The Department of Biological and Agricultural Engineering at UC Davis recently completed an assessment of the available technologies for forest biomass harvesting which could be appropriate for use in the Sierra Nevada. The work was funded by the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection (CALFIRE). The aim of was to lower the net cost of reducing fire danger in forested areas of the central Sierra Nevada and improve the feasibility of utilizing removed biomass for useful energy
The report assessed equipment such as the John Deere 1490D Slash Bundler
The report is available in PDF format on the California Biomass Collaborative website here. There is also a page which has a compilation of videos of the various types of equipment in use. This is a great resource to help people understand the complex range of in woods equipment that is now available.
Much of the new equipment combines tasks in an attempt to become more efficient when compared to traditional single task machines (for example a feller, forwarder, skidder, processor or chipper). Other new pieces of equipment are single task, for example a slash bundler, but they aim to make forest biomass operations more efficient.
This Silvatech 878 CH chipper-forwarder collects slash and chips it in the forest prior to unloading into a truck at a landing
Most of this equipment is very expensive and the output product (usually chip) has a low value compared to traditional forest products (such as saw logs). The equipment is also highly specialised making it difficult to use for other tasks. Additonally much of the equipment is designed to work with cut to length systems rather than whole tree harvesting systems as practiced in California.
The report outlines the fundamental principles of efficiency for mechanised forestry operations and contains significant analysis on the operational costs of different systems. It concludes with recomendations to utilize existing equipment in the Sierra Nevada and also suggests modifications and new equipment ideas that could be applicable to the area.
Links:
Compilation of equipment videos
This video was made to accompany the publication "Wood Heat Solutions: A Community Guide to Biomass Thermal Projects". The video is 13 minutes and showcases the first fuels for schools project in Oregon at Enterprise High School (Wallowa County, OR). It highlights the use of a local fuel source, the energy savings performance contract, and the financial savings to the school district.
Video production was led by Resource Innovations at the University of Oregon.
If you are considering investing in a wood based heating system for institutional facilities, such as schools, offices or swimming pools, the video and guide are a good starting point to help you understand the basics and are highly recommmended.
If you have further questions please contact Gareth Mayhead at UC Berkeley.
This is a video of the flare from a Fluidyne Andes class gasifier running at about 1.2 million BTU/hr. The flare is after cooling and bag filtration of the gas produced from wood chips. It is shown flaring at night and also during the day (it is harder to see the flare during daylight).
This project is located in California and will demonstrate electricity generation from the gas using an internal combustion engine. The system will be connected to the electricity grid. It will also prove the concept of using the gas in place of propane in a commercial greenhouse heating system.
Wood chips produced using a conical screw chipper are the fuel source
Large wood chips are used as the feedstock for the downdraft gasifier. The process reacts the woodchips at high temperatures with a controlled amount of oxygen (and steam from the moisture in the chip) to produce a synthesis gas. The three main stages of the process are distillation, oxidation and reduction of the feedstock. You can see on the video that the gas burns with a blue flame (almost like natural gas) showing that it is clean and pure which means that it may be combusted in an internal combustion engine to generate electricity. The Fluidyne website has more detailed information on the process and synthesis gas produced.
The project is exciting as it is exploring the opporuntity for rural businesses to reduce their fuel costs and provide a market for material from fuels reduction projects. Watch this space for further updates.
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