Download (4Mb) - USQ ePrints - University of Southern Queensland

More documents

Recommendations

Info

For the purposes of this study, no further consideration of the rail system will be undertaken. Mallee System An economic analysis by Olsen et al. (2004) concluded that the low rainfall (300-600 mm) wheatbelt environment will only support low levels of woody biomass production per square kilometre over the landscape as a whole. Further, typical paddock sizes vary from 100 ha to 1,000 ha. The amount of biomass will be modest in the short and medium term, however in the long term, the removal of up to about 10,000 green tonnes of material from a medium sized farm covered with 10% mallee may be achievable (Giles and Harris, 2003). There is general agreement that to meet its challenging operating cost target, the mallee supply chain should be continuous so that there is no temporary storage (other than very short term surge buffers in bins) involving an unload/reload step from harvester to the processing plant (Bartle and Abadi, 2010). Hence, the chipped mallee will be delivered to the processing facility via infield transport and road transport. Materials handling must be very efficient to fit within the economic constraints of the whole production and processing system. 3.2 Infield Equipment Infield transport, sometimes called on-farm haulage or forwarding, refers to the transfer of biomass from the harvester to a delivery point for loading on to transport to the processing facility. It is an important part of the supply chain and has been shown to be one of the major components in the delivered cost. Sugar System Billeted sugarcane is directly loaded from the harvester into following infield transport equipment in the field. The infield transport follows the harvester whilst filling, then swaps with an empty transport to allow the harvester to continue work. The purpose of the infield transport equipment is to transport material from the harvester to the receival point for the long distance transportation system. This is usually a rail siding or road transport pad. At the receival point the sugarcane is transferred to the railway or road transport bins. As such the infield equipment only travels relatively short distances (
same time, the potential problems of bringing road trains into the paddocks without properly formed and stabilised pads and secure access off all weather roads will make it difficult to consistently and reliably directly link the road and infield systems without significant expense. A third stage of transport, which has some infield capability and a high road speed, could be used to link the haulouts with the road system. The road transport receival points or landings could be spaced over 10 km apart, which would increase the tonnage passing over each landing each year and so make road transport landing preparation more affordable. Landings could also be located opportunistically, on suitable soil types or even use existing sites like abandoned railway sidings, making site stabilisation and paving unnecessary or only a modest cost. 3.2.1 Configuration Sugar System Billeted sugarcane infield haulout equipment has evolved from single 3 tonne roll-on/roll-off rail bins carried on trailers drawn by standard farm tractors to dedicated self-propelled units often carrying in excess of 14 tonnes of cane. The current range of sugarcane haulout vehicles is the result of many evolutionary changes, some of which were not appropriate for the industry. Harvesting of sugarcane in Queensland and in Northern NSW has, in the past, posed many problems in wet fields. Following heavy rain, mobility and manoeuvrability have been restricted and deep rutting has resulted. Full-track (e.g. steel and rubber) equipment and high flotation tipper bins (tracked or tyres) and tipper-elevator bins have been developed by manufacturers to improve operating efficiency. Rubber-tracked vehicles have lower maximum haul distances (2-4 