Compressing Straw 2

Collecting, compressing and transportation of straw from fields to power station in a more convenient way
Group 24: Carl Grech (2037612) Angel Sebezan (2043947) Fabio Mossuto (2036997) Lucian-Gigi-Leampar (2020300)
Supervisor: Erik Fljgaard Kristensen 11.06.2010
Table of content
List of tables .................................................................................................................... 4 1.Executive Summary ..................................................................................................... 5 2 Introduction ................................................................................................................. 6
2.1 Background.......................................................................................................................... 6 2.2 Purpose ............................................................................................................................... 7 2.3 Problem Formulation .......................................................................................................... 8 2.4 Delimitation ......................................................................................................................... 9 2.5Model ................................................................................................................................. 10
3.Straw ........................................................................................................................... 11
3.1Compressing process ......................................................................................................... 12 3.2 SOLUTION .......................................................................................................................... 14 3.3 Weighting Table ................................................................................................................ 19 3.4 Final Solution ..................................................................................................................... 21 3.5 3D CAD Model ................................................................................................................... 22 3.6 Experiments on Straw ....................................................................................................... 23 3.7 Hydraulic cylinder selection .............................................................................................. 25 3.8 Selection of Pump ............................................................................................................. 26 3.9 Selection of Motor ............................................................................................................ 27 3.10 Selection of Coupling....................................................................................................... 28 3.11 Selection of Hoses .......................................................................................................... 29 3.12 Selection of Valves .......................................................................................................... 30 3.13 Motor for lowering metal lid and opening chamber base .............................................. 32 3.14 Conveyor belts................................................................................................................. 34 3.15 Final product and method of operation.......................................................................... 35 3.16 Hydraulic Circuit .............................................................................................................. 37 3.17 Reservation for mechanical part ..................................................................................... 38
4. Handling of straw ..................................................................................................... 39

4.1 Map & Matrix .................................................................................................................... 40 4.2 Means of Transport ........................................................................................................... 44 4.3 Choice of the Truck and calculation of the capacity ......................................................... 45 4.4 Research of the optimal paths to minimize the distance ................................................. 49
Group 24: Carl Grech, Angel Sebezan, Fabio Mossuto, Lucian
5 General overview of the straw logistics: .................................................................. 64

5.1 Calculation of the consumptions: ..................................................................................... 67 5.2 The old supply chain:......................................................................................................... 69 5.3The new supply chain: ........................................................................................................ 71 5.4 Calculating the time demand: ........................................................................................... 72 5.5 Calculating the fuel demand: ............................................................................................ 73 5.6 Calculation of the price for diesel ..................................................................................... 75 5.7 Calculating the CO2 emissions .......................................................................................... 76 5.8 Rental costs of the truck ................................................................................................... 77 5.9 Calculation about the energy produced in the power station: ......................................... 79 5.10 Total savings per year: .................................................................................................... 79
6 Conclusion .................................................................................................................. 81 7 List of references ........................................................................................................ 82 Appendix ....................................................................................................................... 84

Experiment .............................................................................................................................. 84 Background ............................................................................................................................. 88 Purpose ................................................................................................................................... 90 Problem Formulation .............................................................................................................. 91 Delimitation............................................................................................................................. 92 Model ...................................................................................................................................... 93
Process Report .............................................................................................................. 94
List of tables
Table 3.1 . Straw bales specifications Table 3.2 . Chemical compositions of straw botanic fractions Table 3.3 . Minerals in straw Table 3.4 . Morphology Table 3.5 Weighting Table Table 3.6 straw compression test (unshredded straw ) Table 3.7 straw compression test (shredded straw ) Table 3.8 pump caratheristic Table 3.9 motor Table 3.10 .Performance table of coupling Table 3. 11 Performance table for valves Table3.12. Flow control valve Table 3.13. Motor for lowering metal lid and base chamber Table 4.1 coordinate per each farm Table 4.2 square matrix Table. 5.1: Calculation of the total nutrition and its cost per year Table 5.2 Fuel consumption vs emissions Table 5.3. Vehicle coastdown time vs vehicle mass vs fuel consumption
1.Executive Summary
In todays world one of the major concerns is the generation of electricity. The cost of energy is rising as times goes by. One of the main goals is to create energy from renewable energy sources and to reduce the CO2 emissions. A solution to this problem is by the burning of straw in power plants to produce electricity. Straw is a by-product resulting from the growing of commercial crops, primarily cereal grain. A part of the straw from the field is used as a way to produce energy since the burning is easy, convenient and cheap, and it represents the most economic disposal method. The scenario we adopted takes us to the region of Reggio Emilia where a number of farms together with a power plant will be used for our project. The first part or our project will involve investigations on what is the current situation regarding the collecting of straw, baling mechanisms and how the production of bales is conducted. This includes information and details that range from straw composition to the behaviour under certain pressures. Being able to make experiments on samples of straw ourselves will give as a better idea on what solutions we should come up with. Designing various solutions will enhance the probability to create a final product that covers all our requirements. These requirements will be important in order to optimize the best production of the straw bale. One solution we will try to achieve for producing energy at a lower cost will be to be able to compress straw more than the straw bales we find today. The compression process will involve in increasing the density of the straw bale in order to have a better weight to volume ratio. The second part of the project consists of optimizing transport systems in order to be able to save up money, time, reduce pollution and incrementing the amount of energy produced by renewable sources. This will be done by taking into account the distance between the farms together with the means of transport required and the costs for the overall operation.
2 Introduction
2.1 Background
In background description we will present a general introduction about what our project will be focused on. We started from the idea to find a more convenient solution in both logistic and mechanical way of assuring the chain process from the supplier (the fields) to the power plant. In our project we wanted to combine renewable energy, machine dimensioning, logistics & economy since they are the major areas of study which we are interested in. The major inspiration was to maximize todays technology to create renewable energy as less expensive as possible. Our project will involve investigations on how we will be able to save up money, time, reduce pollution and incrementing the amount of energy produced by renewable sources. The problem has arisen since it is too expensive to transfer straw from field to power station since untreated straw takes a large volume while having a small mass. Our main goal is to install a machine in every farm (or in every few farms) for reducing expenses by compressing straw to a further state in order to take less space and by creating a logistic way of transportation that can be implemented instead of the traditional way, where each farmer had to go directly to the power plant to deliver the straw. We have decided to deal with this problem since one of the most important issues in todays world is to create energy from renewable energy sources and to reduce the CO2 emissions. We will try to reduce the total cost for the overall process, and therefore we will be able to reduce the cost of creating electricity in general. The energy created from the power plant will be used by the farms which are supplying the straw and the surplus of energy can be sold to the national electric grid. Straw is a by-product resulting from the growing of commercial crops, primarily cereal grain. A part of the straw from the field is used as a way to produce energy since the burning is easy, convenient and cheap, and it represents the most economic disposal method. The burning of straw is also CO2 neutral, meaning that during its growth period the straw will absorb the same amounts of CO2 it emits during the burning process. Straw also has a calorific value of 3950 kcal/kg and the relation between weight and Group 24: Carl Grech, Angel Sebezan, Fabio Mossuto, Lucian 6
volume of the straw is of 30-45 (kg/m3) while that after the traditional compression method is 100-150 (kg/m3). We will investigate on how to increase the weight-volume relation in order to reduce the overall costs of transportation. The round bails which one can see on the fields have dimensions varying from 50 to 165cm with a thickness of 52cm. The traditional trucks used for transportation have a maximum length of 12metres, 4.3metres in height and 2.25metres in width and they can carry a maximum load of 32 tons. In our case we have chosen Italy as the country where the problem takes place since one can find quite a large number of fields concentrated in one area. The chosen region will be in the province of Reggio Emilia where we will individualize approximately 20 farms that exist today and we will invent our theoretical plant and place it on the map. Each farm will be having a field of approximately 200 hectares.
2.2 Purpose
The overall purpose for the project is to reduce expenses for transporting straw from field to power station . this will be possible by creating a machine that will be able to Group 24: Carl Grech, Angel Sebezan, Fabio Mossuto, Lucian 7
compress straw so that it will take less space for transportation . The most feasible way to do this will be by using some sort of piston driven by a motor and pump. Beside that we will create a logistic way of transportation in order to reduce the number of truck that are needed to transport the straw from farm to plant in the present day . This new system will make the farmers save money over the traditional ways that are used today. Solving the problem means to make a system less costly to operate than the ones that already exist. The farmers will be able to run their farms from the energy created by the extra unused straw that is left . We will be able to calculate by how much we will reduce the CO2 emissions by reducing the time for transport and while creating clean energy. Adding to this we will discuss what benefits will the farmers have and what overall investment is needed to implement this new system. On the other hand , like in any other market relationship , we way have competitors, so at the end we will discover if the new system will proposing will be feasible or not .
2.3 Problem Formulation

The main questions of our project are: How to find a better way to compress straw Group 24: Carl Grech, Angel Sebezan, Fabio Mossuto, Lucian 8
The problem involves in finding a solution to compress straw to a further value in order that it takes less volume. This obviously has to be done by a sort of machine since man power cannot compete with power developed by todays technology. The first action to take will be to investigate the current situation involving the machinery which transforms the straw into the round bails we usually see lying on the fields. The idea is to create a machine that is able of compressing straw in a defined size to make it efficient and easier to transport. To construct the machine we need to find out: What motor? What pump? What piston to use? After the machine is assembled we need to calculate the costs to produce the machine and what are the energy costs to use it? Further sub questions include: How much space we will save from the traditional round bails for transportation? We need to find out also if the power plant can use the compressed straw or if theres need de-compress the straw for burning.
How to create a logistic network that connects the farms between each other and finally to the power station After the straw is compressed, it has to be transported from the farm to the power station, and then it is eventually burned to produce electricity. The main questions involved are: Which type of transport to use? How many resources? How much money is saved from the logistic way of transportation? After considering the cost to produce the compressing machine, together with the distance between neighboring farms, we have to define how many machines we will use. And how many farms to connect with one machine. After considering all the expenses we will have the possibility to find out how much money we will save on fuel used for transportation. The answer will be closely related to what extent can the straw be compressed since we could calculate how many tons we can transport in each truck. At last the amount by how much CO2 emissions is reduced could be also calculated.
2.4 Delimitation
We will not cover in detail how the straw is collected since a solution for this problem already exists. Instead we will cover on how we can create a solution to make the straw have a lesser volume than it usually has.
We do not intend to go in detail about the production of renewable energy from straw, since the information about this subject already exists. We will consider that the farms are situated along a main road to facilitate transportation. We will assume that all the fields will produce the same amount of straw for the same area and at the same time. It will be assumed that the trucks used for transportation will consume the same amount of gasoline over the same distance. The size of the farms may not match with the farms of the territory taken into consideration for the project. This task will be in use only for few months a year. So there will be the need to create a logistic network that could also be used in the other free months of the year.
2.5Model
The first thing is to choose the area in Italy where to implement the problem. This will give us plenty of useful information about the climate, amount of straw available and the distance between the farms and power station. The mechanical part to create a machine, including the design will be made by Carl and Angel. To project this machine from a mechanical point of view we want to design a 3D Group 24: Carl Grech, Angel Sebezan, Fabio Mossuto, Lucian 10
model of the compressing machine, by choosing the appropriate parts to get the best results for the compressing of straw. For the logistic part we will use some type of algorithm to create a good network for transportation, this algorithm will be of the type neighborhood which will help to minimize the distance travelled between the farms. We have to examine which type of transport will be the most convenient for the door to door method which will be used for straw collection We will take into consideration all the cost to produce the machine, to create the logistic network and for the whole process. This part will be made by Fabio and Lucian. At the end we will combine both the mechanical, logistic and economical part to figure out if the final product will be able to save money and time over the original methods which are used today. We will give a clear picture on how much money can be saved over a period of time, where in the expenses we will be listing all the parts for the whole process, ranging from the tiniest bolt in the machine to the gasoline cost.
3.Straw
Straw is an agricultural by-product made up of the dry stalks of cereal plants, after the grain and chaff have been removed. Straw makes up about half of the yield of cereal crops such as barley, oats, rice, rye and wheat. It has many uses, including fuel, livestock bedding and fodder, thatching and basket-making. The straw is collected by a baler, which is a piece of farm machinery used to compress a cut and raked crop (such as hay, straw, or silage) into compact bales that are easy to handle, transport and store. Group 24: Carl Grech, Angel Sebezan, Fabio Mossuto, Lucian 11
Several different types of balers are commonly used, each producing a different type of bales rectangular or cylindrical, of various sizes, bound with twine, netting, or wire. The four main types of straw bales that are used nowadays are listed below. One can observe the low density the four types of straw bales have. According to our results from the experiments we made on straw we observed that the density of straw which was filled by hand in the chamber was around 100 kg/m3 (before starting compressing with the machine). This means that the baling machines are used to compact the straw together and increase slightly the density up to 140 kg/m3.Beside compacting the straw together, our goal we will consist of increasing the density of the straw bales by 4 to 6 times as much as todays bales have.
Table 3.1 . Straw bales specifications
When handling the Round, Medium-sized and Big Baler; where each have a mass exceeding 244kg, the farmer will need a special type of machinery to transport the bales from field to the truck. The straw bale which we will produce will have dimensions and mass that can be easily handled by hand, thus there will be no need of other machinery to load or unload the truck. Beside that we will be able to compress the straw to a further extent since the power plant will shred the straw before burning it.
3.1Compressing process
In order to achieve a higher density of straw bales we will need to subject the straw to high pressures, wherein the particles are forced to agglomerate. Compression of grinds is usually achieved in three stages as shown in the figure below. In the first stage, particles rearrange themselves under low pressure to form close packing. The particles retain most of their original properties, although energy is dissipated due to interparticle and particle-to-wall friction. During the second stage, elastic and plastic Group 24: Carl Grech, Angel Sebezan, Fabio Mossuto, Lucian 12
deformation of particles occurs, allowing them to flow into smaller void spaces, thus increasing inter-particle surface contact area and as a result, bonding forces become effective. Brittle particles may fracture under stress, leading to mechanical interlocking. Finally, under high pressure the second stage of compression continues until the particle density of grinds has been reached. During this phase, the particles may reach their melting point and form very strong solid bridges upon cooling. The ideal moisture content of the straw before being compressed should be about 12-15 %.
Straw contains chemical compounds such as cellulose, hemicelluloses, protein, starch, lignin, crude fibre, fat, and ash. Protein plasticizes under heat and acts as a binder, which assists in increasing the strength of pelletized product. Chemical composition and mineral values for certain types of straw, such as wheat and barley can be found in the tables below. In the presence of heat and moisture, gelatinization of starch occurs. In addition, mechanical shearing during the densification process also improves starch gelatinization. At high temperature and pressure, lignin softens and helps the binding process. Lignin has thermosetting properties and a low melting point of about 140 C. Information taken from:
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Tabl e 3.2 . Chemical compositions of straw botanic fractions
Table 3.3 . Minerals in straw
3.2 SOLUTION
Morphology In order to sort our ideas and produce different solutions we decided to use a morphological approach. The left most column shows the main functions our Group 24: Carl Grech, Angel Sebezan, Fabio Mossuto, Lucian 14
compressing machine should have, while the columns named A, B and C are different types of solutions which we can adopt to create various designs.
Table 3.4 . Morphology
Solutions from Morphology

