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Jansen Supplies 50th Boiler Upgrade
This past spring Jansen Combustion and Boiler Technologies, Inc. supplied its 50th upgrade in 10 years of the combustion system of an existing biomass fired boiler. This unit, located in Tennessee, burns wood fuel and pulverized coal and has a maximum steaming capacity of 550,000 lb/hr. The upgrade included a new overfire air (OFA) delivery system and new fuel spouts.
The rising cost of fossil fuels, stricter regulatory emissions performance requirements, and general desire to increase power generation from green, renewable resources have been the driving forces behind these projects. Consistent improvements in performance and fuel economy have been commonly experienced by the upgraded biomass boilers, namely:
an increase in biomass burning capacity (i.e., bark, hog fuel, wood residues) ranging from three to 20 ton per hour, depending on boiler size.
an improvement in the ability to handle wet biomass/mixed wood and sludge with a moisture content covering a wide range.
a reduction or complete elimination of the need for fossil fuel co-firing (oil, natural gas, coal).
an increase in thermal efficiency by reducing excess air, flue gas temperature in the stack, and unburned carbon in the ash.
a reduction in carryover of fly ash, thus lowering the abrasive impact and erosion on pressure parts, ducting, and ID fan, etc.
a reduction in stack emissions of CO, NOx, and particulate matter (PM).
Jansen has designed/supplied OFA system upgrades for units by a variety of original manufacturers, such as Babcock & Wilcox, Combustion Engineering, Foster Wheeler, Erie City, Riley Stoker, Zurn, Kipper and Union Iron Works, with original installation dates ranging from the mid-1950s to early 1990s. Visit jansenboiler.com.
New Biomass Chipper Has Compact Design
No progressive, international company can afford to rest on its laurels, says Vecoplan, based in Bad Marienberg, Germany. That’s why its engineers have developed a new biomass chipper which is described as “mini but mighty.”
“The biomass chipper is extremely compact in design and therefore only takes up a minimum amount of space in the plant,” explains Irene Scheidweiler, founder of Vecoplan.
The biomass chipper still has in various applications a comparable throughput capacity as the traditional drum chippers. The biomass is processed by four rollers. The three lower rollers (base) are toothed and strengthened; the upper roller (oscillating), on the other hand, has aggressive spikes.
The biomass chipper has a dual-action cylinder on each side. It features a fast lifting and gentle lowering function. The clamping plate rotor has a large chip pocket volume and divided knife. Changing the knives is quick and maintenance-friendly.
The drum chippers and biomass chippers from Vecoplan have the following features in common:
A swivel-mounted screening basket facilitates changing the basket.
The shredding tools are changed at the front of the machine which guarantees ergonomically friendly maintenance
“The biomass chipper is another important product in our company’s range,” emphasizes Scheidweiler. “We are now able to offer even more tailored solutions to our customers.” Phone +49 (0)2661 6267-376; visit vecoplan.de.
Masonite To Install ASG At Laurel
Energy Products of Idaho (EPI) is providing a fluidized bed advanced staged gasifier (ASG) that converts plant waste materials and other biomass into usable energy to Masonite’s operation at Laurel, Miss. The system will provide two separate energy streams, steam and cleaned high temperature gas from a single fluidized bed ASG cell.
The system includes a specially designed blend chamber that combines the boiler system exhaust gas with hot flue gas directly from the outlet of the ASG and ambient air. This sysem supplies 100% of the heat input required for the plant’s chip dryers and replaces the purchased fuel previously used by the dryers with biomass residues from Masonite’s manufacturing process.
The ASG provides the energy for a biomass boiler system designed for this project. The steam produced by the boiler is also used to heat the board press and other plant process applications.
Electric Grinder Has Big Appetite
CW Mill has been building electric and diesel powered grinders for decades. HogZilla customer Grays Harbor Paper in Hoquiam, Wash. uses biomass to provide electricity for plant operation. Biomass material is not only processed with the company’s TC-1564SE HogZilla, but in turn the processed material powers the electric powered HogZilla as well.
CW Mill states that whether your grinding operation can be geared around electric power or not, be aware of the added efficiency and torque that its true torque-multiplying torque converters provide where other diesel powered units fall short. Call 800-743-3491; cwmill.com
Packaging Supplier Assists Latest Mills
Creative Packaging Inc., a packaging systems integrator located in Lookout Mountain, Tenn., has been supplying packaging systems for the wood pellet industry since its inception some 25-plus years ago. Creative Packaging has designed and supplied both semi and automatic packaging systems (including printed poly films and bags) to more than 30 pellet producers throughout the U.S. Collaborating with engineering firms such as Construction Management LLC, Coeur d’ Alene, Id., the company also assists companies with new turnkey pellet operations, such as the recently opened Piney Woods Pellets, Wiggins, Miss.; Great Lakes Renewable Energy, Rice Lake, Wis.; and Bayou Wood Pellets, West Monroe, La.
