BIOMODS: BIOMASS OPTIMIZED DELIVERY SYSTEM

• Sponsoring Institution: National Institute of Food and Agriculture
• Project Status: COMPLETE
• Funding Source: AFRI COMPETITIVE GRANT
• Reporting Frequency: Annual
• Accession No.: 1000946
• Grant No.: 2013-67021-21160
• Cumulative Award Amt.: $498,613.00
• Proposal No.: 2013-01280
• Project Start Date: Sep 1, 2013
• Project End Date: Jan 31, 2018
• Grant Year: 2013
• Program Code: [A1521]- Agricultural Engineering

Recipient Organization
UNIV OF WISCONSIN
21 N PARK ST STE 6401
MADISON,WI 53715-1218

Performing Department
BIOLOGICAL SYSTEMS ENGR

Non Technical Summary
The cost of energy derived from biomass is greatly influenced by the cost of the delivered feedstock. Current biomass logistics systems focus almost solely on baled biomass, primarily because weight limited transport can be achieved by the high package density. However the cost of harvesting, handling and processing bales is high. Harvesting by chopping to form a bulk biomass has many economic advantages, but the low transport density negatively impacts transport costs. Therefore, the objective of this research is to improve the efficiency and reduce the transport costs of chopped biomass. To meet this objective, we will modify technologies already proven in other industries to achieve a biomass logistics system that will produce a lowest-cost biomass feedstock. To achieve our goals, we will create transport modules of chopped biomass and then develop systems to efficiently load and move these modules. With the successful development of these two systems, we will greatly improve the cost competiveness of chopped biomass feedstocks, and lower the overall costs of energy derived from renewable biomass.

Animal Health Component

50%

Research Effort Categories

Basic

(N/A)

Applied

50%

Developmental

50%

Classification

Knowledge Area (KA)	Subject of Investigation (SOI)	Field of Science (FOS)	Percent
402	5310	2020	100%

Knowledge Area
402 - Engineering Systems and Equipment;

Subject Of Investigation
5310 - Machinery and equipment;

Field Of Science
2020 - Engineering;

Keywords

animal feed

biomass

feedstocks

logistics

storage

transport

Goals / Objectives
The primary objective of this research is to integrate mechanisms and processes proven successful in forage, cotton, and container industries to achieve a logistics system that will produce a lowest-cost biomass feedstock. To reach this objective, we will first create a transport module of chopped biomass that optimizes shipping volume and weight, thus minimizing transport costs; and second we will develop systems to efficiently load and move this module. We will pursue four specific objectives: To modify a silo bagger to produce the density and shape needed to insure excellent biomass conservation plus weight limited transport of the developed modules; To develop a means to segment the tube silo into transport modules; To develop module transport equipment capable of quickly loading the transport modules, and maintaining as-stored density without loss of material over extended transport distances; and To conduct a system analysis of productivity, energy requirements and costs of the proposed BioMODS to optimize key design parameters of the system.

