Presented by Dr. Amr Kandil

Faculty Advisor Dr. John HaddockAssociate Professor of Civil Engineering and Director of Indiana Local Technical Assistance Program (IN LTAP)

Authors of the PaperKarim Abdel WarithWayne RichardsonDr. John Fricker Dr. John Haddock

Prepared byKarim Abdel Warith

Sustainable Energy Projects

Local Roads

Local Highway Engineers and Highway Supervisors

To develop tools that can be used by local government agencies to design roads leading to SEP

It was decided that such tools should be kept simple and easy to use.

The tools should help local agency personnel determine appropriate pavement sections and quantify their costs.

The outcomes of this investigation included two worksheets:1. Ethanol and Biomass Worksheet2. Wind Farm Work sheet

Ethanol can be produced from a number of agricultural products.

Sugar and starch.

One of the main byproducts is Dried Distillers Grains with Solubles (DDGS).

What is Biomass?

There are a number of different methods to convert biomass into a suitable form of energy (mostly electricity).They can be classified as thermo-chemical, chemical or biochemical.

(DNR, 2010)

Data collection

Inputs and Assumptions

Devising Methodology

Choosing Output Format

Sixteen counties that have ethanol and biomass plants were contacted. Twelve responded and were interviewed.

Only four had performed any type of upgrade to their local roads in anticipation of the increased traffic.

Incoming traffic

Outgoing traffic

Typical location

On average plants in Indiana are 0.54 miles away from a state road and 0.3 miles from a railroad.

All plants, in Indiana, are located within 2.5 miles from the nearest state road or interstate and within 0.7 miles from the nearest rail freight facility.

There are primary inputs and secondary inputs.

Primary inputs are project-specific, These inputs include: Plant Capacity Capacity Factor for Biomass plants Design period California Bearing Ratio (CBR)

Secondary inputs are typically constant across projects. They include: Yearly Growth Factor Ethanol plant products and raw materials▪ Corn trucked in▪ Ethanol trucked out▪ Dried Distillers Grains with Solubles (DDGS) trucked out

Biomass Fuel Type Reliability (R %) Terminal Serviceability Index (Pt) Overall standard deviation

In order to simplify the design process, many assumptions were made.

It is important to note that all these assumptions could be changed manually

However it is not recommended for the user to do so.

The following are the assumptions considered in this design procedure:

The capacity of a typical truck is assumed to be 3200 cubic feet.

Average number of bushels of corn (0.354 bushels/gallon of ethanol)

One million gallons of ethanol has a byproduct of 3200 tons of DDGS

The equivalent single axle loads (ESALs) of the trucks were calculated using the 4th power law Load Equivalency Factor (LEF)

For the biomass facility, the weight of fuel produced was calculated using typical heat and production rates 14,000 Btu/kWh for heat rate 4250 Btu/lb of fuel production rate

The AASHTO design guide's (1993) Equivalent Single Axle Loads (ESALs) equation is used to find the pavement's Structural number.

The design methodology is based on the standard 1993 AASHTO design guide

The pavement design requires only two input parameters, subgrade strength in terms of the California Bearing Ratio (CBR), and plant capacity (MGY for ethanol plants or MWe for biomass plants).

ESALs

Sample calculation (ethanol plant)

Sample calculation (Biomass plant)

The thickness of each layer is calculated using the attained structural number and layer and drainage coefficients mentioned within the assumptions.

The AASHTO structural number equation is used. The equation is as follows:

SN = a1D1 + a2D2m2 + a3D3m3

The costs for the thickness combinations are produced using assumed cost values listed earlier.

The user has the option of specifying his/her own layer combinations.

It is difficult to find structural data associated with local roads.

However, Jay County, Posey County and Wabash County were able to provide pavement layer thickness after the pavements were upgraded for biomass and ethanol plants.

The recommended pavement sections for each plant based on the ethanol and biomass worksheet along with an estimated cost for each alternative, are as follows

The following table lists the capacities of various plants and compares as-built thickness to those proposed by the worksheet.

The structural numbers obtained by the worksheet are higher than the actual number for both Jay County and Posey County.

Wabash County pavements

Wind turns two or three propeller-like blades around a rotor, which spins a generator to create electricity.

Typical Wind Turbine (renewable-sources-of energy.org, 2009)

(AWEA, 2009; IN.gov, 2009)

Data collection

Inputs and Assumptions

Devising Methodology

Choosing output format

White County and Benton County

The wind farm developer signed a road use agreement

Truck traffic can be divided into: Transportation of construction materials Transportation of construction equipment Transportation of wind turbine components

The wind turbine components do not represent the heaviest loads per truck axle; the construction materials do.

(GE, 2004)

(Manitowoc, 2009

Primary Inputs Number of wind turbines California Bearing Ratio (CBR)

Secondary Inputs Tire Contact Area

One time heavy wheel loads during construction.

Turbine loads based on a GE 1.5s (1.5 MW design)

The Asphalt Institute's manual Thickness Design: Asphalt Pavements For Heavy Wheel Loads was used.

The design produces an aggregate layer output or full depth asphalt

The traffic count is calculated by multiplying the heaviest truck used for design, by the number of trucks per wind turbine (91 assumed), by the number of wind turbines (user input).

Two values need to be calculated: tire coefficient (a) and tire pressure (p).

The structural number is calculated using the following equation:

The thickness of each layer is calculated using the structural number and layer & drainage coefficients.

Meadow Lake Wind Farm Phase I

Pavement Design

As expected, the worksheet provides a higher SN than the one proposed by the consultant.

The research team was able to collect valuable data associated with ethanol, biomass and wind farm traffic that included number, types and weights of loaded trucks.

Using this data, two worksheets were developed to assist in the design of pavements leading to and from sustainable energy facilities. The worksheets allow both an expert and a less-experienced user to produce a design.

Both the ethanol and biomass worksheet and the wind farm worksheet recommend pavements that are thicker than the actual implemented designs.

The worksheets developed in this study can serve as an impartial tool to assist local government engineers and officials in evaluating and quantifying the probable effects of a sustainable energy facility in their jurisdiction.

Further recommendations include: Including biodiesel plants in the worksheets

Further validating the worksheet using measures of pavement distress such as rutting and cracking

Comparing the design output with other implemented design after a sufficient time interval such as 5 years.

Comparing the design procedures' pavement sections with roads constructed for sustainable energy project located outside Indiana.

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