Decreasing the Fuel Consumption and CO2 Emissions of Excavator-Based Harvesters with a Machine Control System

Abstract

Compared with purpose-built units, excavator-based harvesters offer many advantages, but they also face one main limitation: a much higher fuel consumption, which also results in higher CO2 emission levels. The fuel efficiency of excavator-based harvesters can be increased by a better interface between the excavator and the harvester head. This study aimed to determine the performance of a new adaptation kit, specifically designed to improve the communication between these two components. The new kit offers real-time adjustment between the power demand of the harvester head and the power output of the excavator, which should help reducing fuel consumption while stabilizing hydraulic fluid temperature. The test was conducted on 53 excavator-based harvesters purchased and managed by a large Brazilian company. Time use, fuel consumption and production were monitored continuously for one full month, before and after installation of the kit. Overall, the study covered 40,000 h of work, during which the harvesters cut, processed, and debarked 4.5 million trees, or 650,000 m3 of wood, under bark. Fuel consumption amounted to 900,000 liters. After installing the adaptation kit, productivity increased 6%, while fuel consumption per hour decreased 3.5%. Fuel consumption and CO2 emissions per product unit decreased 10%, as an average. The effect of random variability typical of an observational study prevented formulating an accurate figure for the amount of fuel that can be saved by installing the adaptation kit. Yet, one may confidently state that, in most cases, installing the kit results in a reduction of fuel use, and that such reduction is most often in the range from −10 to −20% on a per m3 basis.

Improving performance and energy efficiency of biomass supply through machine alteration and organisational redesign

“…As a result, detailed information from the studied CTL harvesting machines is presented in Article I and showed that extreme machine settings had a statistically significant impact on fuel economy. This is generally similar to a recently published study on reduced fuel use of excavator-based machines using a machine control system (Spinelli and Moura 2019). Nevertheless, the results show some indication that the currently used business-as-usual setting may already integrate characteristics of the ECO mode regarding fuel economy in regular operations.…”

“…Thereby the parameters most influencing the performance could be identified, and consequently also modified according to operational needs. In addition, other machines could be tested with different machine settings for fuel consumption and energy efficient performance, for example, forwarders in CTL harvesting or excavators, which could also be similar to the excavator-based harvesting system and machine control system presented recently by Spinelli and Moura (2019). Moreover, machine setting tests could also be conducted under other silvicultural prescriptions or stand characteristics.…”

Fuel Consumption, Greenhouse Gas Emissions, and Energy Efficiency of Wood-Harvesting Operations

“…Ackerman et al 2017, Prinz at al. 2018, Hudiburg et al 2019, Spinelli and de Arruda Moura 2019, Domke et al 2020, such as EPA ( 2016), the factors are almost the same and hence the results and conclusions of the study are comparable to them. In addition, the emission factors are applicable to calculating GHG emissions and energy efficiencies in future emissions investigations.…”

Espds

“…To increase the productivity of the equipment, Spinelli and Moura (2019) tested an adaptation kit, specifically designed to improve communication between the harvester head and the excavator. According to the authors, there was a 6% increase in equipment productivity.…”