Moisture content management is a key requirement to improve forest harvest residue economics for bioenergy production. This dissertation aims to contribute towards better management through these three general objectives (1) Determine average moisture content of fresh forest harvest residues and its changes over the different seasons of the year, focusing...
The development of a market for currently non-merchantable forest material, such as harvest residues of tops and limbs of trees or small diameter trees, has been suggested as a possible win-win solution that could: (i) provide a financial incentive to help motivate treatments to reduce wildfire risk or restore forest...
Oregon has been moving forward with biomass energy development. Large-scale biomass power and cogeneration (producing heat and electricity) have been the focus of the last twenty-five years, while small-scale thermal bioenergy installations (producing heat) have dramatically increased during the last decade. In eastern Oregon, bioenergy is closely linked to restoration...
The use of fossil fuels and their related impact on the environment and global warming have encouraged societies to pursue more sustainable and renewable alternatives, e.g., forest-based bio-oil. Thus, a vital need to decrease the level of greenhouse gas emissions and the tendency of nations to reduce their dependency on...
An economic analysis and optimization of forest biomass processing and transportation at the operational level is presented. Renewable sources of energy have captured the interest of public and private institutions to develop cost-effective supply chains to reduce dependence on fossil fuels. The production of energy from forest harvest residues constitutes...
Logging and forest thinning operations generate large amounts of residues in the form of small trees, branches and foliage that are usually left on the ground to decay or are burned. These resources are readily available, but it is uneconomical to remove them from the forest. The potential utilization of...
In order to decide whether or not to develop biomass energy facilities and where to best locate them, developers and investors need accurate assessments of fuel supply. This includes information about the distribution and concentration of fuel throughout the assessment area, the quality of fuel (form, moisture content, contaminant content,...
The effect of incorporated sawdust, sawdust mulch and nitrogen (N) fertilizer rate on soil nutrients and other properties, N uptake, and plant growth in a young blueberry planting on a silt loam soil type was studied in 2004 and 2005. ‘Elliott’ highbush blueberry plants were established on raised beds that...
Combustion properties of kraft black liquor solids were studied using a laminar entrained flow reactor. The tendency of black liquors to release fume (compounds containing Na⁺, K⁺, Cl⁻, SO₄²⁻, SO₃²⁻, S₂0₃²⁻ and C0₃²⁻) during combustion were observed at 1000°C. Black liquor solids with a size fraction of 63 to 100...
A mechanistic simulation model of nitrogen fixation in dead wood was developed to help synthesize knowledge, develop hypotheses, and estimate rates of nitrogen fixation in the Pacific Northwest. In this model nitrogen fixation is directly controlled by log substrate, temperature, moisture, and oxygen content. Respiration and diffusion of
oxygen indirectly...