Agriculture Reference
In-Depth Information
5.6
Summary, Future Challenges, and Recommendations
Worldwide research anddevelopment effortsto adoptexistingharvestingequip-
mentforbioenergycropshaveachievedreasonablesuccess.Withcurrenttechnol-
ogy, it is possible to harvest most of the bioenergy crops with reasonable efficiency.
However, biomass harvesting still constitutes a significant portion, for example,
about 32.5 % for sugar cane, of crop production cost, and many technological chal-
lenges still need to be addressed. To address these technological challenges, col-
laboration between the manufacturing industry and research universities is highly
desirable. Limited acreage under bioenergy crops due to lack of market for biomass
is a major constraint in the development of machinery dedicated to bioenergy
production.
Design modification to meet crop-specific needs is one of the ways to reduce
the biomass harvesting cost. The model of having a crop-specific head with a
common power unit looks promising. Proper matching of the machine capacities,
involved in multiple passes, is critical in optimizing the delivered biomass cost.
Similarly, operator education and operational management decisions are also crit-
ical. Furthermore, number of machines involved in harvesting and transport of the
bioenergy crops need to be reduced to minimize the cost and to increase system
reliability. Single-pass machines might help to bring down the harvest cost.
Similarly, the critical submachine systems need to be identified and redesigned to
increase the throughput rate of harvesting machinery. Documentation of bioen-
ergy machinery evaluation should also be encouraged to avoid duplication of
work and to promote efficient utilization of resources made available for bioen-
ergy research.
Yield variability, within a plot and between plots, is another critical factor affect-
ing harvesting cost. If equipment is operated at almost constant field speed in the
low yielding as well as in the high yielding areas, then the harvest cost for the low
yielding areas would be higher compared to the high yielding areas. Although a
highly skilled operator can adjust the field speed of a machine according to yield
levels, use of an onboard biomass yield sensor can play a critical role in automati-
cally adjusting the field speed [ 40 , 41 ]. In addition to biomass yield sensing, there
is a need to develop methods for infield sensing of biomass quality such as ash
content, sugar content, and cellulose content. If biomass from a bale or a wagon has
higher ash content, then this specific biomass may be diverted to nonfuel purposes
such as livestock bedding.
Overall, machinery to harvest bioenergy crops is available though there is need
to improve their performance. Sensing methods can help in reducing variability in
harvesting cost by variable speed control and determining the biomass quality while
harvesting.
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