Machinery Innovations to Meet Biomass Harvesting Demands in Expanding United States Markets

Dr. Matt Darr, Iowa State University

Agricultural and Biosystems Engineering

• 30 MGPY of liquid fuel production

• 80 gallons of liquid ethanol fuel per ton of biomass

• 900,000 large square bales per year (3ft x 4ft x 8ft)

• 1 bale processed every 30 seconds

• 25,000 semi trucks of bales delivered

• 45,000 tons of ash byproduct

First Generation Biorefinery Scale

Agricultural and Biosystems Engineering

• Support biorefineries with key technical information on all aspects of a corn stover biomass supply chain.

• Support producers in understanding the management of corn stover production.

• Support growth in key service areas to enable job creation and supply chain efficiencies.

Iowa State’s Role with Biorefinery Development

Agricultural and Biosystems Engineering

Corn Stover Supply Chain

Agricultural and Biosystems Engineering

1. Increased harvest rate through baler machinery innovations.

2. Increased unit package density through technology enhancements and operational excellence.

3. New machine forms which eliminate passes through the field.

4. High capacity transportation systems.

5. Telematics business rule integration to ensure efficiency gains.

Innovations to Empower Step Changes in Supply Chain Costs

Agricultural and Biosystems Engineering

Feedstock Quality Increase Through Refined Windrow Design

Agricultural and Biosystems Engineering

Benefits

• Direct baling of corn stovereliminate soil contamination and reduces ash content from ~10% to less than 4%.

• Windrowing pass is eliminated and baling operator and tractor are also eliminated.

Challenges

• High feedstock moisture content requires special handling.

• Reduces peak grain harvest capacity of the combine.

New Machine Forms:Single Pass Harvesting

Agricultural and Biosystems Engineering

Benefits

• Creates a windrow with the combine and allows higher collection efficiency of cobs.

• Reduces ash content from ~10% to ~7%.

• Eliminates windrowing pass and maximizes harvest collection rate.

Challenges

• High feedstock moisture content requires special handling.

• Requires close coupling of baling systems to collect feedstock in a timeline manner.

• Complicates grain unloading logistics.

New Machine Forms:Windrowing Corn Headers

Agricultural and Biosystems Engineering

High Capacity Transportation Systems

Agricultural and Biosystems Engineering

High Quality Feedstock Storage

Agricultural and Biosystems Engineering

Agronomic Impacts of Corn Stover Harvest

Agricultural and Biosystems Engineering

Direct Impacts of Telemetry in a Production Supply Chain

• Supply Chain Benefits– Directly reduce feedstock

production costs.

– Directly reduced capital equipment requirements.

– Guide new production crews towards improved operating efficiencies.

– Provide informed decisions on crew performance.

– Provide traceability of feedstocks and improved inventory management.

Telematics Features• ISOBUS Interface• GPS Interface• Cellular Modem• Wifi• Data Logging • Direct Business Rule Software

Agricultural and Biosystems Engineering

• 100,000 ac corn stover harvest conducted in partnership with DuPont Cellulosic Ethanol.

• 160,000 tons of corn stoverproduction monitored for feedstock quality and machinery productivity analysis.

• Key Results:– In depth technoeconomic model

– Selection of optimized harvest equipment configurations

– Implementation of technology to directly target cost reduction strategies

Multiyear Case Study Research on Biomass Production Costs

Agricultural and Biosystems Engineering

Cost of Biorefinery Gate Delivered Corn Stover

~21%

~$122/std. Mg

Annual Working Capital: ~$45.6 millions/yr

~30% for Transportation

~30% for Harvesting

Agricultural and Biosystems Engineering

Sensitivity Analysis: Corn Stover Supply Chain Costs

Top 4 highest supply chain cost influencer related to

baling operation

10 out of 15 top supply chain cost influencers related to feedstock supply operations

(i.e., Production-specific parameters)

decrease by~$22/std. Mg

increase by ~$29/std. Mg

Bale density alone can decreasesupply chain cost by~$8/std. Mg

Bale density alone can increasesupply chain cost by ~$9/std. Mg

Agricultural and Biosystems Engineering

Cumulative Supply Chain Impact

Excluding Nutrients: ~$91/std. Mg

Strategy 1: Reducing Stover Collection Area, Cost Savings: ~$11/std. Mg

Strategy 2: Reducing Bale Supply Quantity, Cost Savings: ~$16.5/std. Mg

Strategy 3: Reducing Quantities of In-Field Machineries, Cost Savings: ~$11.5/std. Mg

• Final Cost: ~$52/std. Mg• Total Cost Savings: ~$39/std. Mg• Cost Reduced by ~43%

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Department of Agricultural and

Biosystems Engineering

Questions