Three systems were evaluated to determine their productivity and costs.
With the increase in the quantity of woody biomass being harvested for energy, there is a need for cost effective equipment to process the material. This subject was examined during a presentation at the 2010 Council of Forest Engineering (COFE) 33rd Annual Meeting. The paper was titled “Productivity Estimates for Chippers and Grinders on Operational Southern Timber Harvests”.
Three systems were researched, all harvesting loblolly pine (Pinus taeda), and were as follows:
The results showed that the hourly productivity rates of the three systems did not differ significantly. System productivity was approximately 30 tonnes per productive machine hour. However, the costs per ton were lower for the grinding operations than the chipping operations. This was due to additional machinery and personnel required to produce whole tree chips. The delivered cost for whole tree chipping was $ 21.26 per ton, the grinder processing material after clean chips were produced was $ 21.18 per ton, and grinding residue from roundwood residue was $ 20.25 per ton.
As expected, system costs are lower when there are higher quantities of residue per hectare. Haulage distance played a large role in the delivered price, and increasing truck payloads reduced system costs for the three systems.
The researchers were Addison Aman, Shawn Baker and Dale Greene. Please access the paper for a more complete account of the research. Source: http://www.forestry.vt.edu/cofe/documents/2010
With the increase in the quantity of woody biomass being harvested for energy, there is a need for cost effective equipment to process the material. This subject was examined during a presentation at the 2010 Council of Forest Engineering (COFE) 33rd Annual Meeting. The paper was titled “Productivity Estimates for Chippers and Grinders on Operational Southern Timber Harvests”.
Three systems were researched, all harvesting loblolly pine (Pinus taeda), and were as follows:
- Horizontal grinders fed with residue from roundwood harvests
- Horizontal grinders fed with residue from clean chipping harvests
- Whole tree chippers fed entire stems
The results showed that the hourly productivity rates of the three systems did not differ significantly. System productivity was approximately 30 tonnes per productive machine hour. However, the costs per ton were lower for the grinding operations than the chipping operations. This was due to additional machinery and personnel required to produce whole tree chips. The delivered cost for whole tree chipping was $ 21.26 per ton, the grinder processing material after clean chips were produced was $ 21.18 per ton, and grinding residue from roundwood residue was $ 20.25 per ton.
As expected, system costs are lower when there are higher quantities of residue per hectare. Haulage distance played a large role in the delivered price, and increasing truck payloads reduced system costs for the three systems.
The researchers were Addison Aman, Shawn Baker and Dale Greene. Please access the paper for a more complete account of the research. Source: http://www.forestry.vt.edu/cofe/documents/2010