Physics at Hamer Pellet Fuel

This morning we visited Hamer Pellet Fuel in Elkins, West Virginia.  This facility solely produces wood pellets common for wood pellet stoves.  This was an excellent opportunity to see several of the physics concepts we examine in application.

Let's begin by examining the blue cylinder seen in the picture section which turns and helps dry the saw dust used in the making process.  Our guide informed us the drum cylnder weighs approximately 110,000 lbs.  The estimated radius of the cylinder is 20 ft.  If the cylinder has an angular speed of 1.57 radians per second.  This speed must be maintained in order to complete the drying process.  The cylinder is rotated by four trunion wheels.  What total torque does the cylinder experience due to the rotating trunion wheels? This is an AP level question folks.  Remember to think of how we define torque.  The moment of inertia (I) for the cylinder is given by I = 1/2MR^2.

Now let us look at the dreaded incline plane. The picture section shows an incline with rollers used to move pallets loaded with bagged pellets at a weight of two thousand lbs.  With angle of the incline being rougly 15 degrees what is the final velocity of the pallet if it takes four seconds to move down the incline? The pallet is at rest initially.  The operators are using the incline, gravity, the pallets own mass and the rollers (eliminate friction) to move the pallet unassisted over a specific distance where the pallet is picked up by a forklift and deposited elsewhere. No man, no electical or computerized element are used.  Only a simple machine and physics.