Solution A:
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Solution B:
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Solution C: Group 24: Carl Grech, Angel Sebezan, Fabio Mossuto, Lucian 17
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3.3 Weighting Table

The selection table below shows all the criterias and how much each is weighted. It works by giving the solutions points by a point system (Best = 5, Better = 4, Good = 3, Bad = 2, Worst = 1).
Table 3.5 Weighting Table
Point system: Best = 5
Better = 4
Good = 3 Bad = 2 Worst= 1
The solution with most points is solution A. This will be the concept for the final design. The major criteria on which the solution was based include the durability and reliability of the machine. The final product for compressing the straw will be a costly investment where the buyer expects that the machine will function properly for a number of years, without having any problems with parts breaking down or wearing off. Group 24: Carl Grech, Angel Sebezan, Fabio Mossuto, Lucian 19
The final concept will be based on the design of solution A, but with some modifications which include the disintegrating process, feeding mechanism and the ejection method. From the experiments we conducted on the two types of straw, shredded and un-shredded, we concluded that the un-shredded straw will give a more compact product than the shredded straw. This means that in our design we will exclude the shredding mechanism. The ejection method will simply consist of the farmer having to open two sides of the metal chamber and taking out the straw bale by hand. This method will eliminate the need of having a hydraulic system as shown in Solution A, thus meaning that there will be no need of a hydraulic cylinder, pump and motor; where eventually since the bale will not be heavy (18kg) it can be easily taken out of the chamber by hand. With this method we will cut down the costs and power consumption when compared of having a hydraulic system as an ejection method. The feeding process will be carried out by a conveyor belt which is actuated by a motor. The speed of the conveyor can be changed in order to facilitate the loading of straw which will be made by the farmer. The inclusion of a cooling mechanism will depend on the temperature the straw will achieve while it is being compressed. The temperature will increase according to the speed the compression will take place. A higher speed means more energy, and therefore higher temperature. In our experiment which we conducted on straw we were not able to get a change in temperature since the compression speed was very slow, but it is suggested to include a type of temperature regulation surrounding the metal chamber, where the temperature can be increased or decreased to improve the compactness of the bale.
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3.4 Final Solution
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3.5 3D CAD Model
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3.6 Experiments on Straw
Table 3.6 straw compression test (unshredded straw )
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T Table 3.7 straw compression test (shredded straw )
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3.7 Hydraulic cylinder selection

From our experiments on straw we observed that a force of 75kN was enough to obtain a compact straw bale (shown in the table of un-shredded straw). Thus we have decided to use a pressure of 90bar. The dimensions of the processed straw will be of 0.3*0.3*0.4m. So: F = pA = (90 bar) (0.32)= 810 kN
Therefore we need a cylinder with: Extension of more than 1500mm Stroke of 810kN Double acting
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3.8 Selection of Pump

Cylinder: Bore diameter: 160mm Rod diameter: 90mm p = F/A = (810kN) / ( (0.1602)/4)) = 402.86 bar
Pressure of pump:
Extension: Q = v A= (1.5/20) ( (0.1602)/4)) = 0.0015079 m3/s = 90.4litre/min Retraction: Q = v A = (1.5/13) ( (0.1602 - 0.092)/4)) = 0.001718 m3/s = 103.08 litre/min Therefore we need a pump with: Flow of at least 103.08 litre/min Nominal pressure about 402.86 bar
Table 3.8 pump caratheristic
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3.9 Selection of Motor

Ph = p Q = (402.86 bar) (0.001718) = 69.21kW
Therefore we need a motor with: Power with more than 97.69 Hp Speed of about 2750rpm
Table 3.9 motor
To check if selected pump and motor match: D v = Q / n = (103.08 litre/min) / 2650rpm = 38.89cm3
38.89 cm3 is less than the displacement for the selected pump; which is 40 cm3 . Therefore the parts will match.
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3.10 Selection of Coupling

The selected coupling should resist a rpm of more than 2750 rpm and withstand a torque of 258,94 Nm
60 * 74570W 258,94 Nm 2 * 2750rpm
Table 3.10 .Performance table of coupling
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3.11 Selection of Hoses

ID
Qmax = 0.001718 m3/s VCritical = 6 m/s

4 * Qmax 4 * 0.001718m 3 / s 0.019m * v critical * 6m / s
The hose pipe should withstand a pressure of 450bar and diameter of 19mm
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3.12 Selection of Valves

All valves should withstand: pressure of 450 bar flow of 103.08 litre/min Pressure Relief Valve
Table 3. 11 Performance table for valves
Directional Flow Valve We were unable to find a directional control valve and flow control valve that withstand a maximum pressure of 450 bar. We assumed that due to losses in the hose pipes, the pressure will never reach the maximum value of 450bar as shown on the specifications of the pump.
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Flow Control Valve
Table3.12. Flow control valve
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3.13 Motor for lowering metal lid and opening chamber base
For lowering the chamber lid and opening the chamber base we will select 2 motors with a low rpm. The first motor will be connceted to the chaber lid with a worm gear so that the lid will be lowered or extended when the motor is switched on. The motor will turn in one direction in order to compress the straw slightly, while when the motor turns in the opposite direction it will move the chamber lid in the upward direction. The other motor will be connected to the base of the chamber with a spur gear, when it turns in one direction; the base will be opened, while in the oppsite direction it will be closed. The actuation of these mechanisms are shown in the sketches below.
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Table 3.13. Motor for lowering metal lid and base chamber
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3.14 Conveyor belts
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3.15 Final product and method of operation

The straw bale we will be able to create consists of a cubic bale with dimensions of 0.3*0.3*0.4 metre. At the initial stage of the project we decided to create a bale with a density of 300 kg/m3 but after the experiments we made on straw we realised that we can easily increase the density up to 500 kg/m3 using a pressure of about 110bar. So our final prodcut will be a straw bale with density of 500 kg/m3 and a mass of 18kg as shown in the equation below. =m/V m = V = (500 kg/m3 ) (0.3*0.3*0.4 m) = 18 kg Procedure: The conveyor belt is switched on and the un-shredded straw is placed on the conveyor belt. The straw will be transported to fill the metal casing which has dimensions of 0.3m*2m as base and 0.75m as height. The conveyor belt will stop working when the electronic balance placed under the metal casing will reach a mass of 18kg. According to the formula below, the 18kg of uncompressed straw will have a height approximately 0.5m of the 0.75m of the metal casing, where the density of uncompressed straw is around 60 kg/m3. =m/V V=m/ hA=m/ h = (m / ) / A h = (18kg / 60 kg/m3) / (0.3m*2m) h = 0.5m The small ac motor connected to the bevel gear will be switched on as soon as the conveyor will stop working. When the motor turns it will lower the chamber lid which will compress the straw from a height of 0.5m to 0.3m. By now the straw will have dimensions of 0.3*0.3*2m. The motor connected to the pump by a coupling will switch on. The fluid generated by the pump will pass through the directional valve and flow Group 24: Carl Grech, Angel Sebezan, Fabio Mossuto, Lucian 35
control valve to actuate the hydraulic cylinder. The cylinder will extend its full stroke of 1.6m in 20 seconds to compress the straw to the required dimensions of 0.3*0.3*0.4m. When the compression process is finished, the directional valve will change the direction of the flow and the cylinder will retract back in 13 seconds. During this time the bottom part of the chamber will be opened by means of a motor connected to a spur gear, in order for the straw bale to fall on the conveyor belt placed underneath. This conveyor belt will be switched on in order to take the straw bale away, which can be to a storage place or directly to the truck. The bottom part of the chamber will be closed again by the motor and spur gear which will rotate in the opposite direction. After the chamber is back to the initial state, the conveyor can start feeding again the straw for producing another bale. The required time to produce one straw bale is approximately of one minute, this can vary according to the setting of the conveyor belt speed which will feed the straw in the chamber. This can be seen in the diagrams below:
Drawing showing cylinder and chamber
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3.16 Hydraulic Circuit
The hydraulic system will start working as soon as the lid of the chamber is lowered. The motor will actuate the pump, where the fluid will flow through the directional valve. The directional valve will be shifted to the left in order to let the fluid pass through to fill the back part of the cylinder (behind the bore). On its way the fluid will pass through the adjustable flow control valve, which regulates the flow that has to be delivered to the hydraulic cylinder. When the full extension is completed the directional valve will shift to the right in order for the fluid produced by the pump to start flowing in the front side of the hydraulic cylinder. At the same time the fluid from the bottom part of the cylinder will start flowing back through the check valve. When the fluid Group 24: Carl Grech, Angel Sebezan, Fabio Mossuto, Lucian 37
starts flowing out from the back part of the cylinder and simultaneously flowing in to the front side, the cylinder will start to retract to its starting position. This procedure is repeated everytime there will be a bale to compress.
3.17 Reservation for mechanical part

The system can be improved in many ways. One way of doing so is to use two hydraulic pistons instead of one for compressing the straw. Having two hydraulic pistons instead of one will reduce the force developed by the cylinders by half, so this means that the pressure in the system will also be reduced by half. The only disadvantage of having two pistons instead of one is that the expenses of the machine will be higher. Another possible way of improving the system is to increase the diameter of the cylinders and hence the pressure of the system is decreased and having the same resultant forces. The decrease in pressure would result in better functionality of the system and less wear of the pistons sealing, therefore decreasing maintenance cost. Adding a filter to the hydraulic circuit will also result in an overall improvement since it will remove any dirt from the fluid and hence the system will function better. The casing that will act as a structure for the machine elements has to be strong enough to withstand the force developed by the hydraulic cylinder. Beside that there must be extra enforcements for the chamber, including the lid and the base of the chamber to withstand the pressure developed by the straw during compressing. All electrical and electronics must be protected from the environment. Common contaminants are dust and dirt, fluids and humidity, and in some cases vapours. To prevent damage to electrical components requires adequate mechanical protection. This is usually accomplished with the enclosure or case. Also, not only must the environment be kept out; but the heat generated by the equipment must be transferred away.
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4. Handling of straw
Our task is to handle the straw bales from all farms and also transport them in the warehouse of power plant. Our main task is to minimize the time and the distance to the handling for obtaining a better alternative to the current situation. Obviously also the costs of the total process will decrease. To minimize the time and the distance, we found much information about the current situation of the farms, straw and the general process of biomass. After analyzing the different coordinates per each farm ,we used Google Earth to visualize a complete map of all farms to find the distances between them . Also we created an undirected graph with 21 vertices (called nodes) that show the real map like a graph to understand better our situation. Afterwards we made the square matrix of the distance between all farms and also between the farms and the power plant, since this matrix is of great importance for the algorithm to find the best solution. After creating the map , we have chosen which kind of specific means of transport for our handling of bales of straw and afterwards we decided the number of means of transport that we need for all handling. The number of means of transport depend by the dimension and weight of the straw bales since the capacity of the mean of transport is standard. Finally we developed with Visual Basic three different algorithms to find our best solution to reduce the time and the distance. The first algorithm is an heuristic algorithm and it is based on the Nearest neighbor to the Travelling Salesman Problem (TSP). The second algorithm is also an heuristic algorithm but it is based on the Interaction to the Travelling Salesman Problem and the last heuristic algorithm is based on the vehicle routing problem (VRP) The results are different because the Nearest neighbors algorithm ,in our case, gave s solution without constraints like for example the capacity of the mean of transport and this solution is only one way that connects all nodes only at one time .The Interactions algorithm finds a solution which is much better than the first solution. The VRP finds the best solution because it considers the constraints and our needs. In this solution the ways between the nodes are more than one and each nodes is inserted in only one way and only one time.
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4.1 Map & Matrix

