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mainly tops, leaves and trash, is extracted by a blast of air, the chopped cane loaded into a bin drawn alongside the harvester and the extraneous matter discharged into the field. In whole cane harvesting operations all material is transported to the mill. Chapter 2 provides a detailed review of harvesting systems. The average yield and the sugar content of the cane has stayed reasonable stable over the last 15 years (approximately 80 t/Ha and 14% commercial cane sugar (CCS) respectively) although there have been some fluctuations in both parameters, primarily driven by climatic conditions. The components of this yield will vary with age of crop, region and variety. Table 2.4 provides a summary of typical cane composition, typically 90% clean cane, 4% tops, 5% trash and 1% dirt. Extraneous matter affects sugar quality and causes problems in the manufacture of raw sugar. This extraneous matter includes tops, trash and leaves, and roots and soil, included with the chopped cane. Extraneous matter will also impact bulk density. Extraneous matter levels of 6% are typically found in burnt cane rising to 12% in green cane and 25% in whole cane. Bulk density varies between 200t/m 3 for whole-cane to 380t/m 3 burnt cane (Table 2.3). 1.2.2 Product Characteristics Mallee System It is imperative that biomass feedstocks from short rotation woody crops have multiple uses so that higher value fractions will increase the value of biomass produced in the paddock. The importance of multiple uses for mallee biomass, particularly in relation to eucalyptus oil, has been discussed in more detail by Cooper et al. (2001). The biomass must be comminuted in some way to achieve acceptable bulk handling characteristics and increase the bulk density of the biomass. As a bulk material, the biomass must flow as well as possible. This means minimising the proportion of long pieces such as twigs, sticks, and the long slivers that can be produced from larger wood sections. Traditional wood chipping is seen as the most suitable method of comminution as it produces a flowable material with an acceptable level of whole twigs and small sticks. Mallees have the potential to yield a wide range of products in association with their environmental benefits (see Table 1.4). Section 4.4 of this document provides further detail. Table 1.4 Potential uses of mallee. Eucalyptus oil For use in industrial solvents, fuel additives and specialized cleaning products. Presently, most widely used within the pharmaceutical industry. Activated Carbon Wood composites Biomass Fuel Liquid fuel Used primarily within the gold industry and for water purification. Such products include Medium Density Fibreboard (MDF), cement wood products and particle board. Using mallee biomass as a renewable resource to produce electricity, fuel pellets, or thermal boiler fuel as a basic chipped, dried product. Production of ethanol or pyrolysis bio-oil from mallee biomass for transport fuels. 17
Carbon sinks Planting of mallees to absorb and store carbon based pollutants from the production of Greenhouse gas emissions. In consideration of the specific markets that the biomass is to be used for, the fundamental market characteristics must be considered. If the wood chip is to be used to make charcoal products, larger chips may be desirable as the smallest dimension (typically the thickness) influences the quality of the end product. Consistency in chip size is also a factor so that the chips all pyrolyse over a similar time. If leaf oil is is the target market, a comminution process that strikes an optimum balance between flowable bulk biomass and minimum leaf damage is preferred, as the leaf oil is volatile and increased leaf damage increases oil evaporation. Apart from extractives such as oil, foliage will most likely become bioenergy feedstock which does not have very specific particle requirements. Many bioenergy processes (e.g. co-firing with coal, fuel pellet manufacture and pyrolysis for bio-oil) require fine grinding of the biomass prior to the conversion process. Wood chip for any industrial process needs to be sound and of consistent size. The comminution step on the harvester must maintain a focus upon wood chip quality. Sugar system In addition to raw sugar (the primary output), the mills produce useful by-products such as molasses and bagasse. Molasses is the dark syrup separated from the raw sugar crystals during the milling process. It is used as a raw material in distilleries where industrial alcohol (such as ethanol), rum and carbon dioxide are made. Molasses is also used in feed for animals such as cattle, and is sold to both the domestic and export markets. Section 4.1 of this document provides further detail. Bagasse is the expended cane fibre which remains after the juice has been extracted. It provides nearly all of the fuel required for steam and electricity generation at the mills. In addition, some mills (e.g. Condong and Broadwater in NSW) have moved towards whole crop harvesting in an endeavor to generate a significant amount of electricity that is added back into the grid. This is an ongoing work. Bagasse is also used as mulch (and potentially as a stockfeed) in areas where excess bagasse is produced. By-products ash and filter mud are used as a fertiliser on cane farms and gardens. Boiler ash is "scrubbed" from the mill stacks and filter mud is the residue left after the sugar has been clarified. Ash and filter mud are used as soil conditioners on cane farms and gardens. Boiler ash is scrubbed from the mill stacks before the exhaust gases are released into the atmosphere. Filter mud is the residue left after the sugar cane juice has been clarified. Molasses is the black syrup remaining after the sugar syrup has been boiled and passed through the centrifugal for the last time in the mill or refinery. About 50 percent of the molasses produced in Australia is exported and the remainder is used in stock feed and in distilleries where industrial alcohol (ethanol), rum and carbon dioxide are made. 18
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: Bark has relatively high ash but as
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
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onto the harvester. BR+F still send
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Repairs and maintenance 2.10 Capita
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Figure 2.14 and Table 2.14 describe
Page 99 and 100:
Sichter et al. (2005)), harvest and
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Transport efficiencies may be possi
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3. Transport and Storage Systems Tr
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same time, the potential problems o
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Figure 3.3 Articulated self-propell
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• The harvester will not have any
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Figure 3.7 Gross mass compared with
Page 113 and 114:
external factors dramatically impac
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Figure 3.11 The effect of haulout t
Page 117 and 118:
3.3 Road Transport 3.3.1 Configurat
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Figure 3.15 shows an example of the
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Road distance one way < 20 km 70 km
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Haul distance is largely outside th
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3.6 Recommendations The nature of t
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• The strategy offered lower tota
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sugarcane billets are such that wit
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• Transfer the whole tree product
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Figure 4.5(b) Energy balance of con
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2010). Table 4.2 presents a summary
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4.4.2 Activated charcoal Activated
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Nett Product Value ($/t) $475.00 $
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Table 4.9 presents an estimation of
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• Oil from leaf @ $2/kg • Synth
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• The mallee oil would be extract
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5. Industry and Business Structures
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is conducted into tariff levels on
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Bx is % brix in first expressed jui
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Hildebrand (2002) estimated that th
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also has a flow on effect to the sp
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Sugar Industry Illustrative Example
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with super size multi-lift bins ove
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farmer vs. harvester) is the next l
Page 163 and 164:
6. Supply Chain Planning and Manage
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Figure 6.1 Building blocks of the s
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weighed against the costs of operat
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• There is close contact between
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6.4 Planning, Management Tools and
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• Harvest and transport logistics
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interface. The system allows users
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Case Study 6.2 - Model Application
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Relationships between sectors and p
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7. Supply Chain Modelling and Econo
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It was assumed that there was a fif
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Table 7.2 Scenario two capital equi
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Table 7.4 Fuel burn rates harvester
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Figure 7.5 Effect of capital equipm
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Figure 7.7 Effect of annual tonnes
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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
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and transport conditions. Billet le
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that cane production is the most pr
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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
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