Modeling Air Drying of Sitka Spruce (Picea sitchensis) Biomass in Off-Forest Storage Yards in Ireland
2012
Murphy, Glen | Kent, Tom | Kofman, Pieter D.
Moisture management, through storage and drying in the supply chain between harvesting and use, is key to improving both transportation costs and market values of woody biomass. Storage can take place at sites within the forest or in off-forest storage yards. A model for predicting the moisture content of Sitka spruce roundwood and energy wood under an open, off-forest, environment was developed for Ireland. Experimental data for the model were gathered over a 16-month period beginning in April 2007. The major factors affecting biomass moisture content change are cumulative precipitation and evapotranspiration (ET0), biomass type, and type of cover. ET0 was computed using the FAO Penman-Monteith method, which requires temperature, solar radiation, wind, and relative humidity data. The model was easily used in a spreadsheet to estimate drying times for different locations in Ireland, different starting seasons for drying, different biomass types, and different types of cover. The model should not be used for estimating drying times for in-forest biomass storage because it will overestimate drying rates considerably.
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