Master of Agribusiness / Department of Agricultural Economics / Jason Bergtold / Efficiency and technology are increasingly important selling points for combine harvesters.
Diesel-electric hybrid drives have taken hold in the construction equipment industry, and
are providing marketable efficiency benefits for some heavy equipment customers. This
thesis explores the technical and economic feasibility of utilizing diesel-electric hybrid
drives on AGCO combine harvesters.
To determine the technical feasibility of utilizing diesel-electric hybrid drives on AGCO
combine harvesters, a search was conducted for prior literature relating to the use of electric
drives on other heavy, off-highway equipment. This information, coupled with data
provided by experts in the field, was used to determine if electric drives could fulfill the
unique requirements of combine harvesters, and be practically utilized for this application.
To determine the economic feasibility of utilizing diesel-electric hybrid drives on AGCO
combine harvesters, an optimization model was constructed to seek out the most
economically viable configuration of electric drives for this application. The model takes
in to consideration the different use-cases in which this equipment is expected to perform,
as well as the component costs and operating efficiencies of both the drives in place
currently and the proposed electric drives. The outcome of the model was then utilized to
compare the best-case configuration to the minimum requirement for economic feasibility.
The technical feasibility assessment conducted for this thesis led to the conclusion that it
would be technically feasible to utilize electric drives on a combine harvester. There are
commercially available electric drive components which are suitable for use in the
environment that this equipment is expected to operate in, and a prototype combine
harvester having electric drives has previously been constructed.
The economic feasibility assessment conducted for this thesis revealed that it is not
economically feasible to utilize electric drives on AGCO combine harvesters at this time.
Under the current circumstances, the most economically viable configuration would take
nearly twice the machine’s usable operating life to provide a benefit to a customer from
fuel savings. Sensitivity analysis revealed that significant changes in the price of fuel or
electric drive components would be necessary to change the outcome of this study.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:KSU/oai:krex.k-state.edu:2097/19754 |
| Date | January 1900 |
| Creators | Good, Grant |
| Publisher | Kansas State University |
| Source Sets | K-State Research Exchange |
| Language | en_US |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Thesis |
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