Optimization of Southeastern Forest Biomass Crop Production: A Watershed Scale Evaluation of the Sustainability and Productivity of Dedicated Energy Crop and Woody Biomass Operations

Chescheir, G. M.; Nettles, Jami E.; Youssef, Mohamed A.; Bírgand, François; Amatya, Devendra M.; Miller, Darren A.; Sucre, Eric B.; Schilling, Erik; Tian, Senlin; Cacho, Julian F.; Bennett, Erin; Carter, Taylor; Bowen, Nicole Dobbs; Muwamba, Augustine; Panda, Sudhanshu Sekhar; Christopher, S. F.; Phillips, Brian; Appelboom, T. W.; Skaggs, R. W.; Greene, Ethan J.; Marshall, Craig D.; Allen, Elizabeth Leigh; Schoenholtz, Stephen H.; Llc, Catchlight Energy; Improvement, Stream

doi:10.2172/1437923

Cited by 4 publications

(3 citation statements)

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“…Blending of various biomass feedstocks for biofuel and bioproduct production is gaining momentum. According to Chescheir and Nettles (2017) and Chauhan et al (2011), there is great interest in planting herbaceous biomass such as SG and other straws with woody biomass, which can make blending of the biomass feasbile in the field. Feedstock cost modeling studies by Idaho National Laboratory (INL) have showed that the blending of woody, herbaceous, and municipal solid waste reduces the grower payment by about 46% (Lane, 2018).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Pilot-Scale Pelleting Tests on High-Moisture Pine, Switchgrass, and Their Blends: Impact on Pellet Physical Properties, Chemical Composition, and Heating Values

et al. 2022

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In this study, we evaluated the pelleting characteristics of southern yellow pine (SYP), switchgrass (SG), and their blends for thermochemical conversion processes, such as pyrolysis and gasification. Using a pilot-scale ring-die pellet mill, we specifically assessed the impact of blend moisture, length-to-diameter (L/D) ratio in the pellet die, and ratio of pine to SG on the physico-chemical properties of the resulting pellets. We found that an increase in pine content by 25–50% marginally affected the bulk density; however, it also led to an increase in calorific value by 7% and a decrease in ash content by 72%. A moisture content of 25% (wet basis) and an L/D ratio of 5 resulted in poor pellet durability at <90% and bulk density values of <500 kg/m3, but increasing the L/D ratio to 9 and lowering the moisture content to 20% (w.b.) improved the pellet durability to >90% and the bulk density to >500 kg/m3. Blends with ≥50% pine content resulted in lower energy consumption, while a lower L/D ratio resulted in higher pelleting energy. Based on these findings, we successfully demonstrated the high-moisture pelleting of 2.5 ton of pine top residues blended with SG at 60:40 and 50:50 ratios. The quality of the pellets was monitored off-line and at-line by near infrared (NIR) spectroscopy. Multivariate models constructed by combining the NIR data and the pelleting process variables could successfully predict the pine content (R2 = 0.99), higher heating value (R2 = 0.98), ash (R2 = 0.95), durability (R2 = 0.94), and bulk density (R2 = 0.86) of the pellets. Thus, we established how blending and densification of SYP and SG biomass could improve feedstock specifications and that NIR spectroscopy can effectively monitor the pellet properties during the high-moisture pelleting process.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Pilot-Scale Pelleting Tests on High-Moisture Pine, Switchgrass, and Their Blends: Impact on Pellet Physical Properties, Chemical Composition, and Heating Values

et al. 2022

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“…Such intercropping did not significantly impact drainage water quality (Muwamba et al, 2015;Muwamba et al, 2017), shallow groundwater quality , or soil nitrogen cycling (Cacho, Youssef, Shi, et al, 2018). Some environmental impacts were observed in response to additional operations, but these were considered small and short-lived (Chescheir et al, 2018). The extended tree bed spacing is likely to affect overall timber yields, but such effects cannot yet be determined.…”

Section: Integrating Switchgrass In Managed Forests In the Southeastern United Statesmentioning

confidence: 99%

Multifunctional perennial production systems for bioenergy: performance and progress

Englund

Dimitriou

Dale

et al. 2020

WIREs Energy & Environment

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As the global population increases and becomes more affluent, biomass demands for food and biomaterials will increase. Demand growth is further accelerated by the implementation of climate policies and strategies to replace fossil resources with biomass. There are, however, concerns about the size of the prospective biomass demand and the environmental and social consequences of the corresponding resource mobilization, especially concerning impacts from the associated land-use change. Strategically integrating perennials into landscapes dominated by intensive agriculture can, for example, improve biodiversity, reduce soil erosion and nutrient emissions to water, increase soil carbon, enhance pollination, and avoid or mitigate flooding

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“…As such, there is great interest in planting herbaceous biomass such as switchgrass and other straws, with woody biomass crops, such as poplar 20 . Chescheir and Nettles 21 studied the intercropping of forest biomass with a dedicated energy crop, switchgrass, to determine the sustainability and productivity of a dedicated energy crop with woody biomass operations. This study identified the limitations of switchgrass production in forestry settings and the challenges and increased costs arising from this practice.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Briquetting characteristics of woody and herbaceous biomass blends: Impact on physical properties, chemical composition, and calorific value

Tumuluru

Fillerup

2020

Biofuels Bioprod Bioref

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Intercropping (or polyculture) is gaining a lot of interest as it increases yields, allows better utilization of resources (water and nutrients), and provides better land management. The objective of this study is to understand the briquetting characteristics of woody and herbaceous biomass blends, which might result from intercropping. Tests were conducted on blends of lodgepole pine, switchgrass, and corn stover biomass using three hammer mill screen sizes (i.e., 4.8, 12.7, and 19.05 mm), three blend moistures (12%, 15%, and 18%, w.b.), and two‐ and three‐blend ratios (i.e., 1:1 and 1:1:1) using a pilot‐scale hydraulic briquette press. The briquette properties, such as unit and bulk density, durability rating after 5 days of storage (as they tend to attain stable density), and the energy consumption of the process were measured. The results indicate that moisture content of 12% and 15% (w.b.) and smaller hammer mill screen size of 4.8 mm increased the unit and bulk densities to >750 and >430 kg/m3 and moisture content (15% and 18% (w.b.)) and hammer mill screen size of 12.7 and 19.05 mm produced briquettes with durability rating values of >95%. The higher moisture content of 18% (w.b.) and the hammer mill screen size of 12.7 and 19.05 mm had the highest energy consumption. The proximate and ultimate analysis showed that energy content improved by blending lodgepole pine with both corn stover and switchgrass and also showed increased calorific value and reduced ash content. Scanning electron microscopy micrographs showed interlocking of particles and cracks in the briquettes. © 2020 Society of Chemical Industry and John Wiley & Sons, Ltd

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Optimization of Southeastern Forest Biomass Crop Production: A Watershed Scale Evaluation of the Sustainability and Productivity of Dedicated Energy Crop and Woody Biomass Operations

Cited by 4 publications

References 0 publications

Pilot-Scale Pelleting Tests on High-Moisture Pine, Switchgrass, and Their Blends: Impact on Pellet Physical Properties, Chemical Composition, and Heating Values

Pilot-Scale Pelleting Tests on High-Moisture Pine, Switchgrass, and Their Blends: Impact on Pellet Physical Properties, Chemical Composition, and Heating Values

Multifunctional perennial production systems for bioenergy: performance and progress

Briquetting characteristics of woody and herbaceous biomass blends: Impact on physical properties, chemical composition, and calorific value

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