A Corn Stover Supply Logistics System

Published in Applied Engineering in Agriculture, Vol. 26(3): 455‐461, 2010. American Society of Agricultural and Biological EngineersCorn stover, Economics, GHG emission, Logistics, Roll press compaction, Tub grinding, Agribusiness, Crop Production/Industries,

Indian Meal Moth Survivability in Stored Corn With Different Levels of Broken Kernels

Survivability of Indian meal moth, Plodia interpunctella (Hübner) (Lepi-doptera: Pyralidae), larvae fed a standard laboratory diet and whole corn with 0, 5 to 7, and 100% broken corn kernels, was assessed under laboratory conditions at 28o C, 65% relative humidity, and 14:10 h (L:D) photoperiod. A conventional yellow dent corn hybrid (about 3.9% oil content, dry basis) and a high-oil corn hybrid (about 7.7% oil content, dry basis) were tested. Survivability was measured as the percentage of pre-pupae, pupae, and adults observed at the end of the rearing period. For the standard laboratory diet, a mean of 97.5% larvae survived. Percentage of larval survival increased as the percentage of broken corn increased. Mean percentages of larval survival for the conventional yellow dent corn were 6.7, 63.8, and 80.0 for 0, 7, and 100% broken kernels, respectively. The mean percentages of larval survival for the high-oil corn hybrid were 28.3, 81.3, and 100.0 for 0, 5, and 100% broken kernels, respectively. Larval growth rate for high-oil corn was faster than for conventional corn. Results indicate that cleaning corn before storage could reduce P. interpunctella problems

A Corn Stover Supply Logistics System

We evaluated the economics, energy inputs, and greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions for a proposed “field to facility” corn stover logistics system. The system included collection and transport by round bales to local storages within 3.2 km (2 mile) of the field during the fall harvest period followed by processing at the local storage sites throughout the year using mobile units which converted the bales to bulk material by tub‐grinding and roll‐press compacting to 240 kg/m3 (15 lb/ft3) to achieve 22.7‐t (25‐ton) loads for truck delivery to an end user within a 48‐km (30‐mile) radius. The total cost and fossil energy consumption for delivering the bulk corn stover (15% moisture) to end users were $81/t ($74/ton) and 936 MJ/t, respectively. The total fossil energy consumption was equivalent to approximately 7% of the energy content of corn stover. The life‐cycle GHG emission for heat and power applications was approximately 114 kg CO2e/t at 15% moisture or 8 g CO2e/MJ of dry matter including emissions for logistics and combustion, but excluding those associated with soil organic carbon (SOC) loss. Our estimates show that as a fuel for heat and power applications, corn stover reduced life‐cycle GHG emissions by factors of approximately 8 and 14 compared to natural gas and coal, respectively