Predicting Field Efficiency of Round-Baling Operations in High-Yielding Biomass Crops
1
Biological Systems Engineering, Virginia Tech, Blacksburg, VA 24061, USA
2
Environmental Sciences Division, Oak Ridge National Laboratory, Oak Ridge, TN 37831, USA
*
Author to whom correspondence should be addressed.
AgriEngineering 2020, 2(3), 447-457; https://doi.org/10.3390/agriengineering2030030
Received: 20 June 2020
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Revised: 15 July 2020
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Accepted: 19 July 2020
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Published: 22 July 2020
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Advances in Mechanization and Agricultural Automation)
Model simulations for bioenergy harvest planning need to utilize equipment-capacity relationships for equipment operating under the high-yield conditions typical of a biomass crop. These performance assumptions have a direct bearing on the estimates of machine capacity, the number of machines required, and, therefore, the cost to fulfill the biorefinery plant demands for a given harvest window. Typically, two major issues in these models have been poorly understood: the available time required to complete the harvest operation (often called probability of workdays) and the capacity of the harvest equipment as impacted by yield. Simulations use annual yield estimates, which incorporate weather events, to demonstrate year-to-year effects. Some simulations also incorporate potential yield increases from genetically modified energy crops. There are limited field performance data for most current forage equipment used for harvesting high-yield biomass crops. Analysis shows that the impact of wrap/eject time for round balers resulted in a 50% reduction in achieved throughput capacity (Mg/h). After the maximum throughput is reached, the cost of the round bale operation (3.23 USD/Mg) is double that of the large-square baler (1.63 USD/Mg). The round baler achieved throughput capacity is 50% less (32.7 Mg/h compared to 71.0 Mg/h) than the large-square baler.
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Keywords:
balers; machinery modeling; energy crop; geo-referenced data; harvest; herbaceous biomass; machinery management
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MDPI and ACS Style
Grisso, R.“.; Cundiff, J.S.; Webb, E.G. Predicting Field Efficiency of Round-Baling Operations in High-Yielding Biomass Crops. AgriEngineering 2020, 2, 447-457. https://doi.org/10.3390/agriengineering2030030
AMA Style
Grisso R“, Cundiff JS, Webb EG. Predicting Field Efficiency of Round-Baling Operations in High-Yielding Biomass Crops. AgriEngineering. 2020; 2(3):447-457. https://doi.org/10.3390/agriengineering2030030
Chicago/Turabian StyleGrisso, Robert “., John S. Cundiff, and Erin G. Webb. 2020. "Predicting Field Efficiency of Round-Baling Operations in High-Yielding Biomass Crops" AgriEngineering 2, no. 3: 447-457. https://doi.org/10.3390/agriengineering2030030
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