ASABE Technical Library - Abstract

Click on “Download PDF” for the PDF version or on the title for the HTML version.
If you are not an ASABE member or if your employer has not arranged for access to the full-text, view access and subscription options

Ultrasonic Cutting of Energy Crops

Published by the American Society of Agricultural and Biological Engineers, St. Joseph, Michigan www.asabe.org

Citation:  2012 Dallas, Texas, July 29 - August 1, 2012  121336872.(doi:10.13031/2013.41713)
Authors:   Bo Liu, A Bulent Koc
Keywords:   Ultrasonic, cutting, biomass, blade, finite element method, switchgrass

Agricultural and forest residues in addition to energy crops are major biomass feedstocks for biofuel production. Cutting of biomass feedstocks during harvesting and preprocessing is one of the challenges for sustainable biofuel production. The objective of this study was to investigate the effects of an ultrasonic cutting blade on shearing switchgrass. Finite element methodology was used to model the ultrasonic cutting blades and its interactions with switchgrass during cutting. Experimental investigations were performed using a cutting rig to validate the model. Compared to conventional cutting, ultrasonic cutting reduced the force and energy consumption for cutting switchgrass while the cutting speed did not affect the cutting performance of the ultrasonic blade. Details of the finite element modeling and the experimental results are presented in this paper.

(Download PDF)    (Export to EndNotes)