Project Methods
Task 1 - Modification of bagging machines to achieve desired density and module shape. We propose to modify an existing silo bagger to always achieve the desired density and to produce a module with rectangular or trapezoidal cross-section. The anticipated cross section would be nominally 7.5 ft. wide x 9 ft. high. To achieve the desired density and cross-section, we will develop alternative rotor and compaction tunnel configurations. In all design aspects of this task, we will develop matrices to explore engineering and potential performance differences between the alternatives and then will use a weighted decision matrix to select a single alternative to design and fabricate. We will first establish a set of design criteria and associated weighting factors. Each design option will be receive a score for each criterion which is then multiplied by the weighting factor and all values are summed to gain a total score which will be ranked to guide final design choice. After design and fabrication, we will field evaluate the design using these important variables: crop type; particle-size; and crop moisture. Switchgrass, wheat straw, forage sorghum and corn stover will be used. To evaluate the efficacy of our modifications, we will quantify: mass-flow into the bagger; power and fuel requirements; aggregate and spatial material density; and maintenance of the desired shape over time. Mass-flow will be quantified by the loss in weight over time of the wagons used to load the bagger. Task 2 - Design of system to segment tube silo into transport modules of desired length. In Task 2, we will focus cutting the tube into modules. First, we will consider several different design alternatives to cut across the tube including, but not limited to, guillotines, reciprocating blades, and chain saws. Our goal is to cut the tube cleanly within 30 s of the machine approaching the tube, with a new module cut and ready for loading within the time it takes the previously formed module to be loaded on the truck. We will develop matrices to compare engineering and performance differences between the alternatives and then will use engineering decision tools to select two alternatives to design and fabricate. Cutting evaluation will be based on qualitative assessments of performance considering cutting time, quality of cut, amount of material removed from the tube by the cutting mechanism, and ability to cut to the base of the tube without cutting mechanism damage. These initial results will provide direction for the design of a full-scale tube cutting system. Evaluation will be done several times during the year to determine if the process works under all conditions. Based on these performance evaluations, iterative modifications will be designed and fabricated to overcome deficiencies, if any. Task 3 - Modification to module hauling truck. Our objective is to conduct the complete module loading cycle (i.e. backing up to module, loading, and pulling away) in less than 5 minutes with the work conducted solely by the truck driver. An important aspect of this work will be to determine if the material in the module remains inside the cut tube or if it has a tendency to crumble from the cut surface. If material wants to fall from the tube during loading onto module truck or during transport, we will develop design alternatives to restrain the material inside the module after cutting from the tube. Systems we will consider include a "moving wall" on the truck loading chain that butts up against the front surface of the module, and a gate on rear of the truck that fold from the sides to restrain the rear of the module once it is loaded. Another approach would be to modify the cutting mechanism to place restraints (i.e. plastic film cap or similar) at the module cut location prior to loading on the truck. Additional ideas will no doubt be generated during initial testing as a better idea of material behavior becomes evident. We will quantify the stability of the modules during loading and transport. After cutting from the tube silo, module dimensions will be measured. Similar measurements will be taken after the module is loaded. Modules will be then driven on a simulated field-to-plant delivery route to evaluate the durability of the modules. Module dimensions will be taken at several increments of travel. The change in module dimension at each stage will be compared to the pre-loaded dimensions. Task 4 - Analysis of productivity, energy requirements and costs of BioMODS The proposed BioMODS is intended to provide a logistics system that will provide lowest cost under a wide range of conditions and herbaceous crops. Existing modified IBSAL software will be extended further to model the machines that will be developed under tasks 1, 2 and 3. A significant interaction between the machine design tasks being addressed in Wisconsin and the system simulation in Texas will take place throughout the project. The simulated system will provide feedback to the machine design effort on which parameters are most critical for achieving the desired logistics cost and performance, and the design specifications that should be met. The design alternatives will be communicated during regular team meetings and incorporated into the IBSAL machine elements. A sensitivity analysis will be conducted and the results provided as input to the weighted decision matrix used in selecting the optimum designs. Initially, that analysis will utilize best engineering judgment on the costs, efficiencies and capacities for each machine in the system. Analysis of TAM concept of field formation of individually packaged modules has been previously conducted. As BioMODS advances in development, its performance will be compared against that previous system and competing bale-based systems. The ability of the modified IBSAL to utilize historical data allows the selection of weather periods with both typical and extreme conditions. This provides the ability to compare the performance of competing systems under both ideal and poor operating conditions. These comparisons will be based upon the predicted total logistics cost, labor requirements, net energy balance and greenhouse gas emissions.

Progress 09/01/13 to 01/31/18

Outputs
Target Audience:The target audiences are: 1) Agricultural equipment manufacturers; 2) Biomass aggregators and biorefineries; 3) Agricultural producers and custom farming businesses. Changes/Problems: Nothing Reported What opportunities for training and professional development has the project provided? Undergraduate and graduate students were exposed to design, research methodology, experimental design, instrumentation, data analysis and modeling. Research results have been presented at professional meetings. Research results were carried into undergraduate course material. How have the results been disseminated to communities of interest? Shinners, K.J. 2013. Challenges with harvest, storage, and transport of perennial grasses as biomass feedstocks. Presented at Switchgrass II. Shinners, K.J. 2013. Review of corn stover harvest and storage research at UW. Presented at DAM II - Deere-ADM-Monsanto Corn Stover Team. Orrick, J. and K. Shinners. 2014. BioMODS - BioMass Optimized Delivery System Concepts. Presented to the Ag-Bag International. Shinners, K.J. 2015. Alternative Biomass Harvest and Logistics Systems. Presented at the ASABE Ag Equipment Technology Conference. Shinners, K.J. 2015. Next Generation Biomass Harvest and Logistics Systems. Presented at DuPont GEN II Corn Stover Feedstock Supply Chain Systems Ideation Meeting. Orrick, J., K. Shinners and S. Searcy. 2015. BioMODS - BioMass Optimized Delivery System. ASABE Presentation No. 152190740. ASABE Annual International Meeting. Searcy, S.W. 2014. Biomass Logistics Systems. Presented at the seminar at University of British Columbia. Gonzales, D. S., Searcy, S. W., & Eaton, L. M. 2015. Assessment of the predicted biomass production in the Billion Ton Study Update. Presented at the ASABE Annual International Meeting. Searcy, S. W. 2015. Biomass sorghum logistics. Presented at the at the Advanced Bioeconomy Feedstocks Conference. Gonzales, D. S., & Searcy, S. W. 2016. GIS-based allocation of herbaceous biomass in biorefineries and depots. Presented at the ASABE Annual International Meeting. Searcy, S.W. 2017. Biomass Logistics Systems. Presented to the Exxon-Mobil. What do you plan to do during the next reporting period to accomplish the goals? Nothing Reported