After we have chosen the zone around Reggio Emilias city , we started to research the 20 farms ( with only one hectare of land) that produces the straw to generate the biomass. After we found our farms, we created a table with all coordinates per each farm ; obviously for the privacy , we changed the name of the farm with some numbers ( from 1 to 20 ) and the power plant situated in Reggio Emilias city with the word (RE). The table is can be seen in the following picture:
Site RE (0) 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 Latitude 4441'46.43"N 4444'16.93"N 4439'38.17"N 4440'54.84"N 4439'36.70"N 4439'41.01"N 4443'31.93"N 4438'3.01"N 4439'53.70"N 4439'1.49"N 4438'56.51"N 4444'28.01"N 4443'49.77"N 4440'54.76"N 4444'29.89"N 4440'24.90"N 4444'36.41"N 4438'10.26"N 4445'5.89"N 4444'8.05"N 4442'15.72"N Longitude 1037'40.06"E 1036'52.79"E 1041'24.34"E 1043'3.59"E 1045'11.08"E 1037'26.06"E 1032'9.71"E 1042'20.95"E 1040'7.94"E 1042'16.89"E 1044'56.10"E 1042'29.30"E 1036'2.03"E 1041'39.98"E 1040'27.45"E 1032'5.09"E 1033'33.34"E 1040'43.39"E 1037'1.13"E 1031'14.98"E 1034'16.10"E
Table 4.1 coordinate per each farm
After analyzing the table of the farms , we are able to draw a complete map of the all area .This map help us to analyze our project from a graphical point of view. To visualize in an real map of the area , we used the Google Earth program ; we inserted all coordinates of all farms (and also the coordinate of power plant) in Google Earth and it has displayed our farms with an signal per each farm the real position in the world ( obviously all farms will be near because our area is small). We changed the signals in Group 24: Carl Grech, Angel Sebezan, Fabio Mossuto, Lucian 40
the map ; our power plant(is shown as a green house) while our farms have yellow signals with the number of the farm. The map is can be seen in the following picture:
Afterwards , we used our map inside Google Earth to create a square matrix of all existent distances between our different signals. The principal results are: Maximum distance in general between two signals is 25.8 Km and this distance is between the farms 15 and 10 Group 24: Carl Grech, Angel Sebezan, Fabio Mossuto, Lucian 41
Maximum distance between our CHP plan ( situate in Reggio Emilias city) and the farm to far is 12.5 Km. This farm is the number 10
The our square matrix is can be seen in the following picture ( all date are in kilometers) :
Table 4.2 square matrix
Finally we made an undirected graph with Paint , where the farms and the CHP plan are represent with nodes while the distance between them are represent with edges. Each Group 24: Carl Grech, Angel Sebezan, Fabio Mossuto, Lucian 42
node has the number of the correspondent farm. Our graph is can be seen in the following picture:
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4.2 Means of Transport

After analyzing and creating the map of our area with all farms, we tried to find the best mean of transport to use for our handling of the straw between all farms. The transport to handle the products is very important in a logistic situation since usually the transport occupies a high percent of the costs of each activity. The major decisions are concerning the choice of means of transport ,the increase of materials in stock, the planning of the capacity of the vehicles and the research of the optimal paths. In this part of project we will focus on the mean of transport and on the capacity of the vehicles, afterwards we will also find the optimal path with different algorithms. Our transport is a planning of handling door-to-door , with this word we mean that the transport will start from the origin point ,it crosses all points and arrives in the final destination ( in our case the origin point and the final destination are the same ). To do the transport door-to-door we can use (in general) these modality: By train By plane By truck
Obviously the distance of these door-to-door will be completely different. These 3 modalities can be used also together. We have try to choose the best solution for our project ( both costs and quality). To understand better which means of transport is the best solution for our project we used the graphic in the picture. With this graphic it is possible to see the three different ratios (time-distance ) of our three different means of transport.
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After analyzing the graphic , we can conclude that the means of transport that we have to use is a Truck because our maximum distance is around 26 kilometer and so this is a short distance that we can do in a short time .
4.3 Choice of the Truck and calculation of the capacity

A truck (or lorry) is a motor vehicle designed to transport cargo. Trucks vary greatly in size, power and configuration. Modern trucks are powered by diesel engines. We did the first selection in respect to the classification of the Italian highway code , our first choice is based on the following categories: N category : vehicle designed to transport cargo, with minimum four wheels. N1 category: vehicle designed to transport cargo, with max capacity less than 3.5 tons N2 category: vehicle designed to transport cargo, with max capacity more than 3.5 tons but less than 12 tons N3 category: vehicle designed to transport cargo, with max capacity more than 12 tons We choose the N3 category because for our transport we need a truck with a very big capacity. But we considered also that the maximum weight for the truck must be less than 32 tons ( the truck that has this capacity is the truck with 4 axes with the pneumatic suspensions). Obviously we considered that the maximum weight per each axis must be 12 tons. We thought that in our case the best solution is a truck with 3 axis with a maximum weight of 24 tons. Group 24: Carl Grech, Angel Sebezan, Fabio Mossuto, Lucian 45
The dimension about the truck are standard in Italy . These dimensions are the following: External Height : 4.3 meters Internal Height ( to the cargo):2.95 meter ( 3.05 meter without cover) External Width : 2.55 meter Internal Width ( to the cargo): 2.47 meter Total Length : 10 meter ( 2 meter per Van plus 8 meter per the cargo)
The design of our Truck is can be seen in the following picture:
After choosing the kind of truck , we calculated if the volume and the weight of our straw are compatible with the total volume and the total weight of our truck. Before we calculated if the weight is good for our truck and later the number of the farms that we can link with only one truck. We know that the maximum weight of a truck is 24 tons (24000 kg) , the average of straw produced per each farm is 6 tons (6000 kg) and the weight of a bale of straw is 18 kg so we can conclude that: Maximum number of farms per each truck is 4 (because 24tons / 6 tons = 4 ) Maximum number of the straw bales per each farm is 333 (because 6000 kg / 18 kg 333 ) Group 24: Carl Grech, Angel Sebezan, Fabio Mossuto, Lucian 46
Now we calculated the volume ( but in number of bales not in m3) before we need also the dimension of the bales of straw after the compression : Height of straw : 0.3 meter Width of straw : 0.3 meter Thickness of straw : 0.4 meter
We started to calculate how many bales per each truck: Number of bales of straw for the internal height of the truck 2.95 m / 0.3 m 9 bales ( plus the height of pallet) Number of bales of straw for the internal width of the truck 2.47 m/ 0.3 m 8 bales Number of bales of straw for the length of the truck 8 m / 0.4 m = 20 bales Max Total number of bales of straw per each truck 9 bales * 8 bales* 20 bales = 1440 bales per truck If we calculate the number of bales per each truck with the ratio of volume we can see that the value is completely different because in this case we are not considering the constraints like the dimension of the pallets or like that we cannot divide the bales of straw in more parts . Volume of the truck 2.47 m* 8 m * 2.95 m = 58.3 m3 Volume of one bales of straw 0.3 m*0.3 m* 0.4 m = 0.036 m3 Max Total number of bales of straw per each truck 58.3 m3 / 0.036 m3 1619 bales per truck Now we calculated the total number of bales of straw per four farms but we knew that one farm produced 333 bales of straw , so : Total number of bales of straw 333 bales * 4 = 1332 bales of straw
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After last calculation we know that the total capacity of the truck ( 1440 bales ) is enough to satisfy the total number of bales of straw for four farms ( because four farms is the max number of farms that the truck can handle to satisfy the limit weight of the cargo). We can conclude by saying that we have a truck with 3 axis, max weight of cargo of 24 tons and max number of farms for one route is 4.
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4.4 Research of the optimal paths to minimize the distance

