Capturing Clean Cellulose

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Capturing Clean Cellulose

• Lyle Stephens
• John Deere Technology Innovation Center

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• State of the Art
• Harvesting systems
• Performance
• Issues

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A Brief History

• Deere developed the Biomass Converter in the
  1970s.
• Used the energy in corn cobs to dry the grain
• Produced syngas for heat and engine fuel.

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Status Report

• The industry has developed a large number of
  harvesting technologies.

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One Pass
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Two Pass
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Willow
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Miscanthus
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Forest Slash
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Sponsored Harvest Research

• DOE Iowa State University
• Cargill-Dow (now NatureWorks)
• John Deere Harvester Works
• John Deere Ottumwa Works
• John Deere Technology Center Moline
• University of Wisconsin Madison
• University of Kentucky

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Generate and Evaluate Concepts

• One Pass One Stream
• One Pass Two Streams
• One Pass Three Streams

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One Pass One Stream

• Increase bulk density of loaded truck
• Unthreshed ears mixed with chopped stalks
  central processor for separation

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One Pass Two Streams

• Ears only into combine
• Whole plant into combine

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Ears Only
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Whole Plant
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One Pass Three Streams
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Sugar
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Cotton
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Technology Portfolio

• Multitude of unit operations in current and past
  machines
• Can be combined into new machines to meet market
  requirements

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Harvest System Performance
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Research Issues

• Soil health and soil erosion
• Nutrient value in biomass
• Harvest labor availability
• Highly seasonal supply
• Hassle Factor
• Feedstock specifications
• New Harvesting Concepts