Study of Pelletizing Tomato Stem and Leaf Waste and the Basic Combustion Characteristics of the Pellets

In agriculture, most stems and leaves are disposed of as waste after harvesting. In this study, we aimed to demonstrate the effectiveness of tomato stems and leaves as a pellet material, and investigated the suitable moisture percentage of the stems and leaves, as well as measured heat values and conducted combustion tests in order to pelletize tomato stem and leaf wastes. When the wastes of tomato stems and leaves that were pelletized were 11% wet, then the pellets were approximately 8% wet. Although 100% of the tomato pellets could not be combusted continuously due to residual combustion ash, it was possible to combust them by mixing 80% wood pellets and 20% tomato pellets. The low heating value of the mixture of 80% wood pellets and 20% tomato pellets was 17.0MJ/kg, which was the same level as just wood pellets. This indicates that tomato pellets can be utilized as an energy source.