Alvin Womac

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  southeastfarmpress.com/biofuels/switchgrass-biofuels-09 - [Cached Version]
  Published on: 9/4/2009    Last Visited: 9/4/2009  

  Alvin Womac, UT professor of biosystems engineering, will be the principal investigator for the project. "One of the challenges in launching the new biofuel industry in Tennessee and elsewhere is to reduce bulky plant matter to a consistent commodity with predictable specifications," he said. "The aim of this project is to develop high-tonnage equipment systems to efficiently supply energy crop materials to the new Vonore, Tennessee, biofuels facility and other commercial-scale units. Such equipment systems, Womac says, will aid year-round supply logistics and reduce transport and handling costs.

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  www.openecosource.org/policy/article-ornl-the-business- - [Cached Version]
  Published on: 9/2/2008    Last Visited: 9/2/2008  

  Al Womac spends a lot of time chopping switchgrass.The stuff sits in bags, boxes and bales scattered throughout his garage-style laboratory.The lab boasts an array of dicing, mashing, pounding machinesâ€"a hammermill, a diskmill, a knifemill and the up-and-coming knife grid that slices up plant matter with the help of a hydraulic ramâ€"along with measuring tools, sifting tools and a conveyor.A researcher at the University of Tennessee, Womac and his colleagues, both from UT and Oak Ridge National Laboratory, are seeking the most energy-efficient means to prepare biomass for conversion into ethanol in a form most conducive to bioprocessing.
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  Womac's research group, funded through the U.S. Department of Agriculture-DOE Joint Biomass Research and Development Initiative, has practiced a variety of methods in cutting switchgrass and corn stover in search of the perfect combination of maximum surface areaâ€"for easiest breakdown of the plant into celluloseâ€"and energy efficiency.To that end, the researchers are collecting measurements using sensors planted inside the various chopping, knifing and clubbing machines to determine variables such as the point at which a plant breaks most easily, the kilowatt hours per ton required to chop the material and the feed rate into the chopping machines.One project involves running samples through sieves.In another exercise, a graduate student, aided by a computer scanner and software package, counts the fragments of a particular sample in order to classify by size the particles that shoot out the other end of the chopping equipment.The information is necessary to determine ideal particle size for bioprocessing and to address environmental considerations in designing and operating a biorefinery, Womac says."Fugitive dust emissions create a whole new set of issues," he says.

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  www.ornl.gov/info/ornlreview/v40_1_07/article08.shtml - [Cached Version]
  Published on: 3/17/2007    Last Visited: 3/17/2007  

  Al Womac spends a lot of time chopping switchgrass.The stuff sits in bags, boxes and bales scattered throughout his garage-style laboratory.The lab boasts an array of dicing, mashing, pounding machines-a hammermill, a diskmill, a knifemill and the up-and-coming knife grid that slices up plant matter with the help of a hydraulic ram-along with measuring tools, sifting tools and a conveyor.A researcher at the University of Tennessee, Womac and his colleagues, both from UT and Oak Ridge National Laboratory, are seeking the most energy-efficient means to prepare biomass for conversion into ethanol in a form most conducive to bioprocessing.
  ...
  Womac's research group, funded through the U.S. Department of Agriculture-DOE Joint Biomass Research and Development Initiative, has practiced a variety of methods in cutting switchgrass and corn stover in search of the perfect combination of maximum surface area-for easiest breakdown of the plant into cellulose-and energy efficiency.To that end, the researchers are collecting measurements using sensors planted inside the various chopping, knifing and clubbing machines to determine variables such as the point at which a plant breaks most easily, the kilowatt hours per ton required to chop the material and the feed rate into the chopping machines.
  
  One project involves running samples through sieves.In another exercise, a graduate student, aided by a computer scanner and software package, counts the fragments of a particular sample in order to classify by size the particles that shoot out the other end of the chopping equipment.The information is necessary to determine ideal particle size for bioprocessing and to address environmental considerations in designing and operating a biorefinery, Womac says."Fugitive dust emissions create a whole new set of issues," he says.

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  2005-07-20 00:00:00 - [Cached Version]
  Published on: 6/1/2001    Last Visited: 5/13/2005  

  056058 Shearing Characteristics of Biomass for Size Reduction, Alvin Ray Womac, Univ of Tennessee, Louisville, TN(M.

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  2005-07-20 00:00:00 - [Cached Version]
  Published on: 7/28/2004    Last Visited: 5/13/2005  

  056047 Thermodynamic Properties and Mold Appearance on Selected Corn Stover Components, Igathinathane Cannayen, Univ of Tennessee, Knoxville, TN(A.R. Womac, S. Sokhansanj, L. Pordesimo)

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  @gWorldwide: Bioenergy: Ethanol, biodiesel, and more -... - [Cached Version]
  Published on: 10/11/2004    Last Visited: 12/21/2004  

  The USDA recently awarded Alvin Womac, a University of Tennessee professor in biosystems engineering and environmental science, and a team of his colleagues more than $700,000 to research the characteristics of different biomass sources and to develop working small-scale models of appropriate grinding and processing units.Womac's team will collaborate with researchers from the Oak Ridge National Laboratory and First American Scientific Company.

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  ASAE - AETC '98 FINAL ANNOUNCEMENT - [Cached Version]
  Published on: 2/9/1998    Last Visited: 12/14/2006  

  Alvin Womac, University of Tennessee, Knoxville, TN

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  Biodiesel, ethanol and biomass all now needed - [Cached Version]
  Published on: 10/7/2004    Last Visited: 11/22/2004  

  The USDA recently awarded Alvin Womac, a University of Tennessee professor in biosystems engineering and environmental science, and a team of his colleagues more than $700,000 to research the characteristics of different biomass sources and to develop working small-scale models of appropriate grinding and processing units.
  
  Womac's team will collaborate with researchers from the Oak Ridge National Laboratory and First American Scientific Co.If all goes well, First American Scientific Co. will build industrial-scale versions of the models.
  
  Womac believes that biomass applications will fuel more than just the energy sector of the economy.

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  Bioenergy: Ethanol, biodiesel, and a bunch of other... - [Cached Version]
  Published on: 9/20/2004    Last Visited: 9/22/2004  

  The USDA recently awarded Alvin Womac, a University of Tennessee professor in biosystems engineering and environmental science, and a team of his colleagues more than $700,000 to research the characteristics of different biomass sources and to develop working small-scale models of appropriate grinding and processing units.
  
  Build from models
  
  Womac's team will collaborate with researchers from the Oak Ridge National Laboratory and First American Scientific Co.If all goes well, First American Scientific Co. will build industrial-scale versions of the models.
  
  Womac believes that biomass applications will fuel more than just the energy sector of the economy.

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  Local News - Coshocton Tribune -... - [Cached Version]
  Published on: 7/16/2005    Last Visited: 7/17/2005  

  Entitled "Best Management Practices for Boom Spraying, AEX-527-05," is authored by H. Erdal Ozkan, Professor and OSU Extension Agricultural Engineer and Alvin Womac, Professor Biosystems Engineering and Environmental Sciences University of Tennessee.

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