km) than wheeled vehicles (5 km or greater). The rubber tracked infield vehicles still have some limitations as trailer track life of less than one season has been reported. This is mainly due to high number of turns required. However, rubber track designs are continually improving. For NSW harvesting conditions, a set of rubber tracks have a life expectancy of approximately three seasons for two haulouts operating on a 750 m averaged haul distance (12 500 km track life for both haulout and tractor). There are various combinations of infield haulout equipment in use throughout the sugar industry. These include drawn (e.g. tractor, Cat Challenger, JBS Fastrack) and self-propelled. A feature of the Australian sugarcane industry has been the extensive-use of self propelled haulouts. Similarly, there are various combinations of containment and unloading mechanisms. These include roll on/roll off railway bins, mesh sided bins with side tipping capability (side tippers) to bins with end lift and cross elevator unload (elevating tipper bins). Average speeds for the rubber tracked machines are about 25 km/hr unloaded and 20 km/hr when loaded. Tractor drawn vehicles have operating speeds of about 40 km/hr unloaded and 30 km/hr when loaded. There are self-propelled vehicles which can travel at speeds in excess of these speeds (up to 60 km/hr unloaded). Maximum allowable loading for public road usage of rubber tracks in NSW have not been determined. To date, compliance requirements of cane bins equipped with rubber tracked vehicles in NSW has been restricted to issues of dimensions, brakes and lights. As RTA NSW regulations do not allow concessional axle loadings for wheeled sugarcane haulouts fitted with high flotation, low pressure tyres, it is realistic to assume that a maximum allowable pavement load for rubber tracks of significantly less than the 28 tonnes allowed in Queensland. Various examples of the combinations of infield haulout equipment in use throughout the sugarcane industry are outlined. 82
Page 1 and 2:
Sustainable Biomass Supply Chain fo
Page 3 and 4:
Foreword This report provides an as
Page 5 and 6:
include business development (new p
Page 7 and 8:
Acknowledgments The authors would l
Page 9 and 10:
4.1 Product Options and Supply Chai
Page 11 and 12:
Table 4.2 Assessment of current val
Page 13 and 14:
Figure 3.4 Tracked rigid self-prope
Page 15 and 16:
Executive Summary What the report i
Page 17 and 18:
• Biomass production potential of
Page 19 and 20:
• As the Industry expands, the mo
Page 21 and 22:
Harvesting, transport and storage s
Page 23 and 24:
Biomass processing, supply chain pl
Page 25 and 26:
Key barriers to biomass industries
Page 27 and 28:
Crop-Biomass Production Production
Page 29 and 30:
Figure 1.1 The cropping and pasture
Page 31 and 32:
Table 1.1 Mallee species used for p
Page 33 and 34:
1.1.4 Growth Cycle Mallee System Ma
Page 35 and 36:
northern New South Wales (where it
Page 37 and 38:
Almost 80% of the industry now cuts
Page 39 and 40:
Bark has relatively high ash but as
Page 41 and 42:
Carbon sinks Planting of mallees to
Page 43 and 44:
Table 1.5(a) State Land area devote
Page 45 and 46:
out the fluctuations in farm income
Page 47 and 48:
Mallee system Most of the mallee bi
Page 49 and 50:
inconclusive result may have been d
Page 51 and 52:
For a sustainable woody crop indust
Page 53 and 54: changed significantly since they we
Page 55 and 56: Figure 2.2 Biosystems Engineering p
Page 57 and 58: Whole-of-crop harvesting represents
Page 59 and 60: During the last decade the harvesti
Page 61 and 62: single row, as this would improve t
Page 63 and 64: 2.2.2.2 Weight Sugar System The Aus
Page 65 and 66: Table 2.1 Harvester Comparison Tabl
Page 67 and 68: The quality of cut may be less impo
Page 69 and 70: ate than a 170 tonne/ha crop of sta
Page 71 and 72: Dry Leaf 6.1 - 3.5 17.0 58.9 53.2 T
Page 73 and 74: Bulk density will be a key consider
Page 75 and 76: Table 2.4 EM levels in cane supply
