Is the pipeline hydro-transport of wheat straw and corn stover to a biorefinery realistic?

Pipeline hydro-transport is an alternative to truck delivery of agricultural residue (lignocellulosic) biomass. Pipeline hydro-transport benefits from economies of scale, reduces total delivery costs, and enables bio-based energy facilities to achieve higher capacities. In this study, the empirical correlation based on experimentally developed data for pipeline transport of agricultural residue-water mixtures (slurry) was used to develop a data-intensive techno-economic model to estimate the cost of pipeline hydro-transport of wheat straw and corn stover to a bioethanol refinery. The total cost of pipeline hydro-transport was found to be lowest at 8.8% dry matter slurry solid mass content and 2.5 m s(-1) slurry velocity. At this biomass slurry solid mass content and velocity, the pipeline hydro-transport of biomass was found to be economically more viable than truck delivery at capacities of 0.45 M dry t yr(-1) or more for a one-way pipeline and 1.4 M dry t yr(-1) or more for a two-way pipeline (with the return of the carrier liquid). The ability to economically hydro-transport agricultural residue biomass in pipes offers the opportunity to develop large-scale bioethanol plants. (C) 2015 Society of Chemical Industry and John Wiley & Sons, Ltd