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Croatian Journal of Forest Engineering : Journal for Theory and Application of Forestry Engineering, Vol. 40 No. 1, 2019.

Original scientific paper

A Plackett-Burman Design to Optimize Wood Chipper Settings

Lorenzo Guerrini orcid id orcid.org/0000-0002-7733-3087 ; University of Florence Agrifood Production and Environmental Sciences (DISPAA) Piazzale delle Cascine 16 50144 Firenze ITALY
Alessandro Tirinnanzi orcid id orcid.org/0000-0002-6653-9880 ; Ibionet Via Madonna del Piano 6 50019 Sesto Fiorentino (FI) ITALY
Federico Guasconi ; University of Florence Agrifood Production and Environmental Sciences (DISPAA) Piazzale delle Cascine 16 50144 Firenze ITALY
Claudio Fagarazzi ; University of Florence Agrifood Production and Environmental Sciences (DISPAA) Piazzale delle Cascine 16 50144 Firenze ITALY
Fabio Baldi ; University of Florence Agrifood Production and Environmental Sciences (DISPAA) Piazzale delle Cascine 16 50144 Firenze ITALY
Piernicola Masella ; University of Florence Agrifood Production and Environmental Sciences (DISPAA) Piazzale delle Cascine 16 50144 Firenze ITALY
Alessandro Parenti ; University of Florence Agrifood Production and Environmental Sciences (DISPAA) Piazzale delle Cascine 16 50144 Firenze ITALY

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Abstract

The wood-chipping process is affected by several factors, notably chipper settings and wood characteristics. It is often difficult to test all of these factors in a full factorial experimental plan, due to the large number of trials required. On the other hand, a screening design of the experiment makes it possible to manage a large number of variables in a small number of trials. Hence, this approach is used to test six factors, in order to optimize the productivity and chip quality of a drum wood-chipper. These factors are: feeding speed, screen size, PTO-speed, wood species, wood moisture content, and wood diameter. Productivity was significantly affected by screen size, while chip quality was related to feeding speed, screen size, PTO-speed, and wood species. The results suggest that the optimal configuration can be achieved by adjusting feeding speed, the PTO-speed, and the wood species, as these settings maximize chip quality. Screen size requires further analysis, as larger sizes increase productivity but reduce quality, while the opposite is true for smaller sizes. Thus, the optimal screen size requires a consideration of costs and benefits that may change according to the retail price of premium and regular wood chips, and production costs.

Keywords

wood chips; screening designs; drum chipper; chip quality; productivity

Hrčak ID:

217399

URI

https://hrcak.srce.hr/217399

Publication date:

14.1.2019.

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