Biomass Tools: March 2009 New Gear

Jeffrey Rader gets fuel handling job
Jeffrey Rader Corporation has been awarded a contract to supply an alternative fuel material handling and boiler feed system in Jeonju, South Korea. The system will be part of a 100MW cogen plant that will supply power and process steam for a newsprint mill. “This is an innovative project, the first of its kind in South Korea.” says Ted Gentile, manager of international sales for the company.  The Jeonju Paper Mill will replace an older coal fired boiler using a grate fired system with a bubbling fluidized bed design capable of firing a mixture of alternative waste fuels consisting of bark, Refuse Derived Fuel (RDF) pellets, DIP sludge and plastics rejects from the mill’s recycled fiber process.

Delivery of this state-of-the-art alternative fuel feeding system begins in March 2009, and it is anticipated to be put into full operation by the end of 2009. The Jeffrey Rader-supplied material handling and boiler feed system will supply more than 30 tons per hour of waste fuels to the BFB Boiler. It uses pneumatic conveyors to transport fuel to a receiving hopper which distributes fuel into two boiler house mounted storage silos.  Fuel is then reclaimed with screw reclaimers and distributed and metered into four infeed points around the boiler with a high level of reliability and accuracy. “Because of the wide range of acceptable fuels, the system must be very flexible in its design as well as robust and reliable since it provides 100% of the fuel to this boiler” says Gentile. www.jeffreyrader.com

Grinding slower to make more?
From waste wood to green waste, from fine to coarse – the CRAMBO slow speed dual-shaft shredder from Komptech can do it all but without higher fuel consumption. With a few selective alterations, the CRAMBO has become even more economical, and now with the right operator control the machine is even more energy-efficient. The hydraulic drive design of the CRAMBO continues to allow the machine to respond to the material and job at hand. Contractors need to produce the highest volume of material within the shortest time, and also to be able to shred all the material types required. Using load-sensing speed regulation, shredding is always performed with the maximum possible drum rotation speed. A mechanical drive generally only knows one rotation speed.

A Cat diesel engine delivers the power for this, and at a lower RPM level than most units for up to a 20% reduction in fuel consumption with no significant production loss. Also, reversing shifts the material and cleans the drum and screen baskets, improving the shredding process. For tough green waste in particular, a new program with shortened reversing times yields an increase in throughput of up to 15%. At the same time, fuel consumption drops by the same amount. This reversing option is not possible on most direct driven machines, according to Komptech. www.komptech.com

Woodpecker for the home
Woodpecker Energy began making its award-winning range of domestic pellet heating boilers at its new plant in Cahir, Tipperary, Ireland on February 1, 2009. Woodpecker Energy was born out of Irelands’ longest established boiler manufacturer, Gerkros Boilers, which also manufactured oil boilers and supplied other heating products throughout Ireland & the UK. However, the Woodpecker range of biomass boilers was the jewel in the crown, as the most popular biomass boiler sold in Britain and Ireland, with a host of environmental awards to its name, and so is now a stand-alone product for this new manufacturer.

The Woodpecker ranges in output from 15 kw to 45 kw and is fully automated. Models come in indoor and outdoor versions. The Woodpecker boilers are available in self cleaning models, making them virtually maintenance free, and achieve efficiencies of 94% when tested to EN14785 standards. The Woodpecker range of boilers is also UL & CSA listed, making it one of the few European biomass appliances allowed to be sold in Canada and the USA. Ger Crosse is the Commercial Consultant employed by the firm and he can be contacted at 011 353 86 383 7724.

Morbark has new biomass chipper
The all-new Model 40/36 Whole Tree Chipper from Morbark is geared for the biomass sector. The supplier says the compact, affordable, and productive drum chipper aggressively feeds brushy tops and limbs thanks to an extra wide opening and the same internal drive proven on Morbark horizontal grinders. At 8.5-ft wide, the chipper is easily moved without permitting. Morbark also claims the 40/36 has the industry’s lowest fuel consumption per ton of chips produced. Power options include up to a 700-hp Cat or John Deere engine. www.morbark.com.

Mulching without wasting biomass
It had to happen sometime – a combination mulcher and biomass collector. Fecon Industries, long-time specialists in mulching, have introduced the Bio-Harvester for harvesting small diameter woody biomass. Suited for all kinds of right of way work, fireproofing, PCT and stagnant bush reclaiming, the Bio-Harvester fells, chips, and collects biomass in one swoop. It can be mounted to the Fecon FTX440, a 440-hp, forestry-guarded crawler tractor, or to any large horsepower PTO tractor. www.fecon.com

Bruks sees strong demand for biomass unloading systems
The demand for biomass truck unloading stations remains strong say the folks at BRUKS Rockwood. They add that most recently these systems have been employed by power generating customers looking to accept difficult wood waste materials, such as refuse from pulp mills, sawmills and urban waste.EPCOR/Primary Energy will use two such systems at their Roxboro and Southport, NC power plants. BRUKS Rockwood will supply a drive-thru and back-on unit to these locations. Waste materials received will be processed and used as fuel in conjunction with other fuels, such as coal and tire-derived materials. www.rockwood.net

Gigajoules Glenda Vander Wilt has been named director of marketing for Vermeer Corp. She has been with the company for over 20 years and most recently led the company’s Market-Based Strategy Group. INDECK Energy Services and Mid-West Forest Products have chosen Carmanah Design and Manufacturing to supply a King Debarker for their wood pellet plant being built in Northern Wisconsin. The KD6/30DT debarker will be delivered to the Ladysmith Biofuel Center in this spring for start up in July. Ponsse has delivered its first Biomass Transport System for forwarders to a biomass contractor in Wisconsin. Look to this magazine for more on this application.