Study of a Large Square Baler with Innovative Technological Systems that Optimize the Baling Effectiveness

Guerrieri, Arrigo Salvatore; Anifantis, Alexandros Sotirios; Santoro, Francesco; Pascuzzi, Simone

doi:10.3390/agriculture9050086

Cited by 28 publications

(21 citation statements)

References 22 publications

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“…However, the composition and character of lignocellulose, with cellulose fibers intertwined with hemicelluloses and lignin, make it hard to degrade [6]. The biogas revenue from barley straw can be improved by harvesting techniques [7], pretreatment, making the material more reachable to microbial degradation [3,6,8,9]. Feng et al [5] examined the impact of co-ensiling of cover crops and barley straw on biogas production.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Techno-Economic Analysis of ZnO Nanoparticles Pretreatments for Biogas Production from Barley Straw

et al. 2020

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The aim of this study was to analyze the effect of ZnO nanoparticles (ZnO NPs) on the biogas production from mechanically treated barley straw and to perform a techno-economic analysis based on the costs assessment and on the results of biogas production. The structural changes of mechanically pretreated barley straw were observed using FTIR, XRD, TGA, and SEM. Additionally, both green ZnO NPs prepared from red alga (Antithamnion plumula) extract and chemically prepared ZnO NPs were characterized by FTIR, XRD, SEM, and TEM, surface area, and EDX. The results revealed that the biogas production was slightly improved by 14.9 and 13.2% when the barley straw of 0.4 mm was mechanically pretreated with 10 mg/L of both green and chemical ZnO NPs and produced 390.5 mL biogas/g VS and 385 mL biogas/g VS, respectively. On the other hand, the higher concentrations of ZnO NPs equal to 20 mg/L had an inhibitory effect on biogas production and decreased the biogas yield to 173 mL biogas/g VS, which was less than the half of previous values. It was also clear that the mechanically treated barley straw of 0.4 mm size presented a higher biogas yield of about 340 mL/g VS, in comparison to 279 mL biogas/g VS of untreated biomass. The kinetic study showed that the first order, modified Gompertz and logistic function models had the best fit with the experimental data. The results showed that the nanoparticles (NPs) of the mechanically treated barely straw are a suitable source of biomass for biogas production, and its yields are higher than the untreated barley straw. The results of the cost-benefit analysis showed that the average levelized cost of energy (LCOE), adopting the best treatments (0.4 mm + 10 mg/L ZnO), is 0.21 €/kWh, which is not competitive with the other renewable energy systems in the Egyptian energy market.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Techno-Economic Analysis of ZnO Nanoparticles Pretreatments for Biogas Production from Barley Straw

et al. 2020

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“…Figure 5 shows FC min,b f as a function of the ratio k f for four, six, and eight basic film layers. For k f variability, according to the applicability condition expressed by Equation (4), the intervals 0 < k f < 2 3 and 3 4 ≤ k f < 4 5 are chosen for p l = 4, and also both applicability intervals 0 < k f < 3 4 and 5 6 ≤ k f < 6 7 are considered for p l = 6. For p l = 8,. the ranges 0 < k f < 2 2 and 3 4 ≤ k f < 4 5 result from the applicability condition; the interval 7 8 ≤ k f < 8 9 for which this condition is also satisfied is omitted here to make the figure more readable.…”

Section: Examplementioning

confidence: 99%

“…Baling technology has been widely used in storing agricultural materials, both at large feed factories and small-scale farms, due to the mechanization of the production chain, low labor requirements, ease of the manipulation and transport of bales, and low requirements for bale storage [1][2][3]. A persistently exciting bale wrapping application is that of silage conservation.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Optimal and Robustly Optimal Consumption of Stretch Film Used for Wrapping Cylindrical Baled Silage

