Evaluation of the damage potential of solid-disperse impurities in agricultural raw materials

The research project is funded by the German Ministry of Economics and Technology

Project executing organisation:

Research Association:

Duration 1 October 2010 – 30 September 2012

Introduction

Agricultural raw materials have been increasingly used for the production of biofuels or as solid recovered fuel besides food and feed supply. For their continuous supply, the industrial processing of agricultural raw materials requires the use of bulk handling plants as well as the in-house conveying with mechanical or pneumatic conveying systems. Their undisturbed and safe operation can be problematic caused by impurities which can lead to damages of different degree and to a total breakdown. Standstill periods due to breakdowns of conveying systems involve generally economical losses.

Especially the changing commodity markets, the utilisation of alternative raw materials and the competitive situation of feed, food and biofuel production as well as the increasing globalisation of the agricultural economy raise challenges which the handling plants, producers and the machine suppliers have to cope with. Experience from the last decades indicate that among other things the conditions for cultivation and harvest of alternative agricultural raw materials e.g. in South-East Asia influence the characteristic share of impurities as well as their relevant material properties. Whereas the latter can cause a considerable wear at handling and production plants. Altogether a change of the worldwide commodity flows as well as an increase in the number and amount of agricultural raw materials to be handled are expected by rising demand, productivity gain and provision of areas.

Goal and approach of the project

Goal of the research project is the extension of lifetimes, the reduction of operational costs as well as the improvement of the operation safety of mechanical conveying elements for handling and in-house conveying of agricultural raw materials. Different measures are conceivable for an efficient implementation. Their order of priority can be fixed by a cost-benefit analysis on the basis of scientific achievements and earmarks

the use of a suitable separation of impurities in central facilities under consideration of a minimum loss of resources and/or maximum reduction of impurities depending on the intended application.

The necessary tests are divided up into subtasks in accordance with the findings to be achieved.   For gathering damages caused by impurities in agricultural raw materials, a questionnaire is prepared in which also the technical specifications of the relevant machines and consequences from the case of damages are recorded. The evaluation of the questionnaires is done in form of a damage statistic and provides information on the classification of impurities concerning damage characteristics. Experimental investigations on the separating behaviour and the material characterisation of raw materials and impurities are the basis for a decision model on the intensity of an impurity separation in relation to the further processing steps of the agricultural raw materials.

The evaluation of partial results and the data analysis shall enable a classification of impurities in agricultural raw materials.

The achieved results shall be confirmed in tests by means of the characteristic wear of different substances. The deduction and validation of constructive and operational measures shall be done in the form of a construction directive and operator guideline.   The research findings shall enable an appropriate construction and layout as well as an efficient and safe operation of mechanical conveying equipments by definable requirements for raw-material qualities concerning the portion of impurities and the definable damage potential. A process-optimised separation of impurities on the basis of scientifically proven separation characteristics and properties of mixtures of raw materials and impurities makes an essential contribution for improving the quality of raw materials, the preventive worker protection and the plant safety for the handling and processing plants which are mostly small and medium-sized enterprises (SME). Furthermore, a process-optimised separation supports the operators in reducing standstill periods and downtimes. The suitable construction and availability of mechanical continuous conveyors make a considerable contribution for raising the quality of the products and thus for improving the competitiveness of small and medium-sized enterprises (SME) of the relevant machine and plant manufacture. The mostly small and medium structured operators of handling plants, flour and feed mills will gain decisive advantages for a safe processing as well as for improving the product quality and safety by using reliable conveying elements and by an appropriate and optimised separation of impurities. Wear and breakdowns can be reduced or avoided, maintenance and repair time intervals can be stretched, standstill times can be minimised. The competitiveness of the plant operators will be raised.

Involved research instituts

fml – Institute for Materials Handling, Material Flow, Logistics Technical University of Munich, Boltzmannstraße 15, D-85748 Garching b. München

Project manager: Dipl.-Ing. Stefan Rakitsch

IFF Research Institute, Frickenmühle 1A, D-38110 Braunschweig
Project manager: Dipl.-Ing. Alexandra Kirchner