The disclosure relates to a process for steam treatment of non-wood
plant material comprising subjecting the
plant material to steam treatment and
steam explosion in a steam
treatment unit (10) comprising a steam treatment section (11) and a pressure relief section (12); characterized in that the process is a
dual mode process, in which the steam
treatment unit (10)5 is run in two alternating process
modes (100a,100b), said process comprising supplying (101)
plant material of a first or a second size fraction to a steam
treatment unit (10) determining (102) plant material size fraction and selecting (103) a first (100a) or a second (100b) process mode, based on the determined plant material size fraction, subjecting the plant material to steam treatment (104a,104b) at a steam treatment pressure (PST1, PST2) in the steam treatment0 section (11), wherein, during the first process mode (100a), the steam treatment section (11) is operated at a first steam treatment pressure (PST1) and, during the second process mode (100b), the steam treatment section (11) is operated at a second steam treatment pressure (PST2), wherein said second steam treatment pressure (PST2) is higher than said first steam treatment pressure (PST1), followed by discharging (105a,105b) the plant material to a pressure relief5 section (12) operating at a relief pressure (PR) in which is lower than the steam treatment pressure (PST1, PST2), thereby causing
steam explosion of the plant material, and forwarding (106a,106b) the treated plant material to storage or further
processing. The disclosure
pellets manufactured from the material obtained by the process, and use thereof.