To search the best solution that minimizes the distance (the total distance to connect the plant with all farms is around 350 kilometer ) and the time we made three different heuristic algorithms to the Travelling Salesman Problem (TSP): Nearest neighbor to the Travelling Salesman Problem Interaction to the Travelling Salesman Problem Vehicle routing problem (VRP)
There are no efficiency algorithms to resolve the TSP problem, the unique method of resolution is represented of total enumeration , to be more precise we found all paths in the graph and afterwards we must take the best solution. Our objective is to minimize the distance and the time of the route but we considered also our constraints like number of farms , maximum 4 farms per route (so the capacity of weight of the truck) and the origin point in the power plant (RE). We started with the Nearest neighbor to the Travelling Salesman Problem (TSP) because it is easier to make this heuristic algorithm with respect to the others. The nearest neighbor algorithm was one of the first algorithms used to determine a solution to the travelling salesman problem. It quickly yields a short tour, but usually not the optimal one. Below is the application of Nearest neighbor algorithm on TSP. These are the steps of the algorithm: 1. stand on an arbitrary vertex as current vertex. 2. find out the lightest edge connecting current vertex and an unvisited vertex V. 3. set current vertex to V. 4. mark V as visited. 5. if all the vertices in domain are visited, then terminate. 6. Go to step 2. The sequence of the visited vertices is the output of the algorithm.
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The nearest neighbor algorithm is easy to implement and it is executed quickly, but it can sometimes miss shorter routes which are easily noticed with human insight, due to its "greedy" nature. Below one can see the form of our Nearest neighbor algorithm . The form is a series of code of programming , in the form we put our constraints ( or data) like the number of farms and the origin point in RE(0) and also the square matrix of distance ( we commented the different data with the green sentences).
Public Class Form Private Sub btnGO_Click(ByVal sender As System.Object, ByVal e As System.EventArgs) Handles btnGO.Click Dim DMatrix(,) As Double Dim Seq() As Integer Dim TotLength As Double Dim nCities As Integer = 21 / number of farms/ DMatrix = / square matrix/ New Double(,) {{0, 5.6, 8.3, 9.5, 12.1, 4.9, 9.1, 12, 5.3, 10.1, 12.7, 11.4, 5.9, 6.8, 8.6, 10.3, 9.3, 8.1, 7.2, 10.8, 6.5}, _ {5.6, 0, 14.5, 13.7, 16.3, 9.9, 10.8, 17.6, 13.4, 14.3, 16.9, 11.2, 4.3, 10.4, 7.2, 14, 7.1, 17.2, 1.6, 12.5, 9.3}, _ {8.3, 14.5, 0, 4.6, 7.7, 8.7, 20.2, 4, 3.3, 3.1, 6.2, 13.6, 15.8, 5.9, 14.7, 18, 20.4, 4.1, 16, 21.9, 18.7}, _ {9.5, 13.7, 4.6, 0, 5.6, 12.4, 19.4, 6.9, 6.2, 4.5, 6.2, 8.8, 15, 3, 9.9, 22.6, 19.6, 7.3, 15.2, 21.1, 17.9}, _ {12.1, 16.3, 7.7, 5.6, 0, 15, 22, 6.7, 8.8, 6.5, 1.4, 14.4, 17.6, 6.9, 15.4, 25.2, 22.2, 10.1, 17.8, 23.7, 20.5}, _ {4.9, 9.9, 8.7, 12.4, 15, 0, 13.5, 11, 7.2, 12.5, 16.1, 14.5, 10.1, 9.8, 14.5, 11.5, 13.7, 7.1, 11.5, 15.2, 10.9}, _ {9.1, 10.8, 20.2, 19.4, 22, 13.5, 0, 23.4, 13.6, 20.1, 22.7, 17.8, 7.4, 16.2, 15.4, 7.5, 4.2, 16.6, 11.1, 2.9, 6.6}, _ {12, 17.6, 4, 6.9, 6.7, 11, 23.4, 0, 7.2, 2.5, 5.5, 15.7, 18.8, 8.2, 16.7, 19.7, 23.5, 3.9, 19, 25, 21.7}, _ {5.3, 13.4, 3.3, 6.2, 8.8, 7.2, 13.6, 7.2, 0, 6.3, 9.1, 12.5, 14.7, 4.5, 13.5, 15, 19.3, 4.7, 14.9, 20.8, 17.6}, _ {10.1, 14.3, 3.1, 4.5, 6.5, 12.5, 20.1, 2.5, 6.3, 0, 4.8, 13.4, 15.6, 5.8, 14.5, 23.2, 20.3, 5.4, 15.8, 21.8, 18.5}, _ {12.7, 16.9, 6.2, 6.2, 1.4, 16.1, 22.7, 5.5, 9.1, 4.8, 0, 15, 18.2, 7.5, 16, 25.8, 22.8, 8.8, 18.4, 24.3, 21.1}, _ {11.4, 11.2, 13.6, 8.8, 14.4, 14.5, 17.8, 15.7, 12.5, 13.4, 15, 0, 14.2, 8.5, 4.3, 21.8, 18.9, 18.4, 12.2, 20.4, 17.1}, _ {5.9, 4.3, 15.8, 15, 17.6, 10.1, 7.4, 18.8, 14.7, 15.6, 18.2, 14.2, 0, 11.8, 9.7, 11.5, 4.1, 13.3, 7, 9.3, 5.8}, _ {6.8, 10.4, 5.9, 3, 6.9, 9.8, 16.2, 8.2, 4.5, 5.8, 7.5, 8.5, 11.8, 0, 9.6, 16.7, 17.2, 8.6, 12.8, 18.7, 15.5}, _ {8.6, 7.2, 14.7, 9.9, 15.4, 14.5, 15.4, 16.7, 13.5, 14.5, 16, 4.3, 9.7, 9.6, 0, 17.5, 13.1, 16.3, 8.2, 17.1, 13.9}, _ {10.3, 14, 18, 22.6, 25.2, 11.5, 7.5, 19.7, 15, 23.2, 25.8, 21.8, 11.5, 16.7, 17.5, 0, 11.8, 15.8, 15.1, 8.1, 10.6}, _ {9.3, 7.1, 20.4, 19.6, 22.2, 13.7, 4.2, 23.5, 19.3, 20.3, 22.8, 18.9, 4.1, 17.2, 13.1, 11.8, 0, 16.8, 7.1, 6, 6.8}, _
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{8.1, 17.2, 4.1, 7.3, 10.1, 7.1, 16.6, 3.9, 4.7, 5.4, 8.8, 18.4, 13.3, 8.6, 16.3, 15.8, 16.8, 0, 17.9, 18.4, 14.1}, _ {7.2, 1.6, 16, 15.2, 17.8, 11.5, 11.1, 19, 14.9, 15.8, 18.4, 12.2, 7, 12.8, 8.2, 15.1, 7.1, 17.9, 0, 12.7, 10.2}, _ {10.8, 12.5, 21.9, 21.1, 23.7, 15.2, 2.9, 25, 20.8, 21.8, 24.3, 20.4, 9.3, 18.7, 17.1, 8.1, 6, 18.4, 12.7, 0, 8.3}, _ {6.5, 9.3, 18.7, 17.9, 20.5, 10.9, 6.6, 21.7, 17.6, 18.5, 21.1, 17.1, 5.8, 15.5, 13.9, 10.6, 6.8, 14.1, 10.2, 8.3, 0}} If radNearest.Checked Then Dim bestResult As Double = Double.MaxValue NearestNeighbor(DMatrix, 0 / origin point, Seq, TotLength) Else EMInsert(DMatrix, 20, Seq, TotLength) End If / display solution/ Dim ff As New FormDisplay With ff / load form data/ .ffDMatrix = DMatrix .ffSequence = Seq .ffTourLength = TotLength End With ff.ShowDialog() End Sub End Class
After the form ,we wrote the code of the algorithm . Below we show all our nearest neighbor algorithm to find the best solution to the travelling salesman problem.
Module TSP_Solvers Public Sub NearestNeighbor(ByVal DMatrix(,) As Double, ByVal StartCity As Integer, _ ByRef Sequence() As Integer, ByRef TourLength As Double) ' solves TSP by nearest neighbor, for a given StartCity Dim Visited() As Boolean Dim nCities As Integer nCities = UBound(DMatrix, 1) + 1 ReDim Visited(nCities - 1) ReDim Sequence(nCities) ' insert start city at beginning and end of sequence Sequence(0) = StartCity Sequence(nCities) = StartCity Visited(StartCity) = True ' Dim nowCity, nextCity As Integer Dim minDist As Double nowCity = StartCity For i As Integer = 1 To nCities - 1 ' get nearest unvisited city minDist = Double.MaxValue For j As Integer = 0 To nCities - 1 If nowCity <> j And Not Visited(j) And DMatrix(nowCity, j) < minDist Then minDist = DMatrix(nowCity, j)
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nextCity = j End If Next ' add city Sequence(i) = nextCity Visited(nextCity) = True nowCity = nextCity Next ' compute total traveled distance TourLength = 0 For i As Integer = 0 To nCities - 1 TourLength += DMatrix(Sequence(i), Sequence(i + 1)) Next End Sub Public Sub EMInsert(ByVal DMatrix(,) As Double, ByVal StartCity As Integer, _ ByRef Sequence() As Integer, ByRef TourLength As Double) ' solves TSP using insertion by min extra-mileage Dim Visited() As Boolean Dim nCities As Integer nCities = UBound(DMatrix, 1) + 1 ReDim Visited(nCities - 1) ReDim Sequence(nCities) ' Initialize sequence with the pair of farthest cities Dim MaxDist As Double Dim i0, j0 As Integer For i As Integer = 0 To nCities - 2 For j As Integer = i + 1 To nCities - 1 If DMatrix(i, j) > MaxDist Then MaxDist = DMatrix(i, j) i0 = i j0 = j End If Next Next ' write initial two-city tour Sequence(0) = i0 Sequence(1) = j0 Sequence(2) = i0 Visited(i0) = True Visited(j0) = True ' Dim nRouted As Integer = 2 ' number of routed cities Do While nRouted < nCities ' get best unrouted city and best insertion point Dim minEM, EM As Double ' minimal extra-mileage Dim BestCity, BestPos As Integer ' best city and best insertion point minEM = Double.MaxValue For i As Integer = 0 To nCities - 1 If Not Visited(i) Then For pos As Integer = 1 To nRouted EM = DMatrix(Sequence(pos - 1), i) + DMatrix(i, Sequence(pos)) - _ DMatrix(Sequence(pos - 1), Sequence(pos)) If EM < minEM Then minEM = EM BestCity = i BestPos = pos
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End If Next End If Next ' shift and insert new city For k As Integer = nRouted + 1 To BestPos + 1 Step -1 Sequence(k) = Sequence(k - 1) Next Sequence(BestPos) = BestCity Visited(BestCity) = True nRouted += 1 Loop ' compute distance TourLength = 0 For i As Integer = 0 To nCities - 1 TourLength += DMatrix(Sequence(i), Sequence(i + 1)) Next End Sub End Module
After writing the form and the algorithm , we inputted everything in the Visual Basic program and we chose the nearest neighbor ( like in the following picture ) and we found the result of this algorithm.
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The result shows us that the length of the path is around 110 kilometer, this distance is optimal for our project because in this route we saved approximately 240 kilometer , so less time , less costs and less pollution of CO2. But this solution is not good for our project because in this algorithm we did not consider the capacity of the truck , then is important to take this algorithm like initial point but now we must improve our solution and then we must insert all constraints. We have designed our route of 110 kilometer in the undirected graph to visualize our sequence of nodes . This route (in red color ) can be seen in the following picture:
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Now we want to improve the solution , so we created the Interactions algorithm. This algorithm uses the same algorithm of nearest neighbor but the functioning is completely different : the interactions algorithm finds a route and after inserts one at a time all nodes, the research ends when all route are examined and the final result in our case is the route with less kilometers. We did not show the form and the algorithm because they are inserted in the previous algorithm but we showed only the Visual Basic process. In the following pictures one can see also the sequence of the nodes and the result of the algorithm.
We can observe that the result is almost the same as the result of the nearest neighbor algorithm . The improvement is very small only because our project is based on few Group 24: Carl Grech, Angel Sebezan, Fabio Mossuto, Lucian 55
farms (only 20 ) but if we have many farms in a larger area ; the improvement will be more significant . We saw also that the sequence of the nodes starts from the node number 10 and not from the nodes number 0 (power plant node) like before . After the insertions algorithm , we created a Vehicle routing problem algorithm. The Vehicle routing problem (VRP) is combinatorial optimization and integer programming problem seeking to service a number of customers with a fleet of vehicles. Often the context is that of delivering goods located at a central depot to customers who have placed orders for such goods. Implicit is the goal of minimizing the cost of handling (or distribution) the goods. We have started with the Form, in the form (like before) we inserted all our constraints.
Public Class Form \insert constraints and data\ Private Sub ButtonEsegui_Click(ByVal sender As System.Object, ByVal e As System.EventArgs) Handles ButtonEsegui.Click Dim semi() As Integer Dim is_seme() As Boolean Dim npti As Integer npti = 21 Dim matr_dist(,) As Double ReDim matr_dist(npti - 1, npti - 1) Dim nveicoli As Integer nveicoli = Textnumveicoli.Text Dim capacita As Double = 24 Dim domanda() As Double ReDim domanda(npti - 1) setDomanda(domanda, npti) matr_dist\square matrix \ = New Double(,) {{0, 5.6, 8.3, 9.5, 12.1, 4.9, 9.1, 12, 5.3, 10.1, 12.7, 11.4, 5.9, 6.8, 8.6, 10.3, 9.3, 8.1, 7.2, 10.8, 6.5}, _ {5.6, 0, 14.5, 13.7, 16.3, 9.9, 10.8, 17.6, 13.4, 14.3, 16.9, 11.2, 4.3, 10.4, 7.2, 14, 7.1, 17.2, 1.6, 12.5, 9.3}, _ {8.3, 14.5, 0, 4.6, 7.7, 8.7, 20.2, 4, 3.3, 3.1, 6.2, 13.6, 15.8, 5.9, 14.7, 18, 20.4, 4.1, 16, 21.9, 18.7}, _ {9.5, 13.7, 4.6, 0, 5.6, 12.4, 19.4, 6.9, 6.2, 4.5, 6.2, 8.8, 15, 3, 9.9, 22.6, 19.6, 7.3, 15.2, 21.1, 17.9}, _ {12.1, 16.3, 7.7, 5.6, 0, 15, 22, 6.7, 8.8, 6.5, 1.4, 14.4, 17.6, 6.9, 15.4, 25.2, 22.2, 10.1, 17.8, 23.7, 20.5}, _ {4.9, 9.9, 8.7, 12.4, 15, 0, 13.5, 11, 7.2, 12.5, 16.1, 14.5, 10.1, 9.8, 14.5, 11.5, 13.7, 7.1, 11.5, 15.2, 10.9}, _
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{9.1, 10.8, 20.2, 19.4, 22, 13.5, 0, 23.4, 13.6, 20.1, 22.7, 17.8, 7.4, 16.2, 15.4, 7.5, 4.2, 16.6, 11.1, 2.9, 6.6}, _ {12, 17.6, 4, 6.9, 6.7, 11, 23.4, 0, 7.2, 2.5, 5.5, 15.7, 18.8, 8.2, 16.7, 19.7, 23.5, 3.9, 19, 25, 21.7}, _ {5.3, 13.4, 3.3, 6.2, 8.8, 7.2, 13.6, 7.2, 0, 6.3, 9.1, 12.5, 14.7, 4.5, 13.5, 15, 19.3, 4.7, 14.9, 20.8, 17.6}, _ {10.1, 14.3, 3.1, 4.5, 6.5, 12.5, 20.1, 2.5, 6.3, 0, 4.8, 13.4, 15.6, 5.8, 14.5, 23.2, 20.3, 5.4, 15.8, 21.8, 18.5}, _ {12.7, 16.9, 6.2, 6.2, 1.4, 16.1, 22.7, 5.5, 9.1, 4.8, 0, 15, 18.2, 7.5, 16, 25.8, 22.8, 8.8, 18.4, 24.3, 21.1}, _ {11.4, 11.2, 13.6, 8.8, 14.4, 14.5, 17.8, 15.7, 12.5, 13.4, 15, 0, 14.2, 8.5, 4.3, 21.8, 18.9, 18.4, 12.2, 20.4, 17.1}, _ {5.9, 4.3, 15.8, 15, 17.6, 10.1, 7.4, 18.8, 14.7, 15.6, 18.2, 14.2, 0, 11.8, 9.7, 11.5, 4.1, 13.3, 7, 9.3, 5.8}, _ {6.8, 10.4, 5.9, 3, 6.9, 9.8, 16.2, 8.2, 4.5, 5.8, 7.5, 8.5, 11.8, 0, 9.6, 16.7, 17.2, 8.6, 12.8, 18.7, 15.5}, _ {8.6, 7.2, 14.7, 9.9, 15.4, 14.5, 15.4, 16.7, 13.5, 14.5, 16, 4.3, 9.7, 9.6, 0, 17.5, 13.1, 16.3, 8.2, 17.1, 13.9}, _ {10.3, 14, 18, 22.6, 25.2, 11.5, 7.5, 19.7, 15, 23.2, 25.8, 21.8, 11.5, 16.7, 17.5, 0, 11.8, 15.8, 15.1, 8.1, 10.6}, _ {9.3, 7.1, 20.4, 19.6, 22.2, 13.7, 4.2, 23.5, 19.3, 20.3, 22.8, 18.9, 4.1, 17.2, 13.1, 11.8, 0, 16.8, 7.1, 6, 6.8}, _ {8.1, 17.2, 4.1, 7.3, 10.1, 7.1, 16.6, 3.9, 4.7, 5.4, 8.8, 18.4, 13.3, 8.6, 16.3, 15.8, 16.8, 0, 17.9, 18.4, 14.1}, _ {7.2, 1.6, 16, 15.2, 17.8, 11.5, 11.1, 19, 14.9, 15.8, 18.4, 12.2, 7, 12.8, 8.2, 15.1, 7.1, 17.9, 0, 12.7, 10.2}, _ {10.8, 12.5, 21.9, 21.1, 23.7, 15.2, 2.9, 25, 20.8, 21.8, 24.3, 20.4, 9.3, 18.7, 17.1, 8.1, 6, 18.4, 12.7, 0, 8.3}, _ {6.5, 9.3, 18.7, 17.9, 20.5, 10.9, 6.6, 21.7, 17.6, 18.5, 21.1, 17.1, 5.8, 15.5, 13.9, 10.6, 6.8, 14.1, 10.2, 8.3, 0}}
scelta_Semi(nveicoli, matr_dist, semi, is_seme) \insert data\ Dim sequenza()() As Integer Dim lunghtot As Double generaRoute_extra(matr_dist, nveicoli, is_seme, capacita, domanda, semi, sequenza, lunghtot)
Dim ff As New Form2 If sol_non_amm = True Then ff.ffsemi = semi ff.ffDMatrix = matr_dist Else With ff .ffsemi = semi .ffDMatrix = matr_dist .ffseq = sequenza .ffLunghtour = lunghtot End With End If ff.ShowDialog() End Sub \resolve the problem with the method of the user\
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Private Sub btnGetFile_Click(ByVal sender As System.Object, ByVal e As System.EventArgs) OpenFileDialog1.ShowDialog() End Sub Sub setDomanda(ByRef domanda() As Double, ByVal npti As Integer) ReDim domanda(npti - 1) For i As Integer = 1 To npti - 1 domanda(i) = 6 Next End Sub Private Sub btnExit_Click(ByVal sender As System.Object, ByVal e As System.EventArgs) Me.Close() End Sub End Class
After we made the algorithm . In the following picture it is possible to see our program:
Module RisolutoreVRP Public sol_non_amm As Boolean Public Sub scelta_Semi(ByVal nveicoli As Integer, ByVal matr_dist(,) As Double, ByRef semi() As Integer, ByRef is_seme() As Boolean) Dim npti As Integer = UBound(matr_dist, 1) + 1 Dim mindist As Double = Double.MaxValue Dim maxdist As Double = 0 ReDim semi(nveicoli - 1) ReDim is_seme(npti - 1) is_seme(0) = True \the origin point is the CHP plan \ \we find the node with the largest distance \ For i As Integer = 1 To npti - 1 If matr_dist(0, i) >= maxdist Then maxdist = matr_dist(0, i) semi(0) = i End If Next is_seme(semi(0)) = True \we find the other nodes\ maxdist = 0 Dim candidato_seme, scelto As Integer Dim semitrovati As Integer = 0 While semitrovati < nveicoli - 1 maxdist = 0 candidato_seme = 0 For i As Integer = 1 To npti - 1 If (is_seme(i) = False) Then mindist = Double.MaxValue
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For j As Integer = 0 To npti - 1 If (is_seme(j) = True) Then If matr_dist(i, j) < mindist Then mindist = matr_dist(i, j) scelto = i End If End If Next If mindist > maxdist Then candidato_seme = scelto maxdist = mindist End If End If Next is_seme(candidato_seme) = True semitrovati += 1 semi(semitrovati) = candidato_seme End While End Sub Public Sub generaRoute_extra(ByVal matr_dist(,) As Double, ByVal nveicoli As Integer, ByVal is_seme() As Boolean, _ ByVal capacita As Double, ByVal domanda() As Double, ByVal semi() As Integer, ByRef sequenza()() As Integer, ByRef lunghtot As Double) Dim npti As Integer = UBound(matr_dist, 1) + 1 Dim extramiglia, extramiglia_scelto As Double Dim visitato() As Boolean Dim candidato, estremo1, scelto As Integer Dim lungh_tour() As Double Dim appartiene_route() As Integer Dim carico() As Double ReDim carico(nveicoli - 1) ReDim visitato(npti - 1) ReDim appartiene_route(npti - 1) ReDim lungh_tour(nveicoli - 1) ReDim sequenza(nveicoli - 1) \The routes per each central nodes\ For veicolo As Integer = 0 To nveicoli - 1 ReDim sequenza(veicolo)(1) visitato(semi(veicolo)) = True sequenza(veicolo)(1) = semi(veicolo) carico(veicolo) = domanda(semi(veicolo)) lungh_tour(veicolo) = matr_dist(0, semi(veicolo)) * 2 Next Dim pti_assegnati() As Integer ReDim pti_assegnati(nveicoli - 1) For i As Integer = 0 To nveicoli - 1 pti_assegnati(i) = 2 Next Dim veicolo_scelto As Integer Dim ptivisitati As Integer = nveicoli Do While ptivisitati < npti - 1 extramiglia_scelto = Double.MaxValue For candidato = 1 To npti - 1
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If visitato(candidato) = False Then For veicolo As Integer = 0 To nveicoli - 1 For t As Integer = 0 To sequenza(veicolo).Length - 1 If (carico(veicolo) + domanda(candidato)) <= capacita Then If t = sequenza(veicolo).Length - 1 Then extramiglia = matr_dist(sequenza(veicolo)(t), candidato) + matr_dist(0, candidato) matr_dist(0, sequenza(veicolo)(t)) Else extramiglia = matr_dist(sequenza(veicolo)(t), candidato) + matr_dist(sequenza(veicolo)(t + 1), candidato) matr_dist(sequenza(veicolo)(t), sequenza(veicolo)(t + 1)) End If If extramiglia <= extramiglia_scelto Then extramiglia_scelto = extramiglia estremo1 = sequenza(veicolo)(t) scelto = candidato veicolo_scelto = veicolo End If End If Next Next End If Next If scelto <> 0 Then visitato(scelto) = True ptivisitati += 1 carico(veicolo_scelto) += domanda(scelto) pti_assegnati(veicolo_scelto) += 1 aggiornaRoute(nveicoli, sequenza, veicolo_scelto, pti_assegnati, estremo1, scelto) lungh_tour(veicolo_scelto) += extramiglia_scelto scelto = 0 Else sol_non_amm = True Exit Sub End If Loop lunghtot = 0 For i As Integer = 0 To nveicoli - 1 lunghtot += lungh_tour(i) Next For i As Integer = 0 To nveicoli - 1 lunghtot += matr_dist(sequenza(i)(4), 0) Next End Sub Private Sub aggiornaRoute(ByVal nveicoli As Integer, ByRef sequenza()() As Integer, ByVal veicolo_scelto As Integer, _ ByVal pti_assegnati() As Integer, ByVal estremo1 As Integer, ByVal scelto As Integer)
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Dim trovato As Boolean ReDim Preserve sequenza(veicolo_scelto)(pti_assegnati(veicolo_scelto) - 1) For i As Integer = 0 To pti_assegnati(veicolo_scelto) - 2 If trovato <> True Then If sequenza(veicolo_scelto)(i) = estremo1 Then trovato = True For j As Integer = sequenza(veicolo_scelto).Length - 1 To i + 1 Step -1 sequenza(veicolo_scelto)(j) = sequenza(veicolo_scelto)(j - 1) Next sequenza(veicolo_scelto)(i + 1) = scelto End If End If Next End Sub End Module
After writing the form and the algorithm , we put all in the Visual Basic program and also included the number of the trucks that we need ( like in the following picture ) and we found the result of this algorithm.
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With VRPs algorithm , we found the best solution for our project since it considers all the constraints we need. In this solution the routes between the nodes are more than one and each nodes is inserted in only one way and only one time . The result of our VRP is very good , the total length is around 171 kilometer, then we saved around 530 kilometer (the kilometer we calculated before were around 700 kilometer ). To satisfy all farms, we created five routes with the VRP algorithm ; these routes can be done in one day with five trucks or they can be spread out in five days with using only one truck. After analyzing all our project we can say that the final result is very good for our project because in our case we have only 20 farms but in a real case where we can have around 700 or more farms , the VRP is not enough to find the best solution because VRP is an heuristic algorithm . We should use another kind of algorithm and this kind of algorithm is called meta heuristic. We have designed our routes in the undirected graph to visualize our sequence of nodes . These routes can be seen in the following picture:
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We calculated also the lengths per each route : Blue route: RE-19-6-16-20-RE = 31.2km Green route: RE-11-14-18-1-RE =31.1km Orange route: RE- 15-12-3-9- RE= 51.4km Yellow route : RE-8-10-4-13-RE=29.5km Red route: RE-2-7-17-5-RE=28.2km
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5 General overview of the straw logistics:

