Mechanical Properties of Hemp (Cannabis Sativa) Biomass

Abstract

In Latvia approximately of 14.6% of unfarmed agricultural land can be used for herbaceous energy crop growing. Herbaceous energy crops would be as the main basis for solid biofuel production in agricultural ecosystem in future. Herbaceous energy crops as hemp (Cannabis sativa) are grown in recent years and can be used for solid biofuel production. Experimentally stated hemp stalk material ultimate tensile strength the medium value is 85 ± 9 N mm-2. The main conditioning operation before preparation of herbaceous biomass compositions for solid biofuel production is shredding. Therefore hemp stalks were used for cutting experiments. Cutting using different types of knives mechanisms had been investigated. Specific shear cutting energy for hemp samples were within 0.02 – 0.04 J mm-2. Hemp stalk material density was determined using AutoCAD software for cross-section area calculation. Density values are 325 ± 18 kg m-3 for hemp stalks. Specific cutting energy per mass unit was calculated on basis of experimentally estimated values of cutting energy and density.

Effects of blades types on shear force and energy requirement of paddy stem

“…Therefore, more energy is taken in order to complete shear operation. The similar results were observed by Kronbergs et al (2011). They argued that shearing force and energy depends on some parameters such as the material deformation process, blades edge-angle and friction forces.…”

Assessment of the Possibility of Using Hemp Biomass (Cannabis Sativa L.) for Energy Purposes: A Case Study

“…The specific approach associated with cutting such durable biomass should be emphasized. This problem was partially analysed during the research of Kakitis [23] and Kronbergs et al [24]. The specific approach associated with cutting such durable biomass should be emphasized.…”

“…However, compaction itself requires an energy demand of about 110 kWh•t −1 , which is almost 40% more energy-intensive than for fruit wood. At the same time, problems related to cutting the hemp biomass are the subject of research on reducing its energy consumption and optimizing the efficiency of this process [23,24]. Therefore, when assessing the energy use of hemp, energy balance and energy efficiency are important, which are key to clarifying the following doubts: indicating how much energy the crop produces per unit of energy input; and the energy balance can reveal existing reserves and optimization of energy expenditure in the production process.…”

Mechanical properties of blueberry stems

“…Samples preparation. The methods used in this study were based on the methods described in literature (Kronbergs et al 2011;Shahbazi 2012) to attach blueberry plant's stems to the measuring instrument. Unlike the descriptions in the literature, instead of plastic clamps the test included wooden clamps with dimensions 6 × 15 × 36 mm and to which traversing holes with the diameter of 3 mm were drilled.…”

“…However, in order to perform tensile tests on plant stems prone to damages, including blueberry plant's stems, additional softening must be added or special grippers must be used to avoid damaging. According to literature (Bakeer et al 2013;Kronbergs et al 2011;Hassan-Beygi et al 2010;Kromer 2009) the following attachment methods are used:…”