What is ISO/TR 23437 about?
ISO/TR 23437 summarizes the current knowledge concerning a test method and its technical implementation, and existing knowledge about the bridging performance of biofuels.
ISO/TR 23437 consists of three parts, as follows:
- Part I: Method for direct determination of bridging behaviour, to make it available for research and development purposes
- Part II: Implementing the measurement principle, to assist in the construction of test apparatus and to illustrate the performance of a bridging test
- Part III: Experience and results from bridging tests, to provide typical results on bridging for a wide range of biofuels already tested
Who is ISO/TR 23437 for?
ISO/TR 23437on bridging behaviour of bulk biofuels is relevant to:
- Biochemical engineers
- Energy-intensive industrial sectors
- Waste sorting and recovery sites
Why should you use ISO/TR 23437?
Bridging is a phenomenon that can occur because of the inhomogeneous nature of the biofuel, particularly the variation in particle size, moisture content, and a number of overlong particles. In addition, biofuels are often not well understood by the designers of handling, storage and conversion systems.
ISO/TR 23437 assists the user with the test method that was further developed as part of the European Project Bionorm. The objective was to develop a mechanically improved apparatus to overcome deficiencies related to the inclination of the flexible floor and by assuring constant and reproducible low bending radiuses at the edges of the slot opening. At the same time, a new drive system for a moving floor was also developed, which allows for a more sensitive and dynamic adjustment of the opening speed during measurement. Best
practice guidelines for the revised method were also developed and tested, and an international interlaboratory test was performed. The Bionorm 2 project also had the objective of providing detailed descriptions and procedures based on the applied measurement principle. The intention was to establish a useful starting point for any future attempt to develop a harmonized standard method for the direct determination of bridging behaviour. In order to document the extensive research and experimental work conducted, ISO/TR 23437 describes the main outcome. Susceptibility to bridging has been identified as useful for the engineering design of handling and storage facilities, and their relationship to effective transportation of biofuels and safety.
Overall, ISO/TR 23437 is helpful as it gives a description of the method which is suitable for all compressed and uncompressed particulate biofuels that either have been reduced in size (such as most wood biofuels, including cut straw) or have a particulate physical form (e.g., olive stones, nutshells, grain).