ORNL’s Feedstock Systems Engineering efforts focus on the collection, storage and transportation of biomass feedstocks. The near term objective of this work is to improve the cost competitiveness of biomass energy systems. The overall goal is to develop safe and sustainable supply systems capable of supporting significant bio-based industrial development. The scope includes the physical and chemical characterization of biomass for the design and operation of handling equipment and the testing and validation of improved or innovative concepts for handling and storing biomass. Current research is focused on efficient handling of crop residue (straw and stover) for biofuels and harvesting and treatment of energy crops (grasses and woody crop) for bio-power. Research topics include development of moisture relations for corn stover, data on physical characteristics of grasses, and storage stability of corn stover and switchgrass. The results will provide critical data for optimizing machinery and systems for the entire feedstock supply chain. The feedstock systems engineering approaches will be linked to ongoing biomass resource economic analysis and modeling efforts in the development of systems optimization and decision making tools.

What's new?

  Publications and Presentations  

The links below point to the online versions of many publications. Due to copyright restrictions, not all the materials authored by ORNL staff and collaborators are available on BIN.

BIOBIB, a searchable bibliographic database, can be used to find additional topical information written by ORNL staff and collaborators. Your local library can help you get copies of these items.

Many of the documents require a recent version of Acrobat Reader which is available on the Adobe website.

• Sokhansanj, S. and A. F. Turhollow. 2003. Biomass Densification - Cubing Operations and Costs. Abstract of manuscript submitted to Applied Engineering in Agriculture.
• Turhollow, A. 2002. Methodology for Costing Production and Delivery Options for Energy Crops. Oak Ridge National Laboratory, Oak Ridge, TN
• M. D. Montross, T. S. Stombaugh, S. A. Shearer, and S. G. McNeil. 2002. Post-harvest Physical Properties of Corn Stover. Annual Report submitted to Oak Ridge National Laboratory, Oak Ridge, TN.
• S. Sokhansanj, A. Turhollow, J. Cushman, and J. Cundiff. 2002. Engineering Aspects of Collecting Corn Stover for Bioenergy. Biomass and Bioenergy 23:347-355.
• S. Sokhansanj, L. O. Pordesimo, and. W. E. Hart . 2002. Adaptation of Forage Handling Systems for Collecting Biomass Feedstock
• S. Sokhansanj and L. Wright. 2002. Impact of future biorefineries on biomass feedstock supply systems - equipment and infrastructure
• S. Sokhansanj, A. Turhollow, and R. Perlack. 2002. Stochastic Modeling of Costs of Corn Stover Costs Delivered to an Intermediate Storage Facility
• Engineering Systems Research for Biomass Feedstocks. 2002. BFDP Subcontractor’s and Collaborators Workshop presentations. 2001.