Impacts
What was accomplished under these goals? The silo bagger was modified to produce the desired shape and density with these additional accomplishments: Power and energy requirements for creating the finely chopped material and compacting into the silo bag were quantified using a wide-variety of biomass crops. Density of the uncompacted and compacted chopped materials were determined. The design modifications were shared with Ag Bag - the largest manufacturer of silo bagger in North America. Segmenting the bag into modules was not successful on a consistent basis: A cutting mechanism was developed to segment the continuous tube of compacted material into the desired module length. The separation process was successful when crop moisture was less than approximately 25% (w.b.) but at greater moistures, the process was not successful. Transporting the modules was not successful: The modified cotton module mover was not able to move the segmented modules without excessive losses at the location where the tube was segmented. Conducting techno-economic analysis of the BioMODS process: The Integrated Biomass Supply Analysis and Logistics (IBSAL) framework was used to conduct the analysis using two crops (switchgrass and corn stover) and three locations (TN, TX and IA). Ten different supply chain operations were considered from the field to end use at the biorefinery. The estimated delivered costs were very competitive with those reported in the DOE high-tonnage systems.

Publications

• Type: Journal Articles Status: Under Review Year Published: 2018 Citation: Shinners, K.J. and J.C. Friede. 2018. Energy Requirements for Biomass Harvest and Densification. Submitted to Energies, March, 2018.

Progress 09/01/16 to 08/31/17

Outputs
Target Audience:The target audiences are: 1) Agricultural equipment manufacturers; 2) Biomass aggregators and biorefineries; 3) Agricultural producers and custom farming businesses. Changes/Problems: Nothing Reported What opportunities for training and professional development has the project provided? Undergraduate and graduate students were exposed to design, research methodology, experimental design, instrumentation, data analysis and modeling. Research results were carried into undergraduate course material. How have the results been disseminated to communities of interest?1. Results of the bagger modifications were provided to an industrial cooperator. 2. A journal article has been published. What do you plan to do during the next reporting period to accomplish the goals?This project is coming to a close. In the next reporting period, we anticipate completing data analysis and submitting a journal article.

Impacts
What was accomplished under these goals? The silo bagger was modified to produce the desired shape and density. The design modifications were shared with Ag Bag - the largest manufacturer of silo bagger in North America. Segmenting the bag into modules was not successful on a consistent basis. Transporting the modules as even less successful - only rarely was this able to be done. Analysis of the modified system was completed and published.

Publications

• Type: Theses/Dissertations Status: Submitted Year Published: 2017 Citation: Thiede,J.L. 2017. Modification of a silage bagger for the storage and transport of cellulosic biomass. Unpublished Masters Thesis. University of Wisconsin-Madison.
• Type: Journal Articles Status: Accepted Year Published: 2017 Citation: Gonzales*, D. S. and S. W. Searcy. 2017. GIS-based allocation of herbaceous biomass in biorefineries and depots. Biomass and Bioenergy 97(2017):1-10.

