose comes into contact with the iron ions on each roller during the compression in the compression device 2, and lignin can be efficiently extracted. In addition, these protrusions and grooves on the outer surfaces of the rollers can also serve the function of cutting the wood fed into the input port 2A into wood chips of a size suitable for use in the biomass generator 5 (for example, about 20-50 mm).

[0047] Figure 11 is a table showing the amount of lignin extracted by the pressing device 2. As can be seen from the table in Figure 11, it is clear that lignin can be efficiently extracted by pressing wood using the pressing device 2, which has an iron upper roller 21, a front roller 22, and a rear roller 23. In particular, it can be seen that lignin can be extracted much more efficiently when strips of wood 6, as exemplified in Figure 3, are fed into the pressing device 2 compared to when wood chips 7, as exemplified in Figure 4, are fed into the pressing device 2.

[0048] As described above, with the wood fuel production system 1 of this embodiment, not only can the amount of thermal energy consumed for heating in the drying device 3 be reduced by the pressing device 2, but it is also possible to extract lignin from the wood in the pressing device 2. Therefore, with the wood fuel production system 1 of this embodiment, in addition to efficiently producing wood fuel for biomass power generation, it is possible to extract lignin, which has been recognized to have various beneficial effects, from the wood using the pressing device 2.

[0049] By the way, we attempted an experiment to verify the efficacy of lignin extract derived from wood, so The results are shown below. In this verification experiment, the efficacy of lignin extract obtained by pressing strips of wood in the wood fuel production system 1 was investigated. Although lignin extract has been shown to have various efficacy properties, this verification experiment investigated its antiviral effect. The verification experiment was conducted using influenza virus PR8 [A / PUERTORICO / 8 / 34(H1N1)]. Canine renal tubular epithelial cells (MDCK cells) were used as cells to infect with the virus strain, and the viral titer was measured using TCID. 50 = 2.8 × 10 5 The experiment was conducted using / ml.

[0050] In the experiment, a solution of lignin extracted by pressing strips of wood with an equal volume of virus was reacted at room temperature for 30 minutes, and then adsorbed onto MDCK cells in a 96-well plate at 37°C and 5% CO2 for 45 minutes. Subsequently, 100 μl of infection medium was added to each well, and the cells were cultured at 37°C and 5% CO2 to observe the cytopathic effect. Figure 12 is a microscopic image capturing the antiviral effect against the influenza virus. As can be seen in Figure 12, degeneration of MDCK cells was observed in the control group (Ultrapure water) due to viral infection, but no degeneration was observed in the lignin solutions (1% and 5%) using lignin extract extracted by pressing strips of wood, confirming the antiviral effect. From these results, it can be seen that the lignin extract extracted by pressing strips of wood using the wood fuel production system 1 exhibits an antiviral effect against the influenza virus. [Explanation of Symbols]

[0051] 1. Wood fuel production system 2. Compression device 21. Upper roller 22. Front roller 23. Rear roller 24. Upper Guide 25. Front Guide 25A ·· Mounting surface 25B...Front slope 25C...Rear slope 25D... Guide wall 26. Front scraper 27. Upper scraper 28. Rear scraper 29. Rear Guide 2A · Inlet 2B··Outlet 3.Drying equipment 4. Sawmill 5. Biomass power generators 6...Wood 7. Wood chips

Claims

1. A pressing device for extracting moisture contained in wood by pressing the wood with rollers capable of continuously applying pressure, An upper roller that compresses the wood from above, a front roller that compresses the wood from below in front of the upper roller, and a rear roller that compresses the wood from below after the upper roller, The system includes a front scraper positioned between the front roller and the rear roller, which scrapes off wood pressed against the compression surface of the front roller and guides the wood so that it passes between the upper roller and the front roller and moves towards the space between the upper roller and the rear roller. The upper roller has protrusions or grooves on its outer surface, At least one of the front roller and the rear roller has a smooth outer surface. A compression device.

2. The system further includes an upper scraper positioned behind the upper roller, which scrapes off the wood pressed against the compressing surface of the upper roller. The compression device according to claim 1.

3. A pressing method for extracting moisture contained in wood by pressing the wood with a roller capable of continuously applying pressure, An upper roller that compresses the wood from above, a front roller that compresses the wood from below in front of the upper roller, and a rear roller that compresses the wood from below after the upper roller, A front scraper is positioned between the front roller and the rear roller, and scrapes off the wood pressed against the compression surface of the front roller, and guides the wood so that it passes between the upper roller and the front roller and moves towards the space between the upper roller and the rear roller. The upper roller has protrusions or grooves on its outer surface, At least one of the front roller and the rear roller has a smooth outer surface. Pressing method.

4. A method for producing a lignin extract from wood, The process includes a pressing step in which lignin contained in the wood is extracted by pressing the wood with a roller capable of continuously applying pressure. In the aforementioned pressing process, An upper roller that compresses the wood from above, a front roller that compresses the wood from below in front of the upper roller, and a rear roller that compresses the wood from below after the upper roller, A front scraper is positioned between the front roller and the rear roller, and scrapes off the wood pressed against the compression surface of the front roller, and guides the wood so that it passes between the upper roller and the front roller and moves towards the space between the upper roller and the rear roller. The upper roller has protrusions or grooves on its outer surface, At least one of the front roller and the rear roller has a smooth outer surface. Method for producing lignin extract.

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