%0 Journal Article
%T Effects of Supply Chain Strategy on Stump Fuel Cost: A Simulation Approach
%A Anders Eriksson
%A Lars Eliasson
%A Per-Anders Hansson
%A Raida Jirjis
%J International Journal of Forestry Research
%D 2014
%I Hindawi Publishing Corporation
%R 10.1155/2014/984395
%X In Sweden, stump fuel extraction for energy purposes is not a well-established practice and this major resource is currently left in the forest. The stump fuel supply chain is both challenging and complex, due to distance between resource and end user, material bulkiness, and the number of subprocesses involved. This study examined the impact of different aspects such as site characteristics, fuel quality, biomass losses, and machine performance on fuel cost. Two systems, including transport of comminuted and uncomminuted fuel, were studied. Discrete-event simulation was used to model systems and to analyse the dynamics of the supply chain and its various components. For a distance of 10£¿km, transportation of uncomminuted fuel gave the lowest costs. For distances from 30 to 70£¿km, site size (odt) determined whether to comminute or not before transport. For longer distances, comminution before transport proved to be necessary. Well-planned stump storage was shown to reduce the delivery costs significantly, while high moisture content (>45%) had detrimental effects on system costs per unit energy delivered. However, the most influential parameters were productivity level and site characteristics (distance and site size). 1. Introduction Conventional bioenergy assortments, mainly forest industry by-products such as black liquor, bark, sawdust, and shavings, are already utilised to a great extent in Sweden. The potential for growth and development in the bioenergy sector lies in primary forest fuels, for example, small trees, logging residues, and tree stumps, in other words materials previously left in the forest. The largest volume of biomass is in the tree stump assortment, which is currently almost unused [1, 2]. If properly handled, trees stumps are a high-quality fuel [3]. Today softwood tree stumps are harvested on a limited scale in Sweden, but national potential of 20.7£¿TWh per year has been reported [2]. Due to the stumps geometry of root system, spruce-dominated final felling stands are mainly considered suitable for stump extraction [4]. Extraction can be based on energy and silvicultural considerations [5]. Heat and combined heat and power plants (CHP) are the main consumers of stump fuel today [6]. Other future areas of potential application include biorefineries, liquid biofuel production, and thermal treatment plants [7¨C9]. Stumps are usually harvested using an excavator in the snow-free season when the ground is not frozen, that is, late spring, summer, and early autumn in the Nordic countries [6]. For both practical and environmental
%U http://www.hindawi.com/journals/ijfr/2014/984395/