Addressing the Pellet Fuel Institute at one of its annual conferences several years ago, President Fred Schumpert recommended that the industry consider more automated packaging systems and diversification into other markets, such as pelletized animal bedding and cat litter, generally produced from the same wood residuals (sawdust and shavings). Today, many of the pellet firms, producing in excess of 60,000 annual tons, offer a family of products and have upgraded to labor-saving, automatic packaging systems, including form-fill-seal bagging, palletizing and either pallet stretch wrapping or pallet stretch hooding.
With sawmill residuals now at a premium, several pellet companies have resorted to producing their own raw material, and some who utilize pine trees are now entering into the baled wood shavings market, primarily used in equine bedding, as well. Creative Packaging again has led the way with custom-designed, product-delivery, packaging and palletizing systems for this new market development. Phone 423-825-5311.
Pellet Mill Alliance In North America
Comact announces an alliance with Promill-Stolz to manufacture, supply and service pellet mill equipment in North America. Promill-Stolz of Seville, France is known as a leader in northern and southern Europe in the pellet industry. It offers pellet mills for the manufacture of fodder, compound feeds, wood pellets, cereal byproducts, urban waste and animal slurry, fertilizers and soil additives, It claims half the maintenance costs compared to a gear box type pellet mill, and simplified die installation by thermal expansion to reduce pellet mill vibration. Phone 418-628-2888; visit comact.com.
Biomass Gasification Agreements Made
Rentech, Inc. has completed two investment agreements with biomass gasification technology companies. Rentech is acquiring SilvaGas Corp. and its biomass gasification technology, which converts urban waste feedstocks into synthesis gas (syngas).
Rentech has also executed agreements with ClearFuels Technology Inc., a bio-energy gasification and project development company, whose technology converts rural virgin cellulosic biomass feedstocks into syngas. Rentech has acquired a 25% ownership interest in ClearFuels, and has agreed to the installation of a ClearFuels biomass gasifier at the company’s Product Demonstration Unit (PDU).
With the SilvaGas acquisition, Rentech acquires a biomass gasification technology that has operated at commercial scale and is planned for deployment at Rentech’s Rialto Renewable Energy Center under a licensing agreement with SilvaGas. The SilvaGas gasifier can handle urban waste streams that are more varied than the virgin biomass streams. Visit rentechinc.com.
Clean Microchips Streamline Process
As sawdust and shavings become harder to procure, residential pellet producers have had to find alternative sources for fiber to feed the ever-growing market. Continental Biomass Industries, Inc. has been producing a four pocket drum chipper (6400 or 8400) capable of making large volumes of consistently sized 1⁄4 in. chips for these producers. These chips, because of the consistent size, do not have to be run through a grinder prior to going into the dryer. The elimination of this grinding step dramatically reduces the price of the pellet installation.
When the microchips come out of the dryer they are at the necessary moisture content to go into the system, according to CBI. The fact that they already have the short fiber length also dramatically reduces the horsepower required to grind them to a final size on the backside of the dryer.
Residential fuel pellet producers need to use clean chips to ensure there are no ash causing materials (dirt, sand, etc.) in the pellet furnish. To further improve this, CBI has introduced the first track mounted three drum flail delimber debarker, the CBI Magnum Stripper. The hydrostatically driven flail drums use cutting edge technology to properly position the flails to maximize debarking efficiencies and enable the unit to provide clean material at the high volumes to satisfy the voracious appetite of the 6400 chipper. Call 603-382-0556; visit cbi-inc.com.
Turnkey Pellet Plants Offered
Dieffenbacher Group provides turnkey plants for the production of pellets. The company says its knowledge gained in particleboard plants is directly transferable to pellet plants and guarantees a sound plant concept.
Major elements (heat energy generation, dryer, screen, cleaning, electric, process control, plant engineering) are available in-house.
The pellet plants are offered for all raw materials (logs, sawmill residuals, whole tree chips and some kinds of recycled wood) and for the use of the pellets in power plants as well as in household stoves. Dieffenbacher covers annual plant capacities from 200,000 to more than 600,000 tons.
Grinders Process Diverse Feedstock
WSM’s Titan Series Horizontal Grinders are designed to process high volumes of diverse types of biomass feedstock including stumps, land clearing, and urban wood waste into high quality biomass fuel and other valuable finished fiber products.