Objective of this work was to analyze and evaluate the present straw supply processes within the logistic chain from the field up to the provision in the fodder crib. Since the increase of the straw density represents codes for a better extent of utilization of the available transport vehicles; different straw compacting methods were compared and calculated simulations were carried out. These calculations include transport capacity, quantity of transported fodder, energy and fuel consumption using the transport variables such as bulk density, utilizable volume and driving speed. The interest of the farm is closely related to the cost of transportation and pertaining to this, important calculation results (ecological and socio-economic factors) with regard to the selection of proper solutions for economic straw supply will be consider. The farms around Reggio-Emilia have showed that the concentrate feed is being transported from an area of as far as 50 to 100 km and the roughage is transported from a distance of around 300 km. The roughage contributes about 47 % of the total ration. In this system of production the roughage represents the cereal straw. The nature of the straw is voluminous and bulky, due to this the present form of transportation is inefficient and the available capacity of the trucks is under utilized. For example one truck, which has a total weight of 40 tons can transport at maximum load 8-10 tons of chopped straw. The existing transportation problem (cost of transport per unit is expensive) results in shortage of feed in the dry regions of the country (for cattle, sheep and goats) but on the other hand, in the crop producing areas, surplus cereal straw is burned by farmers. Consequently the environment is increasingly being polluted. In addition to the high expenditures for energy, time and costs there are also unfavorable environmental effects in the form of emissions and wear and tear of roads. In Italy there is a law for trucks that allows only loading up to 24 tons of goods, mainly because of road safety. Table 5.1 shows the net energy calculation from the feed used in one year
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Type of straw Quantity in tones per year Purchased straw Purchased concentrated Own straw Total 60 780 380 340
Total
Percentage
Costs
Costs
Energy ( GJ contribution NEL ) 1.920 40 44.000 22,90
2.615
53
100.500
38,40
400 4.935
7 100 144.500
Table. 5.1: Calculation of the total nutrition and its cost per year In Table 5.1 the energy that comes from the roughage is approximately one half to the remaining other half from the concentrate fodder. It is to be noted that the specific costs of the concentrate feed are high by reaching approximately 68 %. Therefore from cost reasons a partial substitution of the concentrate feed by roughage should be aimed. An improved digestibility of straw would be the basis for such a substitute. Possibilities for the improvement of the transportation capacity and reduction of theexpenditures under simultaneous protection of the fodder quality will be tested. In the calculation of the simulation will be, among other things, factors such as utilizable volumes, density and driving speed of the trucks. They are varied and checked regarding their capacity improving effects. With different compacting methods of the fodder straw (use of presses of different design) in view of the logistic chains takes place constantly from the field to the feed trough. Logistic chains are sequences of process, which can be evaluated and arranged as a whole. They are coordinated at the interfaces. They link production and utilization processes with the transport, loading process and storage processes through material, energy and information. Thereby will be examined both the effects of the mechanical straw treatment as well as measures that influences the improvement of the digestibility Group 24: Carl Grech, Angel Sebezan, Fabio Mossuto, Lucian 65
of the nutrient of the straw. For logistic optimization it is necessary that the performance analysis of the different parts of the transport process will be carried out. In doing so, possible procedural and other errors can be sorted out and can be accordingly corrected. Transporting a large amount of goods within a short period of time over a long distance demands highly organized transport process. The main point of rationalization of the transport process is to increase its capacity. We analyzed the present supply system for straw, considering the steps: straw collection, transport, loading, unloading and storage of straw. Handling, transport and storage were considered as one unit in order to guarantee an effective flow of material from one place to the other. In order to use the full capacity of the available transport vehicles, it was required to increase the density of the straw through different means of pressings. In the context of this work, straw salvage included collection of straw, handling by cutting and /or compacting and temporary storage of the straw. In analyzing the actual transport process, investigations were also made in addition to the performance of the assigned transport, the speed, the distance, the time, the filling level, the loading capacity and the load safety were considered. Apart from the expenses as working hours, energy and material costs, attention was also given to environmentally and socially relevant aspects. In relation to the loading and unloading process, the technology used in the process and the safety were given due attention. The main limiting factor in the transport process is the transport capacity, which could be expressed as a material flow and defined by the following equation:
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5.1 Calculation of the consumptions:

