Pretreated densified biomass products and methods of making and using same

A packaged product comprising:

• a container;
• and
• a quantity of densified biomass particulates having no added binder located within the container, wherein the quantity of densified biomass particulates has a bulk density greater than a bulk density of an identical quantity of binder-containing densified biomass particulates.

An integrated process comprising:

• subjecting a quantity of biomass fibers to an ammonia treatment wherein at least a portion of lignin contained within each fiber is moved to an outer surface of each fiber to produce a quantity of tacky biomass fibers;
• and
• densifying the quantity of tacky biomass fibers to produce one or more densified biomass particulates, wherein the quantity of tacky biomass fibers is densified without adding binder.

A fuel comprising:

• at least one densified biomass particulate of a given mass having no added binder and comprised of a plurality of lignin-coated plant biomass fibers, wherein the at least one densified biomass particulate has an intrinsic density substantially equivalent to a binder-containing densified biomass particulate of the same given mass and has a substantially smooth, non-flakey outer surface.

An animal feed comprising:

• at least one densified biomass particulate of a given mass having no added binder and comprised of a plurality of lignin-coated plant biomass fibers, wherein the at least one densified biomass particulate has an intrinsic density substantially equivalent to a binder-containing densified biomass particulate of the same given mass and has a substantially smooth, non-flakey outer surface, wherein the animal feed has improved digestibility as compared with animal feed containing binder-containing densified biomass particulates.

A solid material comprising:

• at least one densified biomass particulate of a given mass having no added binder and comprised of a plurality of lignin-coated plant biomass fibers, wherein the at least one densified biomass particulate has an intrinsic density substantially equivalent to a binder-containing densified biomass particulate of the same given mass and has a substantially smooth, non-flakey outer surface, wherein the solid material is useful in construction.