The Titan is a complete grinding system with heavy-duty multi-strand drag chain infeed conveyor, large diameter powered feedroll, and fully proportional load sensing feed controller for efficient feeding of material into the grinder. The massive rotor assembly features rigid hammers with reversible/replaceable tips. Modular sizing screens ensure a consistent sized, premium quality finished fuel. This stationary electric grinder can be supplied with single or dual electric drive motors for efficient and economical operation, with drive sizes from 400-1500 HP. Call 800-722-3530; visit westsalem.com.
Texas Firm Touts Proprietary System
Biotricity, based in Houston, is developing and constructing a biomass power generation station. The company’s technology uses a proprietary vortex combustion chamber to convert the energy in biomass into electricity to be sold to the power grid. Unlike wind and solar facilities, biopower stations can run continuously and be installed for half to one-fourth the cost per megawatt as compared to wind and solar, according to the company. Visit biotricitypower.com.
Chippers For Short Fiber Applications
A growing number of specialized biomass applications require short fiber thin wood chips. These include the wood pellet industry, co-milling with coal, and certain gasification processes.
Peterson’s 5900 chipper and 5000H model delimber, debarker, chipper can be adapted to produce uniform chips as short as 0.25 in. (6-7 mm) and 0.08 in. (2 mm) thick.
Wood chips need to be a consistent thickness for uniform process control in a digester or dryer. Short fiber length is especially important if the chips will be further reduced in a hammermill. If low bark and ash are a requirement, the Peterson 5000H can achieve less than 1% bark content in many conditions. The Peterson 4800 stand alone flail debarker can also be paired with the 5900 disc chipper for low bark applications. Visit petersoncorp.com
Scrapwood-Burning Furnace Starts Up
G & M Pallet Co. of Cleveland is heating its 30,000 sq. ft. manufacturing and warehouse complex with a scrapwood-burning furnace from Biomass Combustion Systems.
Use of the wood-burning furnace allows G & M to keep its building temperature an average of 15 degrees higher than previously during winter months. The greenhouse-gas-neutral process of wood combustion also lowers the company’s carbon footprint and will reduce or eliminate the need to purchase carbon credits to comply with evolving government regulations. Phone 508-798-5970; visit biomasscombustion.com.
BC-Based Operation Focuses On Energy/Power
Northern Energy Constructors (NEC) Group of Companies, headquartered in Prince George, BC, provides turnkey solutions relating to high temperature process heating/heat transfer plants, waste heat recovery, biomass power production, ORC-power generation systems and municipal solid waste-to-energy gasification technology. NEC is the exclusive North American marketing and manufacturing licensee for classen apparatebau Wiesloch heat transfer components. Affiliated companies include:
Northern Steel Ltd., a certified fabrication and machine shop manufacturing center in business for over 32 years. Located in Prince George, Northern Steel Ltd. has over 40,000 sq. ft. of shop space with the capability of handling heavy components in excess of 100 tons. Northern Steel Ltd. is well suited to all aspects of steel and alloy fabrication for the bioenergy industry.
classen apparatebau Wiesloch, a global operating and leading manufacturer and supplier of industrial high temperature process heating systems and highly-customized heat transfer installations. Wiesloch designs, fabricates and installs high-efficient thermal oil heaters, steam and hot water generators, hot gas generators as well as gaseous, liquid and solid waste incinerators based on its state-of-the-art firing systems with related combustion chambers. The supply range is completed by de-central and modular power stations based on the organic Rankine-cycle (ORC turbo generators) to not only solve industrial waste disposal issues but to turn these waste streams into profit.
Allnorth Consultants Ltd., a multi-disciplinary engineering firm providing consulting services to international customers on all aspects of industrial projects, including the bioenergy industry. With over 250 experienced personnel, Allnorth Consultants Ltd. has the ability to customize a project team for job-specific requirements ranging from feasibility study stage through the design phase and into construction management and commissioning during plant startup.
In addition to the above team of companies, NEC has its own engineering staff with more than 25 years of experience specific to the biomass and bioenergy sectors, and with a strong industry leader such as classen apparatebau Wiesloch as a licensing partner, the ability to provide customers with turnkey solutions from feasibility right through to commissioning and after-sales service makes Northern Energy Constructors a dependable choice for the bioenergy industry. Visit apparatebau-wiesloch.com.
