Baling

Square Bales of Woody Biomass

Square Bales of Woody Biomass for Improved Logistics

Abstract  The majority of fuels reduction work is conducted by hand crews in the wild and urban interface and near in-forest recreation/administrative assets. Today, most of the biomass is either piled for burning at some future time or is dragged to the roadside for chipping. In many districts, disposal of chipped or whole brush is […]

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Collecting Woody Slash

Interfacing Forest Engineering with Bioenergy Production

Abstract  Woody biomass from forestland, urban greenbelts, and residential areas has the potential to provide more than 150 million tons per year of cellulosic feedstocks for biorefineries, pellet fuels, and fermentation. Production sites range from urban lots to large wildland forest tracts. Destinations range from small urban boutiques to large remote industrial complexes. The systems,

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Catastrophic failure from parallel to grain tension, not shear

Mode of Failure Model for Cutting Solid Section Biomass

Abstract Solid section biomass, such as wood and the node-zone of crop residues, has distinct modes of failure when loaded in cross grain shear. Shear bar design plays a part in determining what the failure mode will be at a given depth of penetration. Other factors include shear location relative to an unconstrained end and

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Large Square Bales of Woody Slash

Biomass Baling into Large Square Bales for Efficient Transport, Storage, and Handling

Abstract  Forest Concepts is working under a federal contract from the USDA CSREES SBIR program to develop better methods to collect and transport woody biomass collected from small-scale fuels reduction projects (ranging from residential lots to 20 acre parcels) in the true wildland-urban intermix zone (WUI). Our specific objective is to enable more of the

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Baler Loading Rendering

Engineering Factors for Biomass Baler Design

Abstract  Woody biomass is a core element of our nation’s strategy to replace imported oil and natural gas with renewable resources. The challenge facing potential biomass users, however, is how to economically recover and transport the material from residential neighborhoods, urban centers and suburban landscapes to distant users. Our preferred solution is to bale the

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Large square bales of woody biomass

Large Rectangular Bales for Woody Biomass

Abstract  Woody biomass from wildfire prevention and forest health improvement projects is a significant source of feedstock for bio refineries, combustion energy facilities and other value-added uses. Baling into large rectangular bales offers increased bulk density and easier handling for local and long-distance transportation. By preserving large piece sizes, value potential is maximized. We conducted

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