Browsing by Author "Norris, CP"

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    A review of opportunities to improve the design and performance of sugarcane harvesters
    (2010) Davis, RJ; Whiteing, C; Norris, CP
    This review is a response to the recognition by the SRDC that the Australian sugarcane industry needs an informed basis from which to make decisions as to appropriate investments in harvesting sector research. There is a renewed interest at a grower and regional level for improved harvester designs and harvesting practices. SRDC continues to receive requests from industry to support sugarcane harvester research and development. This review looks at component research on the Australian type ‘chopped cane’ sugarcane harvester, harvesting performance and harvest and transport system analysis undertaken in Australia and overseas and considers the benefits delivered. Opportunities to improve the design and performance and reduce the costs of sugarcane harvesting along with recommendations for further research, development and extension to facilitate productive and profitable adoption are identified. It is concluded that ‘chopped cane’ harvester and harvesting performance research has delivered significant direct and indirect benefits to the Australian sugar industry and a number of key examples are highlighted to demonstrate these benefits.
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    Adoption of practices to mitigate harvest losses : Final report 2019/951
    (Sugar Research Australia Limited, 2020) Patane, P; Norris, CP; Nothard, B; Pfumayaramba, T; Venables, C
    Patane (et al. 2019) determined that Harvesting Best Practice (HBP) is predicated by two essential objectives. 1. Defining the critical point where harvesting losses can be minimised and delivered yields improved to achieve the best economic return for the grower and harvesting operation; and 2. Balancing losses with cane quality, which is determined by sound billet quality with an acceptable level of Extraneous Matter (EM). Despite significant research into the impact of higher harvester pour rates and fan speeds on harvested cane yields, use of HBP recommendations prior to the commencement of the adoption program across the industry was relatively low. Full HBP adoption across the Australian sugarcane industry could substantially increase industry revenue without the need for horizontal expansion (increase in cane land). In 2019, continuing on from the work conducted by Patane (et al. 2019), Sugar Research Australia in partnership with the Queensland Department of Agriculture and Fisheries delivered further trials.
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    Chop-throw; a potential driver for the next generation of pneumatic cleaning systems : SRDC Final report BS52S
    (2000) Norris, CP
    The objective of this project was to determine if the chop-throw concept offered potential for high efficiency pneumatic cleaning systems, by virtue of the inherently high efflux velocities and billet presentation from the thrower mechanism.The project only investigated attributes of the ?chop-throw? concept, as related to potential enhancements to the cleaning of cane. Performance monitoring of the current design was not considered to be part of this project.
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    Commercialisation of lightweight elevator and advanced secondary cleaning system for sugarcane harvesters : Final report BSS251
    (2002) Davis, RJ; Norris, CP
    The Australian sugar industry is facing the challenge of increasing extraneous matter (EM), depression of ccs, sugar quality issues, and increasing harvesting and transport costs per tonne of final product. In addition, Likewise, cane loss remains a major background issue. Leslie and Wilson (1996) identified EM as a major contributor to the depression of ccs in the northern canegrowing regions. If low EM is seen as paramount by the industry, either cleaning the cane at the mill in dedicated cleaning plants, or improved performance of cleaning systems on harvesters, is required.Improving the performance of harvester cleaning systems is not easy because a number of fundamental problems exist. Rational review of the function of trash removal from a stream of billets and trash, particularly under wet trash conditions, indicates that effective cleaning is extremely difficult to achieve in one pass through any cleaning system. This is due because tof the interactions between the leaf material and billets of cane.The goal of this project was to development of a pre-production prototype lightweight harvester elevator and integrated secondary cleaning system. The project was commercially driven and built on the knowledge gained from the SRDC-funded project BSS210 in which h. The application of high-speed conveyor technology and advanced pneumatic cleaning concepts were integrated into a cane harvester. The design criteria targeted enhanced machine performance through reduced cane loss and EM, whilst reducing machine weight and improving machine stability.
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    Developing a framework for advancing road transportation of sugarcane : SRDC final report SD98013
    (BSES, 1998) Robotham, BG; Norris, CP
    An objective of this project was to initiate a research program for the road transportation of sugarcane. Future research projects will be undertaken with the knowledge and cooperation of key parties and therefore have realistic and achievable goals. This project has encouraged communication between road regulators, manufacturers of haulout equipment, suppliers of tyres and suspension systems, users of haulout equipment, researchers and cane growers and thus created a cooperative environment for future research in this area. In addition to the initially specified objectives, this project has addressed the current issue of legislation not adequately covering the newer types of haulouts and the non-conformity of many haulouts to current regulations.
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    Development of an Intelligent Tool to allow real-time evaluation of harvesting practices as part of a framework for improved harvester payment systems : final report 2016/951
    (Sugar Research Australia Limited, 2019) Norris, CP
    The project has resulted in the development of a cane loss indicator which can be a valuable tool to assist the harvester operator to optimise harvester performance as crop conditions change throughout the day. The system differs from previous attempts at cane loss monitors in that it does not attempt to identify individual billet loss, but rather looks at the energy dissipated in the processes of extracting cane and leaf and the effective dissociation of the billets as they are processed by the harvester extractor fans. The relationship between power consumption and actual cane loss utilises both keyboard inputs and parameters measured on the harvester. Data collection for the development of the algorithms and their calibration was undertaken in conjunction with field trials, where conventional cane loss measurement protocols were used to give the base data. Initially manual data collection strategies were utilised, followed by high accuracy data logging. The relationships observed between derived cane loss and measured cane loss in these trials allowed fine tuning of the algorithms, including the “weighting” of different measured inputs. Analysis of all datasets of electronically logged data indicates the repeatability of the cane loss values derived by SCHLOT under typical harvesting conditions to be high and, where variance was observed between the SCHLOT estimate and the field testing protocols, the SCHLOT number could be argued to give the more accurate determination of actual cane loss. In operation, the SCHLOT cane loss monitor gives highly useful feedback to the operator, and this drove significant changes in operating strategies by the harvester operator. The ability to remotely log cane loss in conjunction with other parameters such as harvester speed in near real time offers very significant benefits for the Industry with respect to the implementation of Best Practice Harvesting.