Biobaler Combines Mulching/Baling
Supertrak, Inc. is the U.S. dealer and distributor for the WB55 Biobaler. The Biobaler was designed and is manufactured by FLD Biomass Technologies, Inc. of Canada. It is a towable mulching and baling system that is capable of harvesting woody material, encompassing it into bales, and then enables the bales to be used in a number of applications including the bioenergy industry. The WB55 biobaler is an implement that combines the technologies and applications of forestry mulching/mowing along with hay baling technology. The unit is towed behind a 150-200 HP farm tractor.
While being towed the WB55 can be offset to the left or right of center to the rear of the tractor or it can be pulled directly behind the tractor. The unit is designed to harvest 4 in. diameter material and under by mulching the material either on the ground or as it stands. The mulcher is composed of a specially designed mulching drum that is reversed, runs backward and cuts the material in an upward direction as opposed to standard forestry mulchers that cut downward.
Once the harvested material has been lifted and thrown into the mouth of the baler, a horizontal shaft lifts the material and forces it into the baling chamber. It is rolled up in a bale and released out of the rear of the baling apparatus. The finished product biomass bales can then be handled just as a hay bale would be and loaded for distribution. Visit supertrak.com.
Forest Concepts Receives USDA Innovation Contract
The USDA Small Business Innovation Research program awarded Forest Concepts with a two-year $350,000 Phase II contract to advance the development of their technologies for reprocessing hog fuel and other chipped woody biomass to create clean streams of wood fiber and bark, while removing dirt, rock and other contaminants.
The chip beneficiation process (sorting the wood from the wood) being developed by Forest Concepts can be optimized to produce precision feedstocks for bioconversion or thermochemical processing. The organic co-products can then be directed to other solid biofuels, soil amendments and other uses.
“We are very pleased that USDA is backing this development program that will benefit just about everyone in the cellulosic bioenergy industry,” says Forest Concepts’ Chief Technology Officer Dr. Jim Dooley.
“Regardless of which conversion technologies become the commercial winners in the future, they all are dependent upon clean, high yielding feedstocks. We believe that our technology will be key to ensuring cellulosic feedstock quality at the front end of biorefineries.” Contact Dooley, 253-333-9663.
Morbark Expands With Warrior
Morbark has signed a dealer agreement with Warrior Tractor and Equipment and Warrior of Arkansas for Warrior to represent Morbark’s recycling and forestry product lines in Alabama, Arkansas and three counties in Tennessee (Wayne, Lawrence and Giles).
Warrior Tractor operates 12 branch locations in Alabama and Arkansas. Warrior Tractor will handle Morbark’s complete line of forestry machines, including biomass chippers, Chiparvestors and flails. The company will also cater to the recycling industry with Morbark tub and horizontal grinders.
Honeywell Firm Meets Standards
Envergent Technologies LLC, a Honeywell company, reports that pyrolysis oil produced using its Rapid Thermal Processing (RTP) technology meets American Society for Testing and Materials (ASTM) standards for biofuels used in industrial burners.
The ASTM standard ensures that pyrolysis oil, a liquid biofuel made from biomass such as wood chips or straw, maintains the highest levels of quality, reliability and performance when used as a fuel in industrial burners for the generation of renewable heat and power.
“The establishment of an ASTM standard is a critical step toward the supply of high-quality, next-generation pyrolysis oil to customers as a commodity fuel,” says Envergent Technologies Managing Director Mark Reno. “Our focus is to establish the best pathway for the conversion of biomass into valuable renewable fuels for power, heating and transportation.”
EPI Provides Wood System At Plant
Energy Products of Idaho (EPI), a provider of solid fuel-fired renewable energy systems, has been selected to provide two fluidized bed energy systems to Ameresco Federal Solutions in support of its contract with the U.S. Dept. of Energy’s Savannah River Site project. The contract includes two identical fluidized bed boiler islands that utilize wood waste and chipped tires as fuel to produce superheated steam to drive a turbine for power production. Process steam is extracted from the turbine for use at the Savannah River Nuclear site.
Astec Purchases Pellet Technology Firm
Astec Industries Inc., parent company of Peterson, has acquired certain assets of Industrial Mechanical & Integration of Walkerton Ontario. IMI provides machine technology to make wood pellets. Rick Minke, President of IMI, and key employees will remain with the company to further develop and promote the company’s new technology.
According to Dr. J. Don Brock, Chairman and CEO of Astec Industries, “We are excited about the potential of this new technology. Conventional pellet production machines were designed for easy to use materials and do not always work well with a wide variety of wood species. With this acquisition, Astec Industries can provide a one stop solution to customers desiring to own a pellet plant that can process material from roundwood all the way to the finished product.” Visit industrial-mi.com.
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