FEEDSTOCK STORAGE, HANDLING AND PROCESSING

This paper is a review of the technology and research covering components of a methane from biomass system between the field and the digester. It deals primarily with sorghum as a feedstock and focuses on research conducted by the Texas Agricultural Experiment Station. Subjects included in this paper are harvesting, hay storage, ensiling, materials handling, pumping and hydraulic characteristics, hydraulic conductivity, pressure/density relationship, and biological pretreatment. This paper is not a comprehensive design manual; however, design equations and coefficients for sorghum are presented, where available, along with references describing the development and application of design models.