Progress 09/01/15 to 08/31/16

Outputs
Target Audience: Nothing Reported Changes/Problems: Nothing Reported What opportunities for training and professional development has the project provided? Undergraduate and graduate students were exposed to design, research methodology, experimental design, instrumentation, data analysis and modeling. Research results were carried into undergraduate course material. How have the results been disseminated to communities of interest? Nothing Reported What do you plan to do during the next reporting period to accomplish the goals? Improve the performance of the modified silo-bagger specifically targeting issues related to side-to-side density uniformity. Collect performance data on the modified bagger to quantify machine operation, including material density and specific fuel consumption. Improve the collection of the segmented modules through improved designs so that loading losses are reduced. Continue work on BioMODS modeling, including, but not limited to: Identification of geographical locations and crops where BioMODS is likely to be used. Analysis of BioMODS logistics system using IBSAL and comparison to alternative systems Simulation of alternative biomass handling, storage and transport systems

Impacts
What was accomplished under these goals? The primary objective of this research is to integrate mechanisms and processes proven successful in forage, cotton, and container industries to achieve a logistics system that will produce a lowest-cost biomass feedstock. To reach this objective, we have worked to create a dense transport module of chopped biomass and a system efficiently load and move this module. Three sub-objectives were pursued: To modify a silo bagger to produce the desired shape and density of the module; To develop a means to segment the tube silo into transport modules; To develop transport equipment capable of quickly loading the dense modules. Additional goals involved modeling the performance of BioMODS under a variety of conditions, to provide a comparison to alternative systems and to determine the sensitivity of the prototype machines to various design parameters.

Publications

Progress 09/01/14 to 08/31/15

Outputs
Target Audience:Target Audience: Agricultural equipment manufacturers Biomass aggregators and biorefineries Changes/Problems: Nothing Reported What opportunities for training and professional development has the project provided? Nothing Reported How have the results been disseminated to communities of interest?Orrick, J. K. Shinners and S. Searcy. 2015. BioMODS - BioMass Optimized Delivery System. Technical Presentation 152190740 presented at the 2015 Annual International Meeting of ASABE, New Orleans, LA. July 27th, 2015. What do you plan to do during the next reporting period to accomplish the goals? Continue design and fabrication of modifications to an agricultural silo bagger to create a cross-section favorable for truck transport. Collect performance data on the modified bagger to quantify machine operation, including material density and specific fuel consumption. Develop a new module segmentation system and modify transport truck to lift and segment bagged biomass into transport ready modules. Use IBSAL to model the economic potential of the BioMODS system.

Impacts
What was accomplished under these goals? Modifications to the bagger have continued. These modifications have focused on (a) improving flow of the bag from the bagger tunnel; and (b) identifying bagger configurations that produce a rectangular cross-sectional shape. These modifications have been reasonably successful although deficiencies remain. The research has suggested potential solutions to these deficiencies. The power and fuel requirements of the bagging system have also been quantified and comparison data with other bagging systems collected. Modifications to the module truck have made loading some modules possible, which was not the case in 2014. However, the system currently used to segment the bag into modules has not proven successful. The first module can be segmented and loaded onto the truck, but loading subsequent modules has not been successful.

Publications

Progress 09/01/13 to 08/31/14

Outputs
Target Audience: Agricultural equipment manufacturers. Biomass aggregators and biorefineries. Agricultural producers and custom farming businesses. Changes/Problems: Nothing Reported What opportunities for training and professional development has the project provided? Nothing Reported How have the results been disseminated to communities of interest?Orrick, J.; K. Shinners and S. Searcy. 2015. BioMODS - Biomass Optimized Delivery System. Presented at the 2015 ASABE Interantional Meeting, New Orleans, LA. ASABE Presentation No. 152190740. What do you plan to do during the next reporting period to accomplish the goals? Continue design and fabrication of modifications to an agricultural silo bagger to create a cross-section favorable for truck transport. Collect performance data on the modified bagger to quantify machine operation, including material density and specific fuel consumption. Modify transport truck to lift and segment bagged biomass into transport ready modules.

Impacts
What was accomplished under these goals? The primary objective of this research is to integrate mechanisms and processes proven successful in forage, cotton, and container industries to achieve a logistics system that will produce a lowest-cost biomass feedstock. To reach this objective, we will first create a transport module of chopped biomass that optimizes shipping volume and weight, thus minimizing transport costs; and second we will develop systems to efficiently load and move this module. We will pursue four specific objectives: To modify a silo bagger to produce the density and shape needed to insure excellent biomass conservation plus weight limited transport of the developed modules; To develop a means to segment the tube silo into transport modules; To develop module transport equipment capable of quickly loading the transport modules, and maintaining as-stored density without loss of material over extended transport distances; and To conduct a system analysis of productivity, energy requirements and costs of the proposed BioMODS to optimize key design parameters of the system.

Publications

• Type: Theses/Dissertations Status: Submitted Year Published: 2014 Citation: Orrick, J. 2014. Development and evaluation of systems to efficiently store and transport bulk biomass feedstocks. Unpublished MS Thesis.