IMPROVEMENTS TO A SUGARCANE ROAD TRANSPORTATION SYSTEM

AMONG the costs of the whole cane sugar and ethanol production system, the activities covered by harvesting (manual and mechanical), road transportation and cane unloading are the most expensive category of operations. A comprehensive study of the cane transport system, that covers topics from system logistics to cane bin design, is being undertaken for the Colombian sugar industry. Models for predicting fuel consumption have been developed and tested using techniques like GPS, pull load and direct fuel flow measurements for the complete operational cycles. Sensitivity trials have also been performed to analyse the influence of bin weight on fuel consumption in the complete cycle and FEA modelling has been applied to the design and construction of new equipment. Results show that reductions of 5% of fuel costs are achieved with the 10% structural weight reduction achieved.