We found a match
Your institution may have access to this item. Find your institution then sign in to continue.
- Title
Pelleting Vineyard Pruning at Low Cost with a Mobile Technology.
- Authors
Toscano, Giuseppe; Alfano, Vincenzo; Scarfone, Antonio; Pari, Luigi
- Abstract
The goal of this work was to test a patented pruning harvester and a mobile pelleting system specifically designed for the vineyard agripellet chain. Biomass was characterized before and after storage and after the pelleting stage. The performance, the fuel consumption, and the work quality of the harvester were assessed together with the productivity and the power consumption of the mobile pelleting system. Production costs of pellet were estimated for the whole logistic chain, considering two scenarios: Storage and pelleting directly at the farm site or at a dedicated location at variable distance from the fields. For comparison, the direct production of chips without pelleting was considered. Results indicate that harvester performance was quite good and comparable with commercial solutions; the chips produced exhibited excellent storage performance, allowing direct pelleting without forced drying; the pellet quality was good comparable with that produced from forestry biomass. From an economic point of view, in-field pelleting was the most cost-effective solution, with a good margin of profit up to 57€ t−1; on the other hand, when transport to an intermediate storage center is necessary, profit margin reduces gradually and fades off at an average 50 km distance from the fields.
- Subjects
BIOMASS; ENERGY consumption; INDUSTRIAL costs; PROFIT margins; PELLETIZING
- Publication
Energies (19961073), 2018, Vol 11, Issue 9, p2477
- ISSN
1996-1073
- Publication type
Article
- DOI
10.3390/en11092477