The present invention relates to the art of storing sweet sorghum stalks and more particularly to a novel apparatus and method of placing leaf stripped whole stalk sweet sorghum stalks onto a storage pile employing a novel assembly of modified sugar cane handling equipment.
Heretofore, sweet sorghum stalks have not been placed into multi-month storage facilities, but rather transported directly to a facility where processing occurs within hours or days. Such methods create a number of problems including, but not limited to, high capital costs resulting from plant processing facilities operating only 2 months out of the year instead of full capacity, thereby leading to the high costs of the final products.
The storage pile of sweet sorghum whole cane allows for the storage of sweet sorghum over the winter months which will allow for a continuous flow of sweet sorghum whole cane from the storage pile to the processing plant.
Without a suitable storage method, there would be no fuel from the sweet sorghum industry in the northern climates because the harvest season is only 1 or 2 months, and without storage, the processing plant would only operate for 2 months which is not economical. By having a storage method to store the feed-stock, the plant can now operate maybe 6 months instead of 1 or 2 months because the plant has a continuous supply of feed-stock over the winter months making the plant much more profitable.
The sweet sorghum industry has heretofore believed that sweet sorghum could not be stored while maintaining its ethanol-producing qualities. For example, in the 1970's and 1980's sweet sorghum was grown extensively in Romania, but since no one could figure out how to store the sweet sorghum over the winter months so that the processing plant had a continuous supply of feed, sweet sorghum was phased out.
The potential to develop fuel from sweet sorghum has long been known, but without a storage method for northern climates, the industry remains underdeveloped. A need exists for a sweet sorghum storage method that retains its fuel-producing properties. The present invention provides a solution to these needs and other problems, and offers other advantages over the prior art.
With the foregoing in mind, the present invention provides a novel system, method, and apparatus for effectively placing clean, whole stalk sweet sorghum onto a storage pile for later processing at an appropriate storage facility. The present invention utilizes the ability of sweet sorghum stalk sugars to store under cold conditions and the ability of sweet sorghum stalks to maintain their integrity under piling conditions to allow for the delivery to the processing plant in an undamaged condition. Additionally, rocks, dirt and foreign materials may be excluded by employing a cane cleaning table or a vibrating conveyor/elevator system, to scrub the harvested cane before the stocks are placed on the pile, rather than at the processing plant. The result is the delivery of sweet sorghum stalks ready for processing over many winter months.
An objective of the present invention is to provide a novel apparatus, system and method for placing cleaned, whole stalk sweet sorghum stalks onto a storage pile that will retain the stalks in processing condition throughout non-harvesting months. This system and method retards deterioration of sugars that would render the stalks useless.
Other objectives of the present invention include:
The novel features which are believed to be characteristic of this invention, both as to its organization and method of operation together with further objectives and advantages thereto, will be better understood from the following description considered in connection with the accompanying drawings in which a preferred embodiment of the invention is illustrated by way of example and not limitation.
A preferred embodiment of a sweet sorghum piling system and method places leaf-stripped whole sweet sorghum stalks onto a storage pile optimized to allow the production of sweet sorghum to ethanol after the harvesting season. In general, the system and method include a crane system for transferring the oriented cane either from the transport wagons or dump pile to the storage pile and a long concrete pathway. An optional preliminary step may be performed to remove any leaves and seed heads that were not removed during harvesting. Leaves and seed heads are detrimental to the storage of cane as they prevent the flow of air through the pile, resulting in spoilage of the cane. An optional cane cleaning device (e.g. a cane cleaning table or vibrating cane conveyor/elevator) can be used which is integrated into the conveying system and receives cane from the field, removes dirt and foreign objects and deposits the cleaned cane in an adjustable orientation onto a platform for piling. As the pile is being constructed, the crane system for elevating the oriented cane is designed to allow for placing the cane at any location along the width of the pile to assist in maintaining an even distribution of cane across the width of the developing sweet sorghum cane storage pile, which in turn minimizes damage to the integrity of the whole stocks. As the pile is being constructed, the crane system for transferring (either from the transport wagons or dump pile) the oriented cane to be placed onto the pile, along with an optional cane cleaning device, are designed in such a manner as to allow for the movement of the equipment the entire length of the pile allowing for the ability to place the cane at any locations along the entire length of the pile. To maintain the proper environment of temperature and humidity inside the sweet sorghum cane pile, an airflow conduit, such as ventilation pipes, for blowing cold air into the finished pile are placed onto the long narrow concrete pathway prior to the building of the storage pile.
