Transportation of corn residue: After collection from
field, corn trash/skin/stem should be piled up and to
facilitate the handling. Theoretically, tractors are not
suitable for biomass transportation for long distance. The
most suitable way to transport corn residues is truck.
Because corn residues is very bulky, 4 ton of corn
residues can be transported by truck.
Processing of corn residues into bio-pellet: Prior to
using corn residues as fuel, the processing, e.g. drying,
grinding and pelletizing of corn trash/skin and stem is
necessary to improve the properties of corn trash/skin and
stem to be used as solid fuel. Corn residues should be
dried until the moisture content is less than 15%. The
processing unit consists of shredder and pelleting
machine and it can be operated in two ways. The first is
installing the processing unit on-field (decentralized) and
the second way is set up the centralized processing unit.
To operate the decentralized processing unit, the
transportation of corn trash/skin and stem is not required.
Each cultivation area will have one processing unit to
operate in its field. The capacity of processing unit should
not exceed 100 kg/h. For the centralized processing unit,
corn trash/skin and stem must be delivered to the
processing plant and the distance of transportation should
20 km. From this study, it is feasible to establish the
centrailized process unit in each district in Nakorn Sawan
and Petchaboon. Fig. 5 and Fig. 6 show the amount of
corn residues in each district in Nakorn Sawan and
Petchaboon as well as the amount of mill industry and
biomass power plant which need bio-fuel for heat and
power production.
Fig. 5. Transportation route, amount of corn residues in each district,
amount of mill industry and biomass power plant in Nakorn Sawan
Fig. 6. Transportation route, amount of corn residues in each district,
amount of mill industry and biomass power plant in Petchaboon
The value in Fig. 5 and Fig. 6 represent the amount of
corn residues in tone per year in each city. The upper
value shows the amount of fresh corn residue with the
high moisture content of 60%, while the lower value
indicated the amount of corn residues with 15% moisture
content after collection for 2 weeks. Because corn
residues should the dried to 15% moisture content prior
to processing, the lower value is considered to be the real
amount of corn residues available for using as alternative
fuel. Bio-pellet from the processing unit, both
decentralized and centralized, can be sold to the mill
industry and biomass power plant within the province or
transported to other industries outside the province.
Fig. 7. shows the equipments of the processing unit
and Table V provides the detail and specification of
processing units which were used as the model in this
study. These include a 2 t/h and 1 t/h as well as a 100
kh/h processing unit for decentralized system processing
unit for centralized system.
Fig. 7. Processing Unit
Shredder
Screw Conveyor
Pelleting Machine
Belt Conveyor
2013 International Conference on Alternative Energy in Developing Countries and Emerging Economies
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