Page 77 and 78: L/T L/T 60 0.97 0.71 80 0.92 0.66 1
Page 79 and 80: Total 7.5-26 16.5 Mallee System The
Page 81 and 82: • waiting for mill delivery of em
Page 83 and 84: perhaps at 10 - 20 km intervals. Th
Page 85 and 86: transport arrangements, harvest gro
Page 87 and 88: contractors and growers, and the fa
Page 89 and 90: experience of the sugar industry wi
Page 91 and 92: Table 2.11 Alternative harvest paym
Page 93 and 94: onto the harvester. BR+F still send
Page 95 and 96: Repairs and maintenance 2.10 Capita
Page 97 and 98: Figure 2.14 and Table 2.14 describe
Page 99 and 100: Sichter et al. (2005)), harvest and
Page 101 and 102: Transport efficiencies may be possi
Page 103: 3. Transport and Storage Systems Tr
Page 107 and 108: Figure 3.3 Articulated self-propell
Page 109 and 110: • The harvester will not have any
Page 111 and 112: Figure 3.7 Gross mass compared with
Page 113 and 114: external factors dramatically impac
Page 115 and 116: Figure 3.11 The effect of haulout t
Page 117 and 118: 3.3 Road Transport 3.3.1 Configurat
Page 119 and 120: Figure 3.15 shows an example of the
Page 121 and 122: Road distance one way < 20 km 70 km
Page 123 and 124: Haul distance is largely outside th
Page 125 and 126: 3.6 Recommendations The nature of t
Page 127 and 128: • The strategy offered lower tota
Page 129 and 130: sugarcane billets are such that wit
Page 131 and 132: • Transfer the whole tree product
Page 133 and 134: Figure 4.5(b) Energy balance of con
Page 135 and 136: 2010). Table 4.2 presents a summary
Page 137 and 138: 4.4.2 Activated charcoal Activated
Page 139 and 140: Nett Product Value ($/t) $475.00 $
Page 141 and 142: Table 4.9 presents an estimation of
Page 143 and 144: • Oil from leaf @ $2/kg • Synth
Page 145 and 146: • The mallee oil would be extract
Page 147 and 148: 5. Industry and Business Structures
Page 149 and 150: is conducted into tariff levels on
Page 151 and 152: Bx is % brix in first expressed jui
Page 153 and 154: Hildebrand (2002) estimated that th
Page 155 and 156:
also has a flow on effect to the sp
Page 157 and 158:
Sugar Industry Illustrative Example
Page 159 and 160:
with super size multi-lift bins ove
Page 161 and 162:
farmer vs. harvester) is the next l
Page 163 and 164:
6. Supply Chain Planning and Manage
Page 165 and 166:
Figure 6.1 Building blocks of the s
Page 167 and 168:
weighed against the costs of operat
Page 169 and 170:
• There is close contact between
Page 171 and 172:
6.4 Planning, Management Tools and
Page 173 and 174:
• Harvest and transport logistics
Page 175 and 176:
interface. The system allows users
Page 177 and 178:
Case Study 6.2 - Model Application
Page 179 and 180:
Relationships between sectors and p
Page 181 and 182:
7. Supply Chain Modelling and Econo
Page 183 and 184:
It was assumed that there was a fif
Page 185 and 186:
Table 7.2 Scenario two capital equi
Page 187 and 188:
Table 7.4 Fuel burn rates harvester
Page 189 and 190:
Figure 7.5 Effect of capital equipm
Page 191 and 192:
Figure 7.7 Effect of annual tonnes
Page 193 and 194:
30 1.8 7.0 12.3 17.5 50 1.1 4.3 7.6
Page 195 and 196:
8. Conclusions and Recommendations
Page 197 and 198:
Biomass bulk density has a large im
Page 199 and 200:
Vehicles used for infield haulout w
Page 201 and 202:
This can be compared with harvest a
Page 203 and 204:
While diversification can add value
Page 205 and 206:
Appendix 1: Comparative Assessment
Page 207 and 208:
and transport conditions. Billet le
Page 209 and 210:
that cane production is the most pr
Page 211 and 212:
on sugar only, other proceeds (mola
Page 213 and 214:
References Agnew, J 2002. A Partici
Page 215 and 216:
Enecon 2001. Integrated Tree Proces
Page 217 and 218:
Keating, BA, Antony, G, Brennan, LE
Page 219 and 220:
Ridge, DR and Linedale, AL, 1997. T
Page 221:
Willcox, T, Hussey, B, Chapple, D a
show all

Download (4Mb) - USQ ePrints - University of Southern Queensland

You also want an ePaper? Increase the reach of your titles

Delete template?

Save as template?