Referring again to
The cane is released and discharged onto the top of the storage pile 104 from the cane grab 120 or other suitable grabbing mechanism by means of a remotely controlled hydraulic or mechanical release mechanism. In this option, several types of cane wagons 204 or transport vehicles 208 can be used to transport the cane from the field to the piling station depending on the type of unloading system which is employed for unloading the cane from the cane wagon 204 or other transport vehicle onto the cane dump pile 206. One example would be to have another separate hoist which could lift a bin 202 sitting on the transport vehicle 208 and tilt the bin sideways to unload the cane from a side releasing bin and onto the storage pile 104. Alternatively, the entire wagon/truck 204 could be tilted so that the cane slides either out the back or out the side of the wagon/truck 204 and onto the storage pile 104. Another example would be to have the wagon/truck 204 drive onto a ramp which raises the height of the wagon/truck 204 so that a latch could release the side door of the wagon/truck 204 which would open and allow the cane to fall out the side of the wagon/truck 204 and onto the dump pile 104 (similar to how coal cars on a train are automatically unloaded).
In another embodiment, elevating the cane onto the storage pile may employ some type of spreader 212 attached to the hoist 106 which allows for the spreader 212 latches to lock on to the cane bin 202 with the spreader 212, allowing the cane bins 202 to be lifted from the truck 208 carrying cane bins 202, or allowing any other suitable container containing the cane to be lifted. In this option, the cane bins 202, or other suitable container containing the cane, are lifted and elevated above the pile and moved horizontally over the developing storage pile 104 using the hoist 106 and trolleys 210, and the cane is released and discharged onto the top of the storage pile 104 from the container by means of a remotely controlled hydraulic or mechanical release mechanism, which opens one or more of the sides or the bottom of the container. Alternatively, the spreader 212 attached to the hoist 106 which allows the cane bins 202, or any other suitable container containing the cane, to be lifted over the storage pile could be replaced by a conveyor system which conveys the containers containing the cane from a location next to the storage pile to a location over the developing storage pile 104 allowing the cane to be released and discharged onto the top of the storage pile 104 from the container by means of a remotely controlled hydraulic or mechanical release mechanism, which opens one or more of the sides or the bottom of the container.
In a third embodiment, elevating the cane onto the storage pile (not shown) may utilize a wagon/truck 204 which would drive onto a ramp spanning the width of the pile so that the wagon/truck 204 drives above the height of the storage pile 104 and a manual or automatic latch could release the side door of the wagon/truck which would open and allow the cane to fall out the side of the wagon/truck and onto the developing storage pile 104.
Referring now to
As the height of the storage pile 104 approaches its optimal height, for example, 33 feet, the crane 106 is moved forward in a direction away from the storage pile 104 and repositioned on the rails 110 by means of electric motors or other power source to an area 118 in front of the emerging storage pile 104 so that there is an empty area to accommodate more cane to be piled. The cane piling system moves along the entire length of the rails 118 as the storage pile 104 is being constructed until the length of the storage pile 104 is about the same length as the length of the parallel rails 302 that the traveling crane 106 moves on.
