The reason for improving and its botanical and agronomical description

Energetical purposes

Paper industry

Industrial fibre base

Using for fodder purposes

Where is the "Szarvasi-1" energygrass used?

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THE POSSIBLE AREAS OF USING THE "SZARVASI-1" ENERGYGRASS

The "Szarvasi-1" energygrass could be called industrial grass based on the results of recent experiments, since there are areas in numerous branches of the industry.

1. Energetical use
The energygrass and its derivatives might mean perspectivical regeneration energy sources for traditional firing sets heat engines, gas and electricity consumers
The probable utilization areas:
- The heating of flats, public buildings, farm houses, buildings /planthouses, greenhouses, polythene greenhouses, animal farms, etc./.
- Operating refrigerators, crop-driers in farm areas.
- Producing grassgas, or electricity from grassgas /fermentation processes, pyrolises/
- Producing bioalcohol /car-industry/.

The recommended utilization forms:
A. Bale harvest, -bale heating
The bale can be burnt very efficiently with special heating sets. The performance can be changed only slightly in continuous operation.

B. Bale harvest, - burning dismantled, chopped materials
The chopped product can be burnt alone or with similar size raw materials.

C. Bale harvest - briquet burning
The purpose of producing biobriquet and biopellet is to make the basic material more comfortable for energetical utilization, and to make a fuel that can be treated and stored simpler than coal, short of sulphur and enviromental friendly.
The grassbriquet made from energygrass is produced by the compressing machine without using binder. It is an important requirement that the watercontent of the basic material should not exceed 15-16%. During compressing, the volume of the basic material significantly decreased at a convenient reaction time due to the effect of the heat of the system and the steam, while the volumedensity so significantly increase, that the basic material form to the desired shape briquet.
The most imnortant features of the grassbriquet:
  - big thermal value: : 17 MJ/kg,
  - big energydensity: 1,29 kg/dm3
  - low watercontent: 6,00 %
  - slight ashcontent: 3,80 %
  - compressing conditions: 6,97:1
  - diameter: 75 mm
  - grumbling: 0,6-1,0 %
The grassbriquet burning is possible in fireplaces and solid firing stoves depending on the size of the briquet.
At present there is a nationally developed briqueting machine exists.

D. Bale harvest, - pellet heating
The pellet made for firing is 6-8 mm diameter, 20-30 mm long. It was made with big press, without binder.
These are utilized in the European Union as a fuel /eg.: Germany, Austria, Switzerland, Sweden/. The pellet heating is developing dinamically in Europe and North-America. Individual companies have been established for producing pellet, which circulate million tons of pellet.
The pellet manufacturing experiments made with "Szarvasi-1" energygrass have shown excellent results. Pellet manufacturing can be executed with traditional fodderpelleting machines as well, which corresponds with the EU requirements. The burning examinations of the grasspellet have been made at the Szent Istvan University /Gödöllő/, HAGER Ltd /Austria/ and at ÉGSZÖV Rt. /Budapest/ with quite good results. It should be mentioned that one of the best boiler-manufacturing companies is ÉGSZÖV Rt. /Budapest/ , of which the pelletheating boilers are circulated in the whole continent.

E. Biogas production
Pyrolise process
During the thermic decomposition of the energygrass the grass is heated, and inflammable gas is released. The utilization of gas can be different. Electricity can be produced with generators driven by inner-heated engines, or the gas could be burnt directly in power stations.
Fermentation processes
The green energygrass, alone or mixed with cattle, soft dung or sewage, could be used for producing biogas with these processes. The usage of the originating biogas offers wide range of possibilities. The organic material left over during the production of biogas can be used directly to supply the nutrient /biodung/.

F. Producing bioalcohol
The car industry pay increasing attention on alcohol as the possible fuel of the future. Therefore we have started the examinations that aim at determining what kind of process and result can be made from the sugar and cellulose content of the "Szarvasi-1" energygrass to produce alcohol /bioetanol/.


2. Paper industry use
The examination results, executed together with the Paper Industrial Research Institue, have been promising. According to the laboratory examinations, it can be assumed that the boardformation features of the izo-dimensional boards produced form the "Szarvasi-1" energygrass are favourable.
This kind of utilization of the energygrass would give reasonable altenative to rescue large quantity forests, and would make possible to establish paper industry where are no forests.


3. Utilization as an industrial fibrematerial
We have managed to produce grassfibre-board with equal value of chipboard from "Szarvasi-1" energygrass with the same technology has been used so far at the Chipboard Rt. in Mohács.
The possible basic material use is 70.000 - 100.000 tons drymaterial/year in the only chipboard factory of Hungary /Chipboard Factory Rt. in Mohács/.
The chipboards or other basic material composition fibreboards are indispensable hasic materials of covering large surfaces /building boards/, of the furniture industry, pre-fabricated wooden houses, interior design, and car industry.


4. Use in textile industry
Due to the big fibrecontent, good quality fibres and technically utilizable features make it necessary to examine the utilizing facilities in the textile industry. These examinations are still in progess.


5. Use for foddering purposes
The harvested crop in the flowering phenophase of the first plant of the "Szarvasi-1" energygras /first cutting/ is recommended to be used as basic energetical or industrial material. The greenshoot crop of the second and third growth /depending on the water content/ is recommended to pasturing, producing hay or silage.


6. Biological soilprotection - soil-amelioration
This kind of grass tolerates the szik - sodium soil circumstances, likes salty water places, so they can serve the recultivation and amelioration of these soils. It develops large, 1,8-2,5 deep penetrating roots, which not only improves the physical features, but also provides big quantity organic material for the soil. The results of our experiments in the weak productivity soils /5-15 Ak/ suggest that this kind of grass is usable well not only in szik and fixed soils, but also to improve and utilize sandy soils as well.

All in all, it can be assumed, that the agronomical, energetical, industrial features of the "Szarvasi-1" energygrass are extremely perspectivical considering the agroecological, enviromental protecfing, soil-utilizing, energetical and economicality factors, compared to other plants suitable for the purpose.


Agricultural Research Development Institute P.U.C. 5540 Szarvas, Szabadság út 30. Pf.: 54.