Creation of arbitrary geometric shapes for pellet packing optimization

The demand for renewable and clean energy alternatives is steadily increasing due to the cost and environmental concerns of traditional fossil-based fuels. Wood pellet fuel is one such renewable alternate energy source, manufactured by Pacific Bioenergy, Prince George, BC. These wood pellets are transported via rail and subsequently loaded onto vessels for trans-ocean shipment. The porosity of the bulk wood pellet mass is approximately 40%, and this results in the ships only being loaded to 80% of their maximum weight load. Under perfect conditions, this bulk porosity can be reduced to 9 to 21%. Our goal is to find ways to reduce the porosity of the pellet mass in the shipment, and hence increase weight load in the shipment close to the maximum allowed limit by virtually modifying the wood pellet size and/or shape. The research proposed in this project is the first step in achieving that goal.

Faculty Supervisor:

Alex Alagarsamy Aravind

Student:

Partner:

Discipline:

Computer science

Sector:

University:

University of Northern British Columbia

Program:

Accelerate