Biomass

Biography

Han’s primary research focuses on forest operations which involve the application of various forest management tools and processes to achieve a wide range of objectives in forest management. He has been conducting studies on economics, operational advantages and constraints for various harvesting equipment and systems. Topics associated with forest biomass harvesting, collection and transportation for energy generation have been a main theme of his research for the last 15 years. As seen in his past publications, He is interested in designing efficient operations systems and developing innovative equipment to improve economic feasibility of utilization of forest residues such as logging slash and non-merchantable small-diameter trees for energy production. For example, his research teams recently evaluated centralized slash grinding operations which was combined with roll on/off and hook-lift container trucks to improve access to remote areas and machine utilization rates. Collaboration with other disciplines such as wood chemistry (e.g. gasification) and forest ecology (nutrient impacts from biomass removal) has been also a key approach to comprehensively address recent challenges related to biomass removal and utilization. For the W2W project, Han will be responsible for development of cost-effective biomass harvesting systems and evaluation of innovative machines and tools in biomass feedstock operations.

Research Interest

Forest operations which involve the application of various forest management tools and processes to achieve a wide range of objectives in forest management