Abstract
Transport of wood biomass is one of the key operations in forestry and in the wood industry. An important part is the transport of shredded wood, where the most common forms are chips and sawdust. The aim of the research was to present the variability of the total weight of trucks (gross vehicle weight, GVW), the weight of the empty trucks (tare), and loads of chips and sawdust in different periods of the year. Changes in specific parameters were analyzed: GVW; tare weight; trailer capacity; use of the trailer load capacity; bulk volume and bulk density of wood biomass loads; solid cubic meter (m3) and weight of 1m3 of the load; and load weight depending on the season, with simultaneous measurements of wood chips and sawdust moisture. More than 250 transports from four seasons of the year were analyzed in the research. It was found that the total weight of trucks (GVW) was at a comparable level, on average from 39.42 to 39.64 Mg with slight differences (with SD 0.29 and 0.39). The weight of empty trucks was 16.15 Mg for chip-bearing trucks and 15.93 Mg for sawdust-bearing trucks (with SD 0.604 and 0.526). The type of wood material has an influence on the transported volume. The average quantity of load in the bulk cubic meter was 64.783 m3 for wood chips (SD 3.127) and 70.465 m3 (SD 2.516) for sawdust. Over 30% differences in the volume of transported wood chips and approximately 18% for sawdust were observed. The use of the loading capacity of the trailer was on average 72.58% (SD 5.567) for the transport of wood chips and 77.42% (SD 3.019) for the transport of sawdust. The sawdust bulk density was from 0.3050 to 0.4265 Mg⋅m−3 for wood chips and 0.3200 to 0.3556 Mg⋅m−3 for sawdust. This parameter is significantly dependent on moisture content, and the determined correlation functions can be used for estimating and predicting bulk density. The abovementioned absolute moisture content of chips and sawdust also depends on the season, which also affects the selected parameters of wood biomass loads.
Highlights
This is the result of the activities of the manufacturer producing wood biomass, where the gross vehicle weight (GVW) of the transport sets for chips and sawdust to recipients is controlled, so that it does not exceed the weight allowed by law
As part of the work, research and analysis of transports of wood biomass, chips, and sawdust were carried out, which were obtained in the processing of large-size pine wood in different seasons of the year
In the case under consideration, the average annual absolute moisture content of chips was significantly higher than the average absolute moisture content of sawdust
Summary
Angus-Hankin et al [1] report that the most common transport of biomass is the transport of shavings, wood chips, and bark from the processing of roundwood. Reasonable transport-distances of wood chips depend on their origin. Wolfsmayr and Rauch [7] indicate that the maximum economically reasonable distance for road transport of wood chips is equal to 145 km. These distances are longer—for example, in Poland the average distance for transporting this type of wooden materials to power plants is 340 km [8]
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