In calculated simulations the following important evaluation criteria such as transport capacity, quantity of transported fodder energy and fuel requirement can be examined through varying variables such as density, load volume, load weight, speed and filling rate. The results were used as a basis for the optimization of the process. From the diagrams it can be seen that modification of the transport variables most strongly affect the target. During the optimization process the density of the material plays an important role. The current compacting practice of straw in the study area were compared with the different practices from the literature such as chopping, pelleting and briquetting. By doing so, the straw can be changed to an easily manageable product. However, for baling are completely different operational sequences necessary. In line with the introduction of mechanization into the system, there is a need to give attention to the socio-economic conditions in the country. The low cost of labor and the job security are some of them. The short distances in this case currently requires trucks as the only means of transport for the straw. The manufacturing volume and form of the vehicles are to be adapted to the respective compacting form of the straw. The traffic regulation limits the admissible total mass of the vehicles. The possibilities of other transport systems need to be examined. After the straw is separated from the seed by the harvesting combine, it is taken up by a tractor-pulled mobile chopper with a chopping capacity of 3.5 tons per hour. The chopped straw is transferred directly to a completely closed trailer. When the trailer is full it will be driven to one side of the field where the straw will be loaded. Usually the trucks are being overloaded by volume and the available loading space is overused by up to 100 %. That means a truck with total weight of 40 t and 100 m loading volume is usually loaded only 8 to 10 tons chopped straw with a volume of about 200 m. Usually, a truck is allowed to load only 25 tons by law, in order to protect the roads. Group 24: Carl Grech, Angel Sebezan, Fabio Mossuto, Lucian 67
In order to develop an efficient method of straw handling and high degree of compacting, different applied methods from the literature were checked and compared for their applicability in Italy. The straw space density attainable with different compacting methods, permit a different extent of utilization of the vehicles. A volume of VL = 100 m is considered as a standard for calculation. The main result of this study shows that if the straw is briquetted or pelleted, a truck with the VL = 100 m could transport about 50 to 60 tons of straw. However, that is above the maximum load capacity of the truck and it is against the traffic law in Italy. Some parameters that we have to take them in consideration: Distance; Total volume/quantity of straw transported per year; Driving time including breaks; Driving time without breaks; Filling rate; Truck volume that allows us to put in the straw; Limit of transportation ( quantity ); Fuel consumption; Emotion of CO2, resulted from the transportation process.
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5.2 The old supply chain:

In the old supply chain, the process of collecting the straw was done basically the same as we established to use now, with the same kind of trucks, with the dimensions of 4,3 meters the external height, 2,95 meters the internal height, 2,55 meters the external width, 2,47 meters the internal width and 10 meters the length. When we are referring to the old kind of packing the bales, we can say that they had the follow dimensions: Height of straw : 0.46 meter; Width of straw : 0.36 meter; Thickness of straw : 0.8 meter; Weight of the straw: 12 kilograms. Starting from this data we will calculate the maximum bales packed from each farm. Due to the fact that one bale has 12 kilograms and in total from each farm, we can collect 6000 kilograms of straw ( 6 tones ), this means that we will have a total number of 500 bales per farm, resulted from dividing the 6000 kg by 12 kg. The next step we need to do is to calculate how many bales are able to be load in one truck. This can be done by using the cumulative data for the bales size and the dimensions of the truck: Number of bales of straw for the internal height of the truck 2.95 m / 0.46 m 6 bales ( plus the height of pallet) Number of bales of straw for the internal width of the truck 2.47 m/ 0.36 m 6 bales Number of bales of straw for the length of the truck 8 m / 0.8 m = 10 bales Max Total number of bales of straw per each truck 6 bales * 6 bales* 10 bales = 360 bales per truck.
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If we try to calculate the total volume of the truck which can be filled and the total volume of one bale of straw, we will get the next values, including also the all the volume of the truck and the volume loaded: Volume of the truck 2.47 m* 8 m * 2.95 m = 58.3 m3 Volume of one bales of straw 0.46 m*0.36 m* 0.8 m = 0.13 m3 Max Total number of bales of straw per each truck 58.3 m3 / 0.13 m3 448.46 bales per truck Due to the results we just obtained in the capacity of the truck, we observed that in the old chain, before we made the experiment of compressing the straw, there was too much wasting in time, fuel and too much pollution, due to the high concentration of CO2 emanated by the trucks. Since we are not able to load in the truck more than 360 bales, we will see that this deficient involves a lot of time and more level of the costs in the transportation process. We already know that at every farm aside the trucks has to collect 500 bales, but the truck capacity is too small. This problem means that the truck needs to make many ways between the farms and the power-plant at Reggio Emilia and then back to the farms. This is because there is not enough volume available in the truck in order to be filled with all the 500 bales from each farm. The total distance that the truck is supposed to drive is 700 kilometers. This distance is because the driver has to empty many times the truck at Reggio Emilia before going to load the straw again.
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5.3The new supply chain:

When putting up in the discussion the term of distance in a supply chain, we refer basically about the length measured ( in our case being about Italy ) in kilometers from the supplier ( in this case being the farms ) to the point of use ( which is the plant ). This aspect has a big affect in optimizing the profit in the costs regarding the time efficiency, fuel consumption and total manpower needed. A potential route should be very carefully established in developing the transportation of the compressed straw in order to assure these saving ups. In our project we have chosen Reggio Emilia being the center of the chain network, being surrounded by other 20 farms. The strategy we chose in collecting the straw is mainly based on forming some groups of four farms. The trucks are actually collecting the straw from five groups of farms, located as nearest as possible one to each other and also to the main power-station. As it is shown also in the excel graph, the farms are counted with numbers from 1 to 20, and we tried to connect each other as closest as possible. Basically the truck is driving to first four nearest farms and then coming back to the power-station because the capacity of the truck is getting full.
The good part in having the farms very close to each other and also to the power-plant, represents that there is no any kind of regional frontier or barrier which may provide some extra value added to the price of the transportation. In total, we have a result of Group 24: Carl Grech, Angel Sebezan, Fabio Mossuto, Lucian 71
171 kilometers that should be covered in order to collect all the straw from the farms. Talking about the truck using, we need to figure out if it is enough to have one truck or if there should be more than one. If there is just one truck, we save up some revenue from fuel consumption, while on the other hand, if we use more than one truck, we save time for covering all the farms in a shorter time. In Italy, according to the traffic legislation, the trucks are allowed to drive with a maximum speed of 110 km/h on the roads outside urban areas. Due to this regulation, we need to find, how much time does an agriculture truck should spend on collecting the straw from all the farms.
5.4 Calculating the time demand:

In calculating the need of time, we are taking in consideration also the time involved in order to load a truck with the bales of straw. This process takes usually like 60 minutes, in order to load up a truck with straw.
In the conditions if the truck is loaded full, it is better to optimize the speed, in order to avoid any kind of difficulties in transporting the straw. Normally the truck drivers prefer to dont overcome the speed of 70 km/h, when taking this aspect into account, we will have a picking up time longer then we may be expected at the first time. In our case if we have a total distance of 171 kilometers which a truck should make in order to be loaded with straw, this means that according to the basic formula, where the time is the result of dividing the speed to the coefficient of the distance, we will have a transportation time of 2 hours and 30 minutes. Group 24: Carl Grech, Angel Sebezan, Fabio Mossuto, Lucian 72
At this value, we will need to add the total time necessary to load a truck. Looking at the previous calculations regarding the distance, we see that the truck needs 20 stops to be loaded from each farm apart. Here it is adding of course also how much time needs the truck to be loaded down when brings the straw to the power-plant from Reggio Emilia. We know that the truck has a number of five deliveries. To download a truck of the straw that is contained in the dump, regards the same amount of time, 60 minutes as it is regarded to load it up. This means, that the truck will have 25 processes of loading, and the total time necessary for this, it will be 25 hours. In order to see how much time does it takes for the transportation process, we will add the driving time value and the loading time value, and the result will be 27,5 hours charged. Thinking at the labor aspect, where normally a person should work 8 hours per day, this means that two drivers will be better to have, or another opportunity is to split the work in many days. As explanation at the previous calculation, two or more drivers are needed to drive the trucks. It is better to have more than one truck working in the same time and reduced the time value. If we will take as an example to have five trucks, this it means that the total value of working hours will be divided by five, mainly in our case we have 27,5 hours working dividing by five trucks, we will have like 5 hours and 30 minutes, or if we are attending to use only one truck, we will need an interval more than three days, preferably to spend one day for each group of farms, this meaning a total of five days.
5.5 Calculating the fuel demand:

The fuel usage at our trucks refers to the relationship between distances and traveled by the truck and the amount of fuel consumed. There are no quantities or units for fuel usage defined in the International Standard ISO 80000 Quantities and Units, so the national-defined reciprocal quantities for fuel economy and fuel consumption are used in our project. The two most common ways to measure automobile fuel usage are: Fuel consumption referring to the amount of fuel used per unit distance; most commonly, liters per 100 kilometers (L/100km). This measure is also used in our case,
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we are reefing to Italy. Lower values means better consumption; using less quantity of fuel for the same interval of distance. Fuel economy the distance traveled per unit of fuel used; most commonly miles per gallon (mpg) or kilometers per unit (km/L).
Table 5.2 Fuel consumption vs emissions
A related measure is the amount of the carbon dioxide produced as a result of the combustion process, typically measured in grams of CO2 per kilometer (CO2g/km). A diesel gasoline (gasoline) engine will produce around 2,32 kilograms of carbon dioxide for each liter of diesel consumed. The fuel consumption provides data referring to the quantity of diesel used by a track during the transportation process. Basically the trucks they consume like 30 liters per 100 kilometers drive. Resulting from this, the truck is using like 1 liter per every 3,3 kilometers. If we have a distance of 171 kilometers, this means that we will need a total volume of 51.81 liters of diesel. Here we can see that after compressing the straw, we short up the total demand of combustible. The difference is by dividing 212,12 to 51.81 and the result it will be 160.13 liters less. Group 24: Carl Grech, Angel Sebezan, Fabio Mossuto, Lucian 74
Table 5.3. Vehicle coastdown time vs vehicle mass vs fuel consumption
5.6 Calculation of the price for diesel

When we have done our research, we found out that in Italy the price for diesel is 1,20 Euro per liter. Regarding to this aspect, we can calculate how much diesel our trucks will consume during the transportation in the driving time. Since the trucks are going to consume for our chain network distance of 171 kilometers, 51.81 liters of diesel, we will multiply this value to the price of 1,20 Euro per liter. The result will be that we will spend 62.17 Euro for the entire transportation process. Making a difference in the money spent on fuel between the time before compressing the straw and after, we will see that we will have less expenses. If normally we spend 254.54 Euro in total for the diesel and after the decrease the sizes of the bales we will spend 62.17 Euro, this means that we are assuming a profit of 192,17 Euro. Regarding to the fuel consumption in the old supply chain, we are suppose to use 212,12 liters of diesel, by multiplying the 700 kilometers that the all area has by road with 3,3. As soon as we saw the difference in the diesel demand, we need to know how much money we are going to spend on this in the old way. As we got a need of 212,12 liters of diesel, and we know the price of the diesel in Italy is 1,2 Euro per liter, we will obtain a result of 254.54 Euro, which represent the fuel cost. Group 24: Carl Grech, Angel Sebezan, Fabio Mossuto, Lucian 75
5.7 Calculating the CO2 emissions

Another aspect we wanted to have in consideration in elaborating our project, was also the emission of CO2. This chemical gas is by far, the most dangerous and most important factor in the worldwide pollution process. The European Union has its own set of emissions standards, that all the vehicles should met it, also our trucks in Italy. Currently the standards are set for all the vehicles, trains, barges, and non-road mobile machinery (such as tractors and other agriculture vehicles). No standards are applying for the planes and ships. The emissions standards changed based on test cycle used: ECE R49 (old) and ESC (European Steady Cycle, since 2000). The European Union introduced in Euro 4 effective in January 1, 2008, Euro 5 effective, January 1, 2010, and will be introduced also Euro 6 effective in January 1, 2014. These dates have been postponed for two years to give oil refineries the opportunity to modernize their plants. When we are referring to the these emissions, we are also talking about the Kyoto Protocol of 1997 stipulates that industrialized countries must reduce their emissions of six greenhouse gases (carbon dioxide, which is most important, methane, nitrous oxide, hydro fluorocarbons, per fluorocarbons and sulfur hexafluoride ) by about 5.2% below 1990 the first "commitment period" (2008-2012). For the EU, this means an 8% reduction in emissions of greenhouse gases by 2008-2012 compared to 1990 levels. For developing countries were not set emissions targets. When we are talking about the gas emission, we refer also to the Kyoto Protocol of 1997 stipulates that industrialized countries must reduce their emissions of six greenhouse gases (carbon dioxide, which is most important, methane, nitrous oxide, hydro fluorocarbons, per fluorocarbons and sulfur hexafluoride ) by about 5.2% below 1990 the first "commitment period" (2008-2012). For the EU, this means an 8% reduction in emissions of greenhouse gases by 2008-2012 compared to 1990 levels. For developing countries were not set emissions targets. These commitments become legally binding as of February 15, 2005, when the Kyoto Protocol entered into force. The European Union welcomed in particular the European
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Parliament, the entry into force of the Kyoto Protocol was the first step in the fight against climate change. In Italy, the rapport we have checked showed us that the Annual CO2 emissions are estimated to be like 474,148 thousands of metric tons, this means a 1,7% of the total emissions in the all world. Making the calculations for our case, we have a total emission of CO2 for our network chain of 120.19 kilogram of carbon dioxide. We got this result, from the equation, where we have multiplied the quantity of fuel needed, this being 51.81 liters with the standard value of emissions available for the trucks which is 2,32 kilograms of CO2 per liter. Regarding to the European Union regulations, this is a reliable value, which is not overcoming the limits. On the last aspect of the consumptions, we need to find also the total emissions of the CO2 before we established to resize the bales. If we have a total needing of 212,12 liters of diesel we can multiply this with the value of 2,32 and we will get a result equal to 492, 11 kg of CO2 emanated. We can see that also here we are gaining profit also when we are talking about the pollution level. The difference obtained is: 492.11 kg. CO2 120.19 kg. CO2 = 371,92 kg of CO2.
5.8 Rental costs of the truck

