Title:
Maize Cob Harvesting: First Assessment of an Innovative System
Author(s):
Pari, L., Bergonzoli, S., Suardi, A., Alfano, V., Scarfone, A., Lazar, S.
Document(s):
Paper
Poster
Abstract:
The maize cob is still an untapped biomass, being rarely used and normally left on the soil. Maize cobs, are considered to have a very limited nutritional value for the soil or as animal food. Therefore, collecting all of it, for energy or bio-based materials pruction, will not have negative impact on the soil neither will affect food security. The objective of the paper was to assess the performances of the innovative Harcob system to collect the maize cob. Different tests were performed during maize grain harvesting in September 2017 using a commercial combine harvester machine equipped with the Harcob system. It was possible to harvest 2 t ha-1 of cob, with a material capacity of 4,1 t h-1. The cob losses were lower than 20 %, highlighting the right functioning of the system. Moreover, the unloading operation is performed by an innovative auger system that ensures no blocking problems and requires around 3 minutes, allowing the discharging of maize cob and grain at the same time.
Keywords:
agricultural residues, harvesting, maize
Topic:
Biomass Resources
Subtopic:
Biomass feedstock, residues and by-products
Event:
26th European Biomass Conference and Exhibition
Session:
1DV.1.17
Pages:
323 - 325
ISBN:
978-88-89407-18-9
Paper DOI:
10.5071/26thEUBCE2018-1DV.1.17
Price:
FREE
