*2.2. Production of Commercial Pellets*

The available 10 kg of RS and 23 kg of RH were cut and reduced to a length less than 3–4 cm. This feedstock was sent to a commercial pellet producer, Novapellet (Novara, Italy) [16]. A size refinement was performed to obtain dimensions of 6 mm by 2 mm by 1 mm in order to ensure proper densification. The moisture content of both materials was within the range 10–14% wt. In accordance to the experimental procedure at lab-scale, no binder was used in the process. Pellets were produced at a temperature range of 60 ◦C to 70 ◦C with the commercial pelletizer N-PICO (Novapellet) with a maximum capacity of 200 kg/h and nominal power of 10 kW [17]. Figure 3 shows the pelletizer (a) and the pelletized RS (b).

**Figure 3.** N-Pico pelletizer (**a**) and pelletized rice straw (RS) (**b**).