Before we started to apply the experiment of compressing the straw, we were obligated to load many times the truck not only at the farms, but also at the Reggio Emilia center power-station. This forced as to spend a lot of time on this, and due to this, we need to take in consideration the costs of renting the truck. Normally, the average cost for ranting a truck in order to transport the straw from one place to another in Italy, is 150 Euro per every hour we rent it. Regarding from here, the reciprocal is assuming that as much time we rent the truck, the less money we save for our profit. Since the overall network distances were 700 kilometers before applying the new strategy regarding the compressing the straw, and we were assumed that the driver
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should drive with 70 km/h, this means we have to spend normally 10 hours only in the driving process without any break. To this amount of time, we have to add also the total lead time that is involved in loading the trucks. As we said before in our project, to fill up or to empty the trucks, normally it takes one hour. Deducting from this, we can say that we need to make in total 4 ways from the center power-station from Reggio Emilia to each farm apart in order to manage to transport the all bales from a farm. Because of this aspect, we can very easy observe that we are going to spend 4 hours for each farm to transport all the number of bales from every single farm. In total we have 20 farms existing in our map, and because we spend 4 hours loading for each one, in total we will have 80 hours of loading in and off the bales of straw from the farms. So in total we will have 80 hours loading and 10 hours driving, which means a total of 90 hours of renting a truck. Multiplying the price per hour to rent the truck, which is as mentioned before 150 Euro with the total 90 hours, we will get a result of 13500 Euro rental cost. On the other hand, analyzing the situation after compressing the straw, we will need to allocate 5 hours in order to load the truck with the straw from each farm and the powerstation. This is possible to spend 5 hours on loading, because we decided to group up the farms into five smaller groups, each one of them being formed of 4 farms. Using this assumption, we will multiply the number 5 which means the number of farmgroups with the coefficient 5 which symbolize the number of hours to load the truck for each group, and we will obtain the result 25 hours working in total. This is possible as mentioned before, due to the shortest distances made by the truck. Talking about the distance, in the new logistic strategy for the farms, we got a total distance that the truck driver should make of 171 kilometers. Dividing this by the legal limited speed of 70 km/h, we will get a total time of driving of 2 hours and 30 minutes. From here we will calculate the total working time, by adding the 25 hours spent on loading the trucks with 2 hours and 30 minutes spent by driving from each farm to another and we will get 27 hours and 30 minutes.
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Using this assumption, we are going to calculate the total money that we need to allocate in order to rent a truck. Making the calculation of the price, we will multiply the total number of working hours, which was 27 hours and 30 minutes, with 150 Euro charged to pay for one hour rent. The result will be equal to 4125 Euro. The difference between the first time and the second time regarding the cost of money will be equal to 9375 Euro, this result being derived from dividing the cost of 13500 from the first time with 4125 from the second time.
5.9 Calculation about the energy produced in the power station:

In order to see how efficient our system in producing electricity is, we will find the number of total quantity of tones. Because we have the number of 20 farms in our system, and we already know that every farm is producing a capacity of 6 tones of straw, this means that in total we are going to have 120 tones of straw. In trying to calculate this part of the project, we found the information, that it says that in order to produce 1 MWh of electric power at the power plant, we need to burn a quantity of 1,5625 tones of straw. The mathematical equation that states our equitation to calculate the total value of electricity is based on the dividing the 120 tones resulted from all the farms to the accorded coefficient value of 1,5625; from here we got the result of 76,8 MWh or 76800 KW produced by all the 20 farms. According to our researches, the price for 1 KW in Italy is equal to 0,22 Euro; because of this, we can calculate how much money are we going to get every year by burning the straw. The equation is 76800 KW * 0,22 = 16896 Euro, sum of money which is resulting from the straw from all the farms. For taking every individual farm, we can say that we will have a income in Euro equal to 844,8, from dividing the total amount of Euro gained, 16896 to the number of total farms, being 20.
5.10 Total savings per year:

The total annual profit represents the sum of all the income registered by us from coming up with this logistical strategic system of compressing the straw. We will count Group 24: Carl Grech, Angel Sebezan, Fabio Mossuto, Lucian 79
every income, resulted from the savings in time transportation, quantity of fuel consumed, fuel costs, reduction in emissions of CO2 , rental costs for the trucks and of course, at this we will add the value in Euro resulted from getting the money from the electricity produced from burning the straw. In making the total annual profit, we will use an easy way of calculating, by putting all the benefits we registered till now into an equation. This will be looking like: Profit regarding the money: Profit = 192,17 Euro ( savings from the diesel costs ) + 9375 Euro ( savings from the truck rental ) + 16986 Euro ( resulting from generating the electricity ) Profit = 26553,17 Euro per year. Taking in consideration that we have spent 20000 Euro to purchase one Compressing Machine for one farm, this is easy to be understood that for all the farms in order to buy one machine for each one, it will cost us 400000 Euro. Our annual profit is mostly 26553 Euro, so we hope that in 15 years and 1 month we will be able to cope and gain back the money invested in buying these machines. Profit regarding the time:
We saved from the working hours involved in driving along the distances and loading the trucks like 62 hours and 30 minutes in total; Profit regarding the distances:
We have managed to save up 529 kilometers in total; Profit regarding the emissions of CO2:
By the new system of collecting the straw from the farms, we managed to avoid the pollution with CO2 by 371,92 kilograms of CO2; Profit regarding the usage of diesel:
In the second phase we managed to save up 149,95 liters of diesel. Group 24: Carl Grech, Angel Sebezan, Fabio Mossuto, Lucian 80
6 Conclusion
Our main goal at the start of the project was to create a solution in order to improve the current situation of the transporting of straw from field to power plant for energy production. The solution consisted in two parts, a mechanical part to compress the straw to a further value, and a logistic part to create a logistic way of transportation. We both succeeded in our goal, where in the mechanical part we were able to create a machine that compresses the straw up to five times more than the traditional bales. As a result of this we were able to cut down the costs of the delivery from farm to plant since the trucks used for transportation could be filled with a larger amount of straw.
Regarding the logistic part we constructed a logistic way of transport through various algorithms in order to find the shortest way of transportation. This solution will make the farmers save a lot of money and time. By having less kilometers to travel from farm to power plant will result in saving hours of work, both for the farmer and the truck driver. Another goal which we achieved is to be able to create renewable energy with the lowest possible pollution. The CO2 emissions were reduced do to the fact of creating energy from the burning from straw, but also by reducing the number of kilometers the trucks should make.
Our final conclusion is that in a real life situation it would have been better to have more farms connected to one power plant. This means that the energy generation would have been higher since more tons of straw for burning would be available. We must not forget though that when having more farms and more straw the expenses will also increase.
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7 List of references
http://www.madehow.com/Volume-2/Hay-Baler.html http://www.arpnjournals.com/jeas/research_papers/rp_2009/jeas_0709_217.pdf http://www.cigrjournal.org/index.php/Ejounral/article/view/1347/1183 http://www.freestudy.co.uk/fluid%20power/cylinders.pdf http://www.freepatentsonline.com/3946660.html http://www.freepatentsonline.com/4519808.html http://www.wipo.int/pctdb/en/wads.jsp?IA=GB1986000106&LANGUAGE=EN &ID=id00000000839504&VOL=9008&DOC=002d62&WO=86/005140&WEE K=20/1986&TYPE=A1&DOC_TYPE=PAMPH&TOK=qj9WjPs962qmoYfuAc 7xPoijRa4&PAGE=1 http://www.sciencedirect.com/science%20/journal/03783820 http://www.wipo.int/pctdb/en/wads.jsp?IA=DK2007000525&LANGUAGE=EN &ID=id00000006965344&VOL=90&DOC=017bb2&WO=08/064681&WEEK =44/2008&TYPE=A1&DOC_TYPE=PAMPH&TOK=JBf70A_Z_7Cfcip0ftBao upKZPs&PAGE=HTML http://www.cigrjournal.org/index.php/Ejounral/article/viewFile/1347/1183 http://ressources.ciheam.org/om/pdf/a16/91605044.pdf http://www.foxvps.co.uk/cylinderData/dataPDF.pdf http://www.boschrexroth.com/industrial-hydraulicscatalog/Vornavigation/Vornavi.cfm?Language=EN&VHist=g54573,g143967&P ageID=p77740 http://pdf.directindustry.com/pdf/baldor-electric-company/rpm-ac-motor-forextruder-duty/11550-142838-_2.html http://www.globalspec.com/SpecSearch/PartSpecs?partId={D0D62BDE-7CAD4C00-86CB-B09BCE74D7A9}&vid=97598&comp=36&qid=17886953 http://www.centa.no/PDF/Mindre_fartoy_lystbater/SerieA.pdf http://www.boschrexroth.com/industrial-hydraulicscatalog/Vornavigation/Vornavi.cfm?Language=EN&VHist=g54569,g54576,g54 602&PageID=p78438 http://www.dornerconveyors.com/PDF/Dorner_2200_section.pdf 82
http://www.hev.com/catalog/dunlop_hiflex/450_bar_high_pressure_hose.htm#to p http://www.parker.com/literature/Literature%20Files/IHD/FCsec1.pdf http://www.videncenter.dk/gule%20halm%20haefte/Gul_Engelsk/halmUK04.pdf Ballou R.H. business logistics management planning, organizing and controlling the supply chain Martin A.J. DPR- distribution resources planning- distribution management most powerful tool Christopher M ,logistic and supply chain management strategies for reducing costs and improving services http://www.daimanta.ru/ital/price.html http://www.misterimprese.it/emilia-romagna/reggio-emilia/reggioemilia/aziende-agricole.html Mauro Dell amico .Ricerca operativa . Pitagora editrice Bologna A. Pareschi, E Ferrari, A Persona , A Regatieri logistica integrata e flessibile Progetto leonardo Bologna
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Appendix
Experiment
The experiment on straw was carried out to give us a clear idea on how the straw will behave when subjected to different pressures. In the picture below one can see the pressing machine which was used for out experiment. The force the pressing machine could develop was from 0 to 100 tons.
The compressing machine
The first step for the experiment was to find a chamber in which to put the straw for compressing. The chamber consists of a metal hollow cylinder welded to a metal plate as base. Afterwards the dimensions of the chamber, including the height, area, volume and mass were recorded using a measuring tape and balance. Our first tests were made on un-shredded straw. The chamber was filled with straw and the total mass of both the cylinder and the straw was recorded. The initial height of the straw was recorded using a measuring tape. The chamber with the straw was placed under the pressing machine and an initial force of 25kN was applied. The force was released, and the straw was left to expand back. The height of the straw was then recorded. This procedure was repeated for the pressing force increasing in steps of 25kN and reaching 400kN. Group 24: Carl Grech, Angel Sebezan, Fabio Mossuto, Lucian 84
Cylindrical chamber
Filling the chamber and recoding the mass
The same experiment was repeated with shredded straw and the results were recorded in an excel sheet. The mass of the straw was found by subtracting the mass of the chamber from the mass of both straw and chamber. The height of the compressed straw was calculated by subtracting the height swept from the total height. Afterwards the volume was calculating by multiplying the area of the cylinder by the height. Afterwards the Group 24: Carl Grech, Angel Sebezan, Fabio Mossuto, Lucian 85
density was found by dividing the previously recorded mass by the volume. Finally the pressure was calculated by dividing the force produced by the machine by the area of the chamber. In the pictures below one can observe the final product of the un-shredded and shredded straw. The shredded straw seems to have a better compactness than the un-shredded straw, but the shredded straw lost its compactness more easily than the un-shredded straw. From these experiments we concluded that the un-shredded straw will give more adhesiveness and compactness at a less pressure.
F inal product from un-shredded straw
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Final product from shredded straw
Carl and Angel conducting the experiment
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Background
In background description we will present a general introduction about what our project will be focused on. We started from the idea to find a more convenient solution in both logistic and mechanical way of assuring the chain process from the supplier (the fields) to the power plant. In our project we wanted to combine renewable energy, machine dimensioning, logistics & economy since they are the major areas of study which we are interested in. The major inspiration was to maximize todays technology to create renewable energy as less expensive as possible. Our project will involve investigations on how we will be able to save up money, time, reduce pollution and incrementing the amount of energy produced by renewable sources. The problem has arisen since it is too expensive to transfer straw from field to power station since untreated straw takes a large volume while having a small mass. Our main goal is to install a machine in every farm (or in every few farms) for reducing expenses by compressing straw to a further state in order to take less space and by creating a logistic way of transportation that can be implemented instead of the traditional way, where each farmer had to go directly to the power plant to deliver the straw. We have decided to deal with this problem since one of the most important issues in todays world is to create energy from renewable energy sources and to reduce the CO2 emissions. We will try to reduce the total cost for the overall process, and therefore we will be able to reduce the cost of creating electricity in general. The energy created from the power plant will be used by the farms which are supplying the straw and the surplus of energy can be sold to the national electric grid. Straw is a by-product resulting from the growing of commercial crops, primarily cereal grain. A part of the straw from the field is used as a way to produce energy since the burning is easy, convenient and cheap, and it represents the most economic disposal method. The burning of straw is also CO2 neutral, meaning that during its growth period the straw will absorb the same amounts of CO2 it emits during the burning process. Straw also has a calorific value of 3950 kcal/kg and the relation between weight and volume of the straw is of 30-45 (kg/m3) while that after the traditional compression method is 100-150 (kg/m3). We will investigate on how to increase the weight-volume Group 24: Carl Grech, Angel Sebezan, Fabio Mossuto, Lucian 88
relation in order to reduce the overall costs of transportation. The round bails which one can see on the fields have dimensions varying from 50 to 165cm with a thickness of 52cm. The traditional trucks used for transportation have a maximum length of 12metres, 4.3metres in height and 2.25metres in width and they can carry a maximum load of 32 tons. In our case we have chosen Italy as the country where the problem takes place since one can find quite a large number of fields concentrated in one area. The chosen region will be in the province of Reggio Emilia where we will individualize approximately 20 farms that exist today and we will invent our theoretical plant and place it on the map. Each farm will be having a field of approximately 200 hectares.
89
Purpose
The overall purpose for the project is to reduce expenses for transporting straw from field to power station . this will be possible by creating a machine that will be able to compress straw so that it will take less space for transportation . The most feasible way to do this will be by using some sort of piston driven by a motor and pump. Beside that we will create a logistic way of transportation in order to reduce the number of truck that are needed to transport the straw from farm to plant in the present day . This new system will make the farmers save money over the traditional ways that are used today. Solving the problem means to make a system less costly to operate than the ones that already exist. The farmers will be able to run their farms from the energy created by the extra unused straw that is left . We will be able to calculate by how much we will reduce the CO2 emissions by reducing the time for transport and while creating clean energy. Adding to this we will discuss what benefits will the farmers have and what overall investment is needed to implement this new system. On the other hand , like in any other market relationship , we way have competitors, so at the end we will discover if the new system will proposing will be feasible or not .
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Problem Formulation
The main questions of our project are: How to find a better way to compress straw The problem involves in finding a solution to compress straw to a further value in order that it takes less volume. This obviously has to be done by a sort of machine since man power cannot compete with power developed by todays technology. The first action to take will be to investigate the current situation involving the machinery which transforms the straw into the round bails we usually see lying on the fields. The idea is to create a machine that is able of compressing straw in a defined size to make it efficient and easier to transport. To construct the machine we need to find out: What motor? What pump? What piston to use? After the machine is assembled we need to calculate the costs to produce the machine and what are the energy costs to use it? Further sub questions include: How much space we will save from the traditional round bails for transportation? We need to find out also if the power plant can use the compressed straw or if theres need de-compress the straw for burning.
How to create a logistic network that connects the farms between each other and finally to the power station After the straw is compressed, it has to be transported from the farm to the power station, and then it is eventually burned to produce electricity. The main questions involved are: Which type of transport to use? How many resources? How much money is saved from the logistic way of transportation? After considering the cost to produce the compressing machine, together with the distance between neighboring farms, we have to define how many machines we will use. And how many farms to connect with one machine. After considering all the expenses we will have the possibility to find out how much money we will save on fuel used for transportation. The answer will be closely related to what extent can the straw be compressed since we could calculate how many tons we can transport in each truck. At last the amount by how much CO2 emissions is reduced could be also calculated.
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Delimitation
We will not cover in detail how the straw is collected since a solution for this problem already exists. Instead we will cover on how we can create a solution to make the straw have a lesser volume than it usually has. We do not intend to go in detail about the production of renewable energy from straw, since the information about this subject already exists. We will consider that the farms are situated along a main road to facilitate transportation. We will assume that all the fields will produce the same amount of straw for the same area and at the same time. It will be assumed that the trucks used for transportation will consume the same amount of gasoline over the same distance. The size of the farms may not match with the farms of the territory taken into consideration for the project. This task will be in use only for few months a year. So there will be the need to create a logistic network that could also be used in the other free months of the year.
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Model
The first thing is to choose the area in Italy where to implement the problem. This will give us plenty of useful information about the climate, amount of straw available and the distance between the farms and power station. The mechanical part to create a machine, including the design will be made by Carl and Angel. To project this machine from a mechanical point of view we want to design a 3D model of the compressing machine, by choosing the appropriate parts to get the best results for the compressing of straw. For the logistic part we will use some type of algorithm to create a good network for transportation, this algorithm will be of the type neighborhood which will help to minimize the distance travelled between the farms. We have to examine which type of transport will be the most convenient for the door to door method which will be used for straw collection We will take into consideration all the cost to produce the machine, to create the logistic network and for the whole process. This part will be made by Fabio and Lucian. At the end we will combine both the mechanical, logistic and economical part to figure out if the final product will be able to save money and time over the original methods which are used today. We will give a clear picture on how much money can be saved over a period of time, where in the expenses we will be listing all the parts for the whole process, ranging from the tiniest bolt in the machine to the gasoline cost.
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Process Report
Authors Carl Grech Fabio Mossuto Angel Sebezan Lucian Leampar
Group 24 2037612@vitusbering.dk 2036997@vitusbering.dk 2043947@vitusbering.dk 2020300@vitusbering.dk
Erik Fljgaard Kristensen ErikF.Kristensen@agrsci.dk
Table of contents
1. Planning 2. Weekly log book 3. Minutes of meetings with supervisors 4. Reflections
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1. Planning
Planning in full version is available on the CD.
2. Weekly log book