While the storage pile 104 is being built, and prior to cane being discharged onto the ground in front of the storage pile 118, optional air pipes 114 are laid down on the ground with a distance between air pipes 114 such that a sufficient amount of air can be ventilated through out the pile to cool the pile temperature to the required storage temperature, or other suitable air conducting mechanism can be used for delivering cool ambient air into the storage pile 104. Ideally, the air pipes or other suitable air conducting mechanism will be very close to the bottom of the storage pile 104, although air pipes or other suitable air conducting mechanism may be placed at other locations in the pile for better circulation of cool ambient air. After the cane is piled, electric fans 112 are attached to the air pipes 114, or other suitable air conducting mechanism, and when the ambient air temp drops below about 40 degrees Fahrenheit, cool air can be forced into the pile by means of the electric fans 112 or other cooling device, to either cool the cane to a temperature closer to 32 degrees Fahrenheit, or freeze the sweet sorghum cane at a temperature below 32 degrees Fahrenheit. Thermocouples are placed at numerous locations throughout the pile to monitor the temperature.
A reasonable storage pile size is believed to be 33 feet high and 165 feet wide along the length of the optional concrete pathway. The size of the pile is similar to the size of a sugar beet pile and therefore the cooling fans and air pipes that are commercially available are designed to work with this size storage pile, as the air back pressure in the air pipes and the weight of the pile on the air pipes should be similar for same size sorghum and sugar beet piles. This assumes the airflow resistance of air being forced through the pile by the fans is the same for sugar beet and sweet sorghum piles, although this has never been measured. The height of the pile may also be limited by the weight of the pile on the sorghum stalks on the bottom of the pile, which may become damaged when the weight above it becomes too great. This exposes the sugars inside to microbes which will destroy/metabolize the sugar, and which will also crush the stalks and close the air gaps in the pile, which are necessary for circulation of cool air for cooling, with out which the cane will increase metabolism and use up the sugars
The length of the pile may be as long as desired. It will not make a difference on how the sorghum stores, although having many shorter piles parallel to each other would make more sense than having one extremely long pile.
Because the sorghum within the first 1 to 2 feet of the surface of the storage pile generally does not store very well, if at all, the higher the pile the less influence the surface sorghum will have. But the higher the pile, the more weight on the sorghum at the bottom of the pile which will crush and damage the sorghum stalks which will (1) decrease the sorghum stalk ability to store the sugars contained in the stalks, and (2) eliminate the air spaces between the stalks so that air flow for cooling which is being pumped into the pile through the air pipes by the fans will be stopped. This can cause the pile to start heating up and thus cause the stalk metabolism to increase which will use up the stalk sugars. Additionally, stalk sugar will be lost to microbial action. Therefore, 33 feet is a reasonable starting point for storage pile height, although after many years of practice and research it will become evident what the optimum height should be.
Regarding the width of the storage pile, it is necessary to keep the pile cool at about 32 deg F. for storage of the stalk sugars, but if the temperature in the pile starts to rise (maybe from lack of air flow), access may be required to remove the heating sorghum so it can be sent to the plant for processing before the sugars are completely depleted. A pile of 165 feet width allows the middle of the pile to be removed if desired. With a wider pile, removal of the cane from the center of the pile becomes more difficult. Also, the width of the pile is limited by the crane system since the two sides of the crane can only be so far apart before center supports are required, and this would interrupt the building of the pile. Therefore, 165 feet is a reasonable starting point to use for a width, although after many years of practice and research it will become evident what the optimum width should be.
It is to be understood that even though numerous characteristics and advantages of various embodiments of the present invention have been set forth in the foregoing description, together with details of the structure and function of various embodiments of the invention, this disclosure is illustrative only, and changes may be made in detail, especially in matters of structure and arrangement of parts within the principles of the present invention to the full extent indicated by the broad general meaning of the terms in which the appended claims are expressed.
This application claims the benefit of U.S. Provisional Application No. 61/824,361 filed on 16 May, 2013, the contents of which are incorporated herein by reference. A claim of priority is made.
Number | Date | Country | |
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61824361 | May 2013 | US |