Reino Pulkki

A Review of the Wood Pellet Value Chain, Modern Value/Supply Chain Management Approaches, and Value/Supply Chain Models

We reviewed 153 peer-reviewed sources to provide identification of modern supply chain management techniques and exploration of supply chain modeling, to offer decision support to managers. Ultimately, the review is intended to assist member-companies of supply chains, mainly producers, improve their current management approaches, by directing them to studies that may be suitable for direct application to their supply chains and value chains for improved efficiency and profitability. We found that information on supply chain management and modeling techniques in general is available. However, few Canadian-based published studies exist regarding a demand-driven modeling approach to value/supply chain management for wood pellet production. Only three papers were found specifically on wood pellet value chain analysis. We propose that more studies should be carried out on the value chain of wood pellet manufacturing, as well as demand-driven management and modeling approaches with improved demand forecasting methods.

Road network optimization model for supplying woody biomass feedstock for energy production in northwestern Ontario.

The road network optimization problem is one of the most difficult and challenging problems in transport planning. Most of the research in this area has focused on finding an optimal solution in order to minimize the total travel cost in the network with given demand from each origin to each destination, while accounting for different route characteristics in the network. In this paper, we develop a raster-based road network optimization model to assist in woody biomass procurement decision-making for bioenergy production in northwestern Ontario. We incorporate speed and load constraints on different types of roads and seek minimum time and cost (or shortest distance) from any grid cell (1 km x 1 km) to any road containing cell in an area covering 167,184 km 2 . We also determine the minimum raster resolution that supplies consistent results at local and regional scales. Finally, we establish variable cost zones surrounding four northwestern Ontario power generating stations using woody biomass feedstock. Although, the network optimization model has been developed for supplying woody biomass feedstock to the power generating stations, it can be used for transporting any material across the region.

Wood biomass supply model for bioenergy production in northwestern Ontario

Wood biomass procurement for bioenergy production in an economic and sustainable way is a complex problem as it involves conflicting objectives of minimizing cost and distance of procurement, and maximizing quality of biomass, which is measured in terms of its moisture content. The multi-objective optimization problem is solved through pre-emptive goal programming approach using LINGO 11 software, where the cost of procurement is given the first priority, distance of procurement the second priority, and quality of biomass the third priority. The use of the model is demonstrated using a realistic example for bioenergy production for the recently established Abitibi-Bowater Inc. power plant at Fort Frances in northwestern Ontario, Canada, which has a weekly demand of 13,000 green tonnes for 50 Megawatt power production. The model selects quantity of biomass to be procured from each of the three zones ranging from 0–50 km, 50–70 km, and 70–100 km to meet the weekly demand.

Water Crossings Versus Transport Cost: A Network Analysis Case Study

This study determines the impact of fewer water crossings on hauling and road construction costs in a case study situation, and demonstrates the ease and versatility of network analysis in the planning and analysis of forest roads. Using a fixed grid network and modification of a standard network analysis technique allows the solution of large networks in only a few seconds on a personal computer (486-33MHz). The removal of 15 out of a total of 38 culverts resulted in a haul cost increase of

An application of data envelopment analysis to investigate the efficiency of lumber industry in northwestern Ontario, Canada

20 068 (CAD) for 1.2 million m3 hauled. However, removal of the first 14 culverts only increased the haul cost by

Quality assessment of cut-to-length logging residues for bioenergy production in Northwestern Ontario

5236. The road construction cost saving from not installing the culverts was estimated to be

Economic Analysis of Biomass Supply Chains: A Case Study of Four Competing Bioenergy Power Plants in Northwestern Ontario

75 000 if all 15 culverts were not installed or

Modelling of wander ratios, travel speeds and productivity of cable and grapple skidders in softwood sawtimber operations in South Africa

70 000 if 14 culverts were not installed. The case study indicated that considerable savings are possible through better planning of forest roads, especially with the additional expenses required to mitigate environmental impacts.

Softwood sawlog secondary transport travel speed prediction for the South African forestry industry

This study aims at exploring the technical efficiency of lumber industry in northwestern Ontario, Canada using data envelopment analysis (DEA). The DEA model analyzes relative technical efficiency of lumber mills with disproportionate inputs and outputs by dividing the 10-year time series data, for inputs and outputs of 24 lumber mills, over two periods (1999–2003 and 2004–2008). Four inputs, namely, material (log volume), labour (man-hours), two types of energy (hog-fuel and electricity), and one output (lumber volume) are used in this study. The trend analysis shows an annual reduction of 10%, 13% and 13% for lumber output, log consumption (input) and number of employees, respectively, during the period 1999–2008. The results from DEA with two scenarios with energy inputs and without energy inputs, for the two periods are found to be mixed and interesting. While some mills have improved their performance in terms of best use of available scarce inputs in the second period, some have shown negative per cent change in efficiency. In the with energy input and the without energy input scenario, some of the mills show a reduction in efficiency in the second period from the first period, with the highest estimated reductions of −13.9% and −47.6%, respectively. A possible explanation for these negative performances of mills in the latter period is the decline in production in the second period compared to the first period, where these mills were not able to adjust their inputs (mostly labour) as proportional lay-offs might not have been possible. These results provide policy makers and industry stakeholders with an improved understanding of the trends of efficiency and employment as well as reallocation opportunities of future inputs in order to increase benefits from this sector.

Provincial road condition and round wood timber transport in South Africa

The use of the cut-to-length (CTL) forest harvesting method has been increasing in eastern Canada due to its versatility and its potential for lower environmental impact. In this study we assess the quality of CTL logging residues for bioenergy production in Northwestern Ontario. The qualities assessed were moisture content, gross calorific value, and ash content. Analysis of variance was used to determine whether duration of storage, logging residues species class, or diameter class had a significant effect on each of these qualities. Moisture content values ranged from 10.6% to 28.9% green-weight basis. Drying seasons, logging residues species class, and diameter class all had a significant effect on moisture content. The gross calorific values of residues ranged from 19.5 to 22.8 MJ/kg. Drying seasons and species class did not have a significant effect on gross calorific value, while the diameter class of logging residues did. The ash content of the CTL logging residues ranged from 0.4% to 4.2%. Ash content showed a decreasing trend with increase in number of drying seasons. Drying seasons and diameter class had a significant effect on ash content, but species class did not show any significance. CTL logging residues left in the forest continued to increase in quality from 1 to 3 drying seasons after harvest. From the transportation and combustion viewpoints, moisture content is reduced to an acceptable level after one drying season.