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    Facilitation of best practice to reduce extraneous matter and cane loss : SRDC Final report BSS189
    (2002) Whiteing, C; Norris, CP
    Green cane harvesting and trash blanketing are important agronomic production techniques in the northern sugar producing areas. Cane losses are accepted to be higher with green cane harvesting and extraneous matter levels can be high, especially in difficult conditions. A series of harvester trials was conducted throughout the north from 1997 to 2000 to quantify the performance characteristics of current cane harvesters. Samples taken in the field and at the mill were assessed to determine the effect of harvester pour rate and extractor fan speed on extraneous matter. In addition, cane loss was measured using yield data and collection of scrap cane from the extractor systems. Mill weighbridge data and laboratory analysis enabled the impact of harvesting on industry returns to be quantified.Results indicate that current harvester designs have limited ability to clean cane effectively without excessive cane loss, especially at current harvesting rates. The results of trials at commercial pour rates imply that significant cane losses, up to 20 t/ha in some cases, are occurring in the harvesting process.Harvesting Best Practice (HBP) guidelines have been developed to enable harvester operators make informed decisions about operational settings. The guidelines aim to produce high quality cane with minimal cane loss. Extension of this information to growers, millers, harvester operators and manufacturers has encouraged more efficient harvesting and widespread recognition of the limitations of current harvesting technology. Adoption of HBP in the Mulgrave district has potentially reduced losses by a conservative estimate of 3-4 t/ha. This equates to 50,000 more tonnes of cane or a 5% boost in productivity for a district cutting one million tonnes.
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    Impact of chopper harvesting on the translation of field CCS to factory realised CCS : SRDC final report SD01007
    (BSES, 2001) Davis, RJ; Norris, CP
    This project was designed to investigate the impact of chopper harvesting on CCS at the mill relative to measured CCS levels of cane in the field, as part of the reason behind declining CCS. Background for the project was provided mainly by field trials evaluating harvesting best practice, and sugar balance studies in the Mulgrave Mill area. These projects identified significant losses in cane CCS during the harvesting process, and an increase in CCS of leaf and trash between the field and the factory. They also indicated less depression of CCS than expected at low harvester cleaning intensities where extraneous matter levels in the cane supply were high. The exact magnitude of the losses, the mechanisms causing losses, and the fate of lost sugar have not been clearly identified, and this project was designed to clarify these issues. The chopper test rig developed for research on chopper performance was used in the project to help clarify the role of the chopper system in loss of sugar during harvesting.
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    Lightweight elevator and advanced secondary cleaning system for cane harvesters : SRDC Final report BS210S
    (2001) Norris, CP
    The goal of this project was the development of a prototype lightweight harvester elevator and integrated secondary cleaning system. The goal was commercially driven and proposed transfer and adaptation of high-speed conveyor technology (from mining and from other agricultural materials handling applications) and advanced pneumatic cleaning concepts to the cane harvester. The design brief targeted enhancing machine performance (ie cane loss, extraneous matter and pour rates) whilst reducing machine weight and improving machine stability. The development has not, however, resulted in a commercially viable prototype. Because of unforeseen difficulties relating to the design adopted for the hugger belt system, the final goals could not be met within the framework of the initial project. When 'pushing the limits' of machine development, problems such as this must be expected, particularly when the development is being undertaken on limited manpower and fiscal budgets. The project, however, has in no way been unsuccessful. Whilst the nominated final goal has not been met, the project has very significantly progressed knowledge relating to the cleaning of cane, and has clearly shown that the concepts embodied in this project have very considerable potential.
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    Understanding interactions between basecutters and other forward-feed components with the cane stalk : Final report 2016/952
    (Sugar Research Australia Limited, 2020) Norris, CP; Plaza, F
    Increasing harvesting speed has been necessary to facilitate the large increases in productivity required by the harvesting fleet to manage sugarcane-industry cost pressures. Whilst the power and processing throughput of the harvesters has been able to easily meet this requirement, the design of the ‘front end’ of the harvesters has undergone relatively little functional change since their initial development over 50 years ago. Linking rotational speeds of basecutters and gathering/forward feed components to groundspeed was hypothesised to optimise machine performance and minimise damage over a much wider operating speed range than with current machines. The data indicates that very significant gains can be made by reducing the damage associated with the gathering and knockdown functions of harvesters, and the magnitude of the potential gains warrants significant research focus. Chris Norris conducted this research in conjunction with QUT. Chris is an agricultural engineer with over 40 years’ experience, including 20 years in the sugarcane industry. He previously managed the BSES harvesting research program and has consulted internationally on sugarcane farming and harvesting. This project was funded in partnership between SRA and the Australian Government Department of Agriculture and Environment through the Rural R&D for Profit program.
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    Upgrading load and speed limits for cane transport vehicles : SRDC final project report SD01004
    (BSES, 2001) Robotham, BG; Norris, CP; Geddes, RG
    The primary objective of this project was to reduce costs associated with the haulout of cane by facilitating the continued development of haulout equipment, appropriate to the needs of the industry. This was achieved by: