First fully pneumatic bulk pellet delivery truck

Photos: Maine Energy Systems

Dec. 14, 2010, Bethel, ME – Maine Energy
Systems has worked with Trans Tech Industries Inc. of Brewer, Maine, and
Tropper Maschinen Und Anlagen GmbH of Redlham, Austria, to manufacture the
first fully pneumatic bulk pellet delivery truck in the United
States. This truck will efficiently deliver wood pellets in bulk to homes,
businesses, and institutions.

Based on successful European design and the
use of Tropper aeration beds, this pressurized tank delivers pellets into bins,
storage rooms, and silos at high rates of speed with minimal damage to the
fuel. This truck moves a ton of pellets in less than four minutes. It is a
marked improvement on earlier mechanical/airlock designs, which averaged 14
minutes/ton.

This is an important milestone along the
way to creating wood pellet distribution infrastructure in the northeastern
United States. For several years, there have been highly efficient centralized
heating solutions with wood pellet fired boiler systems for home and business.
Now, the fuel delivery engineering in the United States has caught up with the
heating technology.

The Northeast burns more than 80% of the
No. 2 heating oil consumed in the USA each year. Sustainably harvested
biomass such as wood pellets as a replacement for some of that consumption can
reduce the dependency on oil, bolster the regional economy, and reduce the
carbon footprint.