Week 10 The first week of work we started discussing the main idea of our project and what we wanted to do. We first had a brainstorming session in order to form the fundamental ideas on which our project would be based.
Week 11 During this week we made the Group Schedule and started organizing our work. We agreed to spend the next week finding information to discuss and select the next week. We had our first meeting with our supervisor, Poul Sejr Srensen.
Week 12 We started to think about our project description.
Week 13 We wrote the final version of Project Description and met the supervisors that helped us to start working.
Week 14 This week we had our second meeting with our supervisor Poul Sejr Srensen to discuss the formulation of the project description. Week 15 Group 24: Carl Grech, Angel Sebezan, Fabio Mossuto, Lucian
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During this week we met with our new supervisor Erik Fljgaard Kristensen for the first time where we explained our tasks for the project.
Week 16 We divided our main project in two so we could start working on our two main tasks.
Week 17 We met to solve together doubts. We realized to need more information, more data to continue our work.
Week 18 After the meeting with the supervisor we realized that we couldnt solve our problem ourselves without discussing about it. So we consulted the supervisor to help us in our calculations.
Week19 We had a meeting with the supervisor in order to continue discussing our values, where he suggested that we should do some experiments on straw.
Week 20 We met with the supervisor where he suggested that where he brought us two types of straw in order to do our experiments.
Week 21
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We made two days of experiments in the laboratories where we obtained valuable data for our calculations. Afterwards we met with the supervisor in order to discuss our results.
Week 22 During the meeting of the supervisor we discussed the data regarding both the mechanical and logistic part.
Week 23 We wrote the process report and we complete the report with all the missing part like list of references, the final version of table of content. And finally we shared our experience from the project.
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3. Minutes of meeting with the supervisor
19.03.2010 The first meeting was made to introduce ourselves to the supervisor and to explain our aims for the project. We discussed about our previous experience and he helped us to start working.
9.04.2010 During this meeting we were not able to discuss what we had in mind since we were informed that we would have given another supervisor four our next meetings.
15.05.2010 This was the first meeting with our new supervisor where we showed him our ideas and what we have done so far.
7.05.2010 During this meeting we discussed with the supervisor what corrections we have to do to our project description.
14.05.2010 On this meeting we had another discussion about project description since we had to correct it again. Beside that we discussed the main details what our project should include.
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21.05.2010 By this time we were working on our different tasks and showing our advances in our project. We also decided to make experiments on straw in the school laboratories.
2.06.2010 We discussed our calculations built on the experiments we made in the school laboratories in order to continue proceedings regarding the mechanical part. Also the logistic algorithms were discussed as well.
8.06.2010 This was the last meeting with the supervisor where we discussed how our layout should be and what to include in the project report. Also we discussed the calculations and how our final product should be.
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4. Reflections
When this project started, we wanted to learn how to work with people from other cultures so we decided to mix nationalities in our group. We also wanted to combine our major ares of studies in which we were interested in, which included renewable energy, machine dimensioning, logistics and economics. At first we were Carl Grech and Fabio Mossuto with the initial idea to combine machine dimensioning and renewable energy with logistics. So we thought of a title which should include both parts. Our third member to join the group was Lucian Leampar in order to include an economic in our project. Later Angel Sebezan joined the group since he was also interested in our idea where he could help in the mechanical part of the project. So finally the group was fully formed. Since we started to work, the whole group thought of the project as their own project and all of us wanted to do their best. We worked on our major areas separately; where Carl and Angel focused on the mechanical part while Fabio and Lucian. In the first meeting we set some rules which seem obvious but permit us to work in an efficient way. Initially we were concerned about our final goal since we had a lot of parts to join altogether in a final product. As the time passed by we were able to confront our results and finally come out with a final solution concerning both the mechanical and logistic and economical part. The part which was less successful was the planning, but this was not a problem because we continued working in the right way, never forgetting the goal of this project. During the process, sometimes we found it hard to catch up with our other courses with the international project, but at last all people were satisfied with the result, each one contribute to the elaboration of this project and it was a real pleasure to work on a project that everyone believes in. We have learned to work in a group where one has to adapt himself to the other was of working and we also learned how to listen each other, even if we were all full of different ideas. We can proudly say that all of us from now on we are able to work in groups easier than ever before. Every member of our group is of the idea that working in a group was an unforgettable and enriching experience.
Group 24: Carl Grech, Angel Sebezan, Fabio Mossuto, Lucian 100
Group 24: Carl Grech, Angel Sebezan, Fabio Mossuto, Lucian 101

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Collecting, compressing and transportation of straw from fields to power station in a more convenient way

Supervisor: Erik Fljgaard Kristensen 11.06.2010

4. Handling of straw ..................................................................................................... 39

Group 24: Carl Grech, Angel Sebezan, Fabio Mossuto, Lucian

5 General overview of the straw logistics: .................................................................. 64

Process Report .............................................................................................................. 94

Group 24: Carl Grech, Angel Sebezan, Fabio Mossuto, Lucian

Group 24: Carl Grech, Angel Sebezan, Fabio Mossuto, Lucian

Group 24: Carl Grech, Angel Sebezan, Fabio Mossuto, Lucian

2.3 Problem Formulation

Group 24: Carl Grech, Angel Sebezan, Fabio Mossuto, Lucian

Table 3.1 . Straw bales specifications

Group 24: Carl Grech, Angel Sebezan, Fabio Mossuto, Lucian

Tabl e 3.2 . Chemical compositions of straw botanic fractions

Table 3.3 . Minerals in straw

Table 3.4 . Morphology

Solutions from Morphology

Group 24: Carl Grech, Angel Sebezan, Fabio Mossuto, Lucian

Group 24: Carl Grech, Angel Sebezan, Fabio Mossuto, Lucian

Group 24: Carl Grech, Angel Sebezan, Fabio Mossuto, Lucian

3.3 Weighting Table

Table 3.5 Weighting Table

Point system: Best = 5

Good = 3 Bad = 2 Worst= 1

Group 24: Carl Grech, Angel Sebezan, Fabio Mossuto, Lucian

3.4 Final Solution

Group 24: Carl Grech, Angel Sebezan, Fabio Mossuto, Lucian

3.5 3D CAD Model

Group 24: Carl Grech, Angel Sebezan, Fabio Mossuto, Lucian

3.6 Experiments on Straw

Table 3.6 straw compression test (unshredded straw )

Group 24: Carl Grech, Angel Sebezan, Fabio Mossuto, Lucian

T Table 3.7 straw compression test (shredded straw )

Group 24: Carl Grech, Angel Sebezan, Fabio Mossuto, Lucian

3.7 Hydraulic cylinder selection

Group 24: Carl Grech, Angel Sebezan, Fabio Mossuto, Lucian

3.8 Selection of Pump

Table 3.8 pump caratheristic

Group 24: Carl Grech, Angel Sebezan, Fabio Mossuto, Lucian

3.9 Selection of Motor

Table 3.9 motor

Group 24: Carl Grech, Angel Sebezan, Fabio Mossuto, Lucian

3.10 Selection of Coupling

60 * 74570W 258,94 Nm 2 * 2750rpm

Table 3.10 .Performance table of coupling

Group 24: Carl Grech, Angel Sebezan, Fabio Mossuto, Lucian

3.11 Selection of Hoses

Qmax = 0.001718 m3/s VCritical = 6 m/s

Group 24: Carl Grech, Angel Sebezan, Fabio Mossuto, Lucian

3.12 Selection of Valves

Table 3. 11 Performance table for valves

Group 24: Carl Grech, Angel Sebezan, Fabio Mossuto, Lucian

Flow Control Valve

Table3.12. Flow control valve

Group 24: Carl Grech, Angel Sebezan, Fabio Mossuto, Lucian

Group 24: Carl Grech, Angel Sebezan, Fabio Mossuto, Lucian

Group 24: Carl Grech, Angel Sebezan, Fabio Mossuto, Lucian

3.14 Conveyor belts

Group 24: Carl Grech, Angel Sebezan, Fabio Mossuto, Lucian

3.15 Final product and method of operation

Drawing showing cylinder and chamber

Group 24: Carl Grech, Angel Sebezan, Fabio Mossuto, Lucian

3.16 Hydraulic Circuit