Evaluation of wood chipping efficiency through long-term monitoring

¹ Department of Land, Environment, Agriculture and Forestry, Università degli Studi di Padova
² Department of Forest Resources Management, Faculty of Forestry, The University of British Columbia

Published: 13 November 2020 by MDPI in The 1st International Electronic Conference on Forests — Forests for a Better Future: Sustainability, Innovation, Interdisciplinarity session Forest Operations and Engineering

https://doi.org/10.3390/IECF2020-08078

Abstract:

High volume of forest biomass can be available at roadside when whole three (WT) harvesting system is applied. Besides, salvage logging operations are favorable conditions to accumulate a large amount of low-quality biomass due to the recovery of damaged trees. In mountain regions, such as the Alps, the forest accessibility can be a significant constraint for the eco-efficiency of chipping operations. The present study aims to evaluate the sustainability of wood-chipping operations in mountain areas based on long-term monitoring. One chipper-truck was monitored during 114 working day using telemetry; different efficiency parameters were collected: machine position, collected using GNSS receiver, and engine parameters, collected using CAN Bus system. Efficiency parameters were used to compare different in-wood or landing configurations. The results show the influence of the different locations of the chipping sites according to the road network influence. The emission associated with frequent relocation and delays were 6.4 % of the total emissions.

Keywords: Telemetry; Efficiency; Biomass; Residues

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Comments on this paper

Rachele Venanzi

16 November 2020

information about chipping efficiency analysis

Dear Authors, in your opinion, why did you find the higher efficiency for chipping operation in moderate conditions?
Many thanks for your reply
RV

Alberto Cadei

17 November 2020

Reply to Dr. Venanzi Rachele

We would like to thank Ms. Venanzi Rachele for the question. Mean higher efficiency was found in moderate conditions, but it is similar to the easy condition. This suggests that in moderate condition, chipping efficiency could be comparable to the easy condition in our case study. However, productivity (cubic meters of loose chips produced per hour) was higher in the easy condition compared to moderate condition. Probably also in the moderate condition, it is possible to reduce the number and the distance between piles of logging residues or working at the terminals thanks to not so constrained space as in difficult condition

Rachele Venanzi

19 November 2020

Thanks
Dr Venanzi

Rodolfo Picchio

26 November 2020

Session Chair comment

Dear Authors,

Thanks for sharing Your work and perspective about this important topic, dealing with the eco-efficiency of chipping operations in mountain areas. This issue is strongly connected to forest accessibility, which is an essential and challenging task, becoming more important when the morphology of the area increases in complexity, like in this study case. The long-term monitoring carried out provides suitable information to further improve chipping operations and salvage logging in several specific contexts. I hope to read about this research in some full papers soon.

Session Chair

Rodolfo Picchio