| Forest Products Equipment - Biomass Bale-Out |
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| Friday, 14 August 2009 07:12 | ||
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Just a decade ago in the U.S., there were few who foresaw the notion of collecting woody debris for energy purposes. Now, many can see the potential in “harvesting” biomass, the question has become how best to do it. Following is a look at three machines that not only collect, but also contain, woody debris. [...] FLD Biomass (www.fldbiomass.com), a Canadian group, created a harvester machine in 2007, designed specifically for short-rotation, woody crop willows. Sensing there was a larger market for such a device, the group turned to SUPERTRAK (www.supertrak.com) in Florida for assistance with testing and development. “The question was, could we convert it to an under-story biomass harvester for use in forest plantations,” says Tom King, president of SUPERTRAK. FLD, assisted by SUPERTRAK made design modifications and produced a second prototype, which was put into testing in mid-2008. From there, additional modifications were made and the third-generation unit is now in final testing. “The most significant changes were to the drive mechanism to manage the two apparatus: one apparatus is a custom mulching head that’s reversed and runs backwards from a standard mulcher, so it cuts up instead of down. And, we modified the teeth of an existing mulcher, making sort of a hybrid of a forest harvester and mulcher—it produced sort of a cup with knives, so it cuts finer but has a suction effect to it,” King explains. Clutches were added on the mulching head, as well a disconnect clutch on the baling unit. And a chain baling mechanism was added to the rear door to assist in starting the roll. Finally, the unit was “beefed up” dramatically to handle the rigors of working in the woods.
The BioBaler WB-55 is a tow-behind unit. “We would drive through fifth-row thinnings and there’s a tongue offset on the baler, so we can offset the baler to go left, right or center behind the tractor. It doesn’t really matter if the material is run over first, but the offset allows you to go around a 6-inch or larger tree. It’s designed for 4-inch-minus. You can eat a 6-inch tree with it, but it slows you down. While it’s cutting, whether the material is standing or on the ground, it lifts the material and throws it into the ‘mouth’ of the baler, where a horizontal shaft lifts the mulch material and forces it into the baling chamber. There is also a ‘limiting bar’ to limit the size of the material that can be put into the baling chamber. The material, up to 2 inches in diameter, that makes it through is then baled up.” The bale produced looks similar to a rolled hay bale. Handling is just as easy. “Anyone who’s ever handled a round bale of hay can handle these bales,” says King. “You just take a bale spear, stick it and load it.” Pressure can be set to adjust the density of the bale. In testing, bale sizes ranged from about 1,000 to 1,200 pounds, he reports, with efficiency increasing during the testing period from six bales per hour to as many as 15 bales per hour produced in unmanaged regrowth under-story situations. “The potential is much larger than that in plantations,” he adds. King points out that the BioBaler also serves as a mid-rotation, under-story and fire-prevention tool. He also foresees development of a larger crawler-type unit that could work in steeper, rougher, wetter conditions. A production model FLD BioBaler WB-55 is slated to be re-leased in the third quarter of 2009. SUPERTRAK is the representative in the U.S. for FLD Biomass.
Read the full story at http://www.fpemagazine.com/article.php?id=3506 |