Stankiewicz¹

2019

Agriculture

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A conventional method for wrapping round bales of agricultural materials by wrappers with a rotating table or with rotating arms is considered. In contemporary agriculture, the demand for minimal consumption of the film used to wrap bales is very high, in order to apply this method with lower cost and less damage to the environment. A combined model-based problem of such a design, focusing on the width of stretch film and the overlap between adjacent film strips that minimizes film consumption, was mathematically formulated and solved. It was proven that the complete set of optimal film widths is defined by a simple algebraic equation described in terms of film, bale, and wrapping parameters. The optimal overlap ratios were found to be irreducible fractions in which the dividend is the divisor minus one; however, only the first three factions, 1 2 , 2 3 , and 3 4 , are practically significant. Next, the robustness to disturbances in the functioning of an actual bale wrapper, which leads to overlap ratio uncertainty, is examined. It was shown that, unfortunately, the optimal film widths applied together with the optimal overlaps do not provide any robustness to overlap variations. To overcome this inconvenience, the problems of a choice of the best commercially available film width guaranteeing minimal film consumption or maximal tolerance on the overlap uncertainty were formulated and solved. A new algorithm for a robust design of wrapping parameters was developed, motivated, and numerically verified to achieve a trade-off between satisfactory robustness and low film usage. For the resulting wrapping parameters, near-optimal film usage was achieved; the relative errors of the minimal film consumption approximation did not exceed 4%. It was proven that for the overlap, slightly more than 50%, i.e., 51% or 52%, provides both optimality and robustness of the overlap over disturbances, which are ensured regardless of the number of film layers. Moreover, it was found that for these overlaps and for the commercially available film widths selected according to the algorithm, the film consumption was more than twice as small than the film usage for exactly 50% overlap, if the actual overlap was smaller than pre-assumed. Similarly, an overlap of slightly more than the commonly used 67% will result in about 30% to 40% reduction in film usage in the presence of unfavorable disturbances, depending on the number of film layers and wrapping parameters.

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“…Biomass harvesting in some cases faces mechanical difficulties that could be solved by means of accurate studies of a mathematical model that describes the whole machine or parts of it [8,9], as well as the application of new technologies in harvesting machines themselves [10].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Techno-Economic Modeling of Biomass Pellet Routes: Feasibility in Italy

et al. 2020

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Wood and agricultural biomass pellets boost the potential as bio-fuels toward power production in tertiary and residential sectors. The production of pellets, however, is a multi-stage process where the supply-processing phases and the overall energy input strongly depend on the characteristics of the input biomass. In this paper, we describe the key features of the market for pellets in Italy, including national production and consumption data, production costs and prices, the available energy conversion systems, and the current regulatory issues. Moreover, we outline the main technical, economic, and end-user barriers that should be addressed in order to foster the growth of Italian pellet production. Additionally, we propose a methodology to evaluate the profitability of the pellet production chain, by assessing the investment and operation costs as a function of the quality of the raw biomass. The approach is applied to a real case study of a small firm producing wooden frames along with dry wood chips as the main by-product, which can be utilized subsequently for pellet production. Moreover, in order to optimize the size of the pellet production plant, further biomass was purchased from the market, including wood pruning and agricultural residues, wood chips from forestry, and uncontaminated residues of wood processing firms. A sensitivity analysis of the main technical and economic parameters (including the cost and quality of raw material, pellet market value, investment and operational costs, and plant lifetime) indicated that the biomass market price considerably affects the profitability of pellet production plants, particularly where the biomass has a high moisture content. Therefore, a 20% increase in the price of biomass with a high moisture content leads to a 60% fall in profitability index, turning it into negative one. This is due in particular to the costs of pre-treatment and drying of biomass, as well as to the lower energy content of wet biomass. As a result, the use of forestry residues with high moisture and high ash content, high costs of collection/transport, and high costs of pre-treatment and drying is not financially competitive.

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Study of a Large Square Baler with Innovative Technological Systems that Optimize the Baling Effectiveness

Cited by 28 publications

References 22 publications

Techno-Economic Analysis of ZnO Nanoparticles Pretreatments for Biogas Production from Barley Straw

Techno-Economic Analysis of ZnO Nanoparticles Pretreatments for Biogas Production from Barley Straw

Optimal and Robustly Optimal Consumption of Stretch Film Used for Wrapping Cylindrical Baled Silage

Techno-Economic Modeling of Biomass Pellet Routes: Feasibility in Italy

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