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Summary of Biomass Scale Cubical Triaxial Tester Results

Conference ·
DOI:https://doi.org/10.2172/2001312· OSTI ID:2001312
 [1];  [2];  [3]
  1. Forest Concepts, LLC; Forest Concepts, LLC
  2. Forest Concepts, LLC
  3. The Pennsylvania State University

Hoppers are widely used biomass handling devices that channel bulk biomass from storage to subsequent handling equipment. Jenike’s longstanding approach, based on the Mohr-Coulomb model, has been successfully used to design hoppers handling cohesionless granular materials such as grains and other agricultural produces. However, designing a hopper to ensure reliable non-grain biomass flow is found to be challenging due to cohesion, irregular particle shape, and bulk material elastoplasticity. Forest Concepts developed a Cubical Triaxial Tester (CTT) to collect data necessary to determine constitutive model coefficients appropriate for particulate biomass materials. Over the course of three years, including hundreds of data sets with a focus on low-pressure ranges relevant to gravity hopper flow of biomass feedstocks, the Forest Concepts’ CTT has proven to be a reliable method to generate data that is otherwise difficult to obtain. Coefficients for three widely used constitutive material models, i.e., Mohr-Coulomb model, modified Cam-Clay model, and Drucker-Prager/Cap model, are reported. This work was supported in part by the US Department of Energy under contract DE-EE0008254.

Research Organization:
Forest Concepts, LLC, Auburn, WA (United States)
Sponsoring Organization:
USDOE Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy (EERE), Office of Sustainable Transportation. Bioenergy Technologies Office (BETO)
Contributing Organization:
Penn State University
DOE Contract Number:
EE0008254
OSTI ID:
2001312
Report Number(s):
DOE-FC-08254-10
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English