Browsing by Author "Plaza, F"

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Biomass characterisation facility for extended stockpile model accuracy and capability: final report project 2011/049
(Sugar Research Australia Limited, 2015) Hobson, P; Plaza, F
Two issues critical to the design and operation of stockpiles are prevention of spontaneous combustion and minimisation of loss of heating value due to deterioration. There are currently few tools available to the industry to ensure optimum management of stockpiles. The project has delivered experimental means, data and model refinements necessary to advance the capabilities of an existing model towards being a practical stockpile design and management tool for the industry. The project has developed, from scratch, three sets of equipment to measure four important bagasse material behaviours relevant to bagasse degradation and spontaneous combustion. They are: 1. A permeability and diffusivity measuring test rig that reproduces the layered bagasse structure formed when a stockpile is built and compacted by the tracks of a bulldozer in a co-generation scenario. It has been shown that the permeability of the bagasse in the vertical direction is quite different to that along the horizontal direction. This is important since the ability of oxygen to move into the stockpile has a significant effect in the reactions occurring in the bagasse and its subsequent deterioration. 2. A large sample size calorimeter that is likely to be more representative of the behaviour of a bagasse stockpile compared to previously available equipment (many kg versus less than 20 g) to measure the heating behaviour of bagasse. 3. A degradation measuring rig was built in an incubator with the capability of measuring the behaviour of six bagasse samples simultaneously. By measuring for example the quantity of carbon dioxide given off, the percentage loss of combustible matter and fuel heating value were determined.
Improved modelling of wet scrubbers : final report 2012/055
(Sugar Research Australia Limited, 2017) Mann, AP; Plaza, F; Hobson, P
While wet scrubbers have high collection efficiency, operational problems associated with many wet scrubber installations reduce boiler steam output and, therefore, factory crushing rates. These problems include:
Improved train safety through improved locomotive braking performance : SRDC final report QUT019
(Sugar Research Institute, 2009) McKenzie, NJ; Koppen, DE; McCallum, C; Kent, GA; Plaza, F
The safe operation of the cane railway, in the same way as for mainline railways, is gaining greater attention. One important aspect of safe operation is the ability to stop a train in an acceptable distance (or time). Previous work has measured quite variable braking performance (and hence stopping distance) in an extensive series of tests with different locomotives on different track sections in different mill areas. It was found that the locomotive driver was the most variable factor associated with braking performance. When the driver factor was eliminated through the application of a fixed braking pressure, very consistent braking performance could be achieved. It was concluded that it was the driver’s ability to detect wheel slide and their action to reduce slide that caused the variability in braking performance. It was hypothesised that an anti-lock braking system (ABS), where the driver has little influence on the braking performance, could deliver better average braking performance and hence reduced, or at least more consistent, stopping distances.
Reducing boiler maintenance costs and deferring capital expenditure through improved technology : final report 2016/020
(Sugar Research Australia Limited, 2021) Plaza, F; Alam, N
Boiler tube wear and corrosion costs the industry approximately $5 million a year in repairs, stops and inefficient operation. For example, the replacement cost of one convection bank due to wear is approximately $1 million with a tube life of approximately 10 to 15 years using current protection technology (tube shields). Given that most boilers in the industry are more than 30 years old and that the high capital cost of new boilers will result in very few replacements, nearly all existing boilers will operate into the foreseeable future. As these boilers age, the wear and corrosion costs are likely to increase. Tube coatings have been successfully applied in other industries and are expected to be equally beneficial to sugar mill boilers. The application of tube coatings is expected to become a viable alternative to tube shields and significantly reduce wear and corrosion of boiler tubes in convection banks, air heaters and economisers.
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.