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ARS Home » Plains Area » Mandan, North Dakota » Northern Great Plains Research Laboratory » Research » Publications at this Location » Publication #328626
Title: Energy-based break-even transportation distance of biomass feedstocks

Author
item Tumuluru, Jaya Shankar
item IGATHINATHANE, C - North Dakota State University
item Archer, David
item MCCULLOCH, RICHARD - Idaho National Laboratory

Submitted to: Frontiers in Energy Research
Publication Type: Peer Reviewed Journal
Publication Acceptance Date: 2/26/2024
Publication Date: 4/2/2024
Citation: Tumuluru, J., Igathinathane, C., Archer, D.W., Mcculloch, R. 2024. Energy-based break-even transportation distance of biomass feedstocks. Frontiers in Energy Research. 12. https://doi.org/10.3389/fenrg.2024.1347581.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.3389/fenrg.2024.1347581

Interpretive Summary: Biomass can be used to produce biobased fuel for transportation. It is important to understand how far biomass could be transported using the fuel produced from that biomass. However, that information is not available. This research calculated the distance different types of biomass could be transported using the fuel produced from the biomass being transported. Distances were calculated for fourteen biomass feedstocks and for three fossil fuels. The distances were calculated for three types of transport: truck, rail, and ship. Among the biomass feedstocks, torrefied (heat treated) pellets had the highest transport distance for all three types of transport. Ship transport was most efficient, followed by rail and truck for all materials studied. This information is useful biofuel industry and policymakers in understanding the energy use in biomass transportation.

Technical Abstract: The distance a solid biomass feedstock could be used to transport the feedstock when used as biobased fuel is critical information for transportation analysis. However, this information is not available. The break-even transportation distance (BTD) of various fuels from biomass feedstocks and fossil sources was analyzed for truck, rail, and ship transport modes based on bulk density, moisture content, and specific energy. Fourteen different biomass feedstocks, such as crop residues (e.g., corn stover), woody biomass (e.g., wood chips), including thermally pretreated (torrefied) and densified forms (pellets), cattle feedlot compost, and three standard fossil fuels, namely, coal, lignite, and diesel, were considered for BTD analysis and comparison. The BTD values were derived by comparing the energy content of biomass feedstocks with the energy expended in transporting the fuels through selected transportation modes. For ready reference, an alternative derivation of BTD equations and example calculations were also presented. Among the biomass feedstocks, torrefied pellets had the highest BTD (4.16 × 104, 12.47 × 104, and 54.14 × 104 km), and cattle feedlot compost had the lowest BTD (1.29 × 104, 3.88 × 104, and 9.23 × 104 km), respectively, for truck, rail, and ship. Higher bulk density and higher specific energy of the biomass feedstocks increased the BTD for all modes of transport. Transport is most efficient when mass-limited. Biomass feedstock bulk densities where transportation becomes mass-limited are 223, 1,480, and 656 kg/m3 for truck, rail, and ship, respectively. Truck transport is typically mass-limited (payload limit restriction; increased BTD), whereas rail transport is entirely volume-limited (cargo space restriction; decreased BTD), and ship transport is mostly volume-limited for biomass feedstocks and mass-limited for densified biomass feedstocks. Ship transport is the most efficient, followed by rail and truck; on average for the materials (17) studied, rail is 3.1 times and ship is 9.2 times the truck’s BTD. Based on the bulk density and higher specific energy of the biomass feedstocks, regardless of the refinery location, interstate truck transport of these feedstocks is not a limiting factor in the bio-refining process, with the studied biomass feedstock BTD per truckload representing between 0.89 and 2.88 times the US perimeter.