exploring potential products

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Exploring Potential Products from willow and poplar plantations

May 1st, 2012; Edmonton

™

Eric Phillips Researcher, Silvicultural Operations

Tony Sauder Doug Singbeil Marian Marinescu Grant Nishio

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Outline

General economic factors Solid wood products Pulp Heat energy

– Direct combustion – Chips or pellets – Co-firing

Heat process products – Bio-char – Bio-oils – Syn-gas – Ethanol – Ash

General economic factors

What factors influence the value of your product? – Product itself

• What are the customer requirements? • Pre-harvest size of trees • Harvested cost at roadside • Contaminants • Bark • Moisture content • Material form – does it need further reduction to

meet a market requirement? • Energy content

– Location – distance to market

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Minimize transport costs

Transport represents a significant portion of the delivered product costs – Decrease distance – Improve transport efficiency – Decrease moisture content – Increase density

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Proximity to processing facility

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Lyonsdale Biomass • Commercial power plant • $21.50/t chips • 100 k source

Improve transport efficiency

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Increase efficiency through Truck/trailer configuration selection Increase Density

Moisture content – decrease weight through roadside drying

Dry chips

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Dry chips to meet customer requirements

Business planning and decisions

Business plan? Cost/revenue estimates? Short or longer rotation? Potential products? Economies of scale?

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8 www.esf.edu/willow/download.htm

Business planning: tools and guides

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Short verses “long” rotations

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willow poplar

• Short rotation ~ 3 years • Energy crop

• 20-25+ year rotation • Pulp + energy • Lumber + pulp + energy • Carbon credits?

costing example – extended rotation + value added

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Costs commodity + value addedsite prep & maintenance $605 $605plant $1,176 $1,176taxes $247 $247rent $1,236 $1,236prune & sort $2,002harvest & transport $5,560 $5,560total costs $8,824 $10,825

Revenuespulp paper and OSB $12,973 $8,649veneer & furniture stock $7,413total revenue $12,973 $16,062

profit $4,149 $5,236

Poplar 20 yr rotation 370 m3/ha $/ha

Solid wood products

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furniture

acoustic fence

whips

Solid wood products

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live fencing

animal bedding

Extended Rotation - example

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• Saw-logs (veneer) + pulp chips + energy chips • Plantations grown for pulp chips

Other values?

Snow fence Wildlife use Visuals Carbon credits? Bio-Chemicals Others?

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Reduction Processes

Direct combustion Pellets Pulp Syngas Bio-ethanol

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Direct combustion: Indian Head, Saskatchewan example

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Harvest natural willow Air dry

Grind <2” (5cm)

Direct combustion: Indian Head, Saskatchewan 2

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Burn

• Anderson WB55 Biobaler • Hay Buster tub grinder • Fink Machine / KOB

Viessmann furnace

Agro-Forestry Development Centre

Energy

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Energy calculator

http://www.fpinnovations.ca/FPJoule/Views/Report.aspx

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Pellets

Used to create a dense uniform product for direct combustion. Consumer as well as industrial market but residential requires

low ash and therefore low bark content. Tops and branches may yield higher ash content. Lower lignin makes pellet production more difficult. Status: commercial

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Co-fire

Wood biomass can be added to other feed-stocks such as coal.

Up to 50% additions are reported to not affect combustion.

Particle size and moisture are critical. Other types of commercial burners may have different

requirements.

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Pulp requirements

Chip thickness and size – Uniform size with few

pins/fines and thick chips Bark content

– <1% Rule of thumb:

– <3” (8cm diameter) = energy only

– 3”-10” (8-28cm diameter) = 75% pulp, 25% energy

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Wood conversion with heat

Heat wood in the absence of oxygen to produce secondary products: – Densified wood – Bio-char – Pyrolysis oil – Syngas

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Biomass conversion w/o Oxygen comparison of processes

Torrefaction Pyrolysis Gasification

Process Temp: 200 – 350 C 350 – 500 C > 600 C

Primary product:

Value-added product:

Dense wood

Biocarbon, biochar

Pyrolysis oil

crude oil

Syn-gas

diesel + other products

Heating value of primary product*: 18-21 MJ/kg 17 MJ/kg 4 MJ/kg – 15 MJ/kg

Yield/bdt wood: max 700 kg max 750 kg

or 625 L variable depending on

gasifier design

*Compare to: Natural gas: 43 MJ/kg Diesel/fuel oil: 42 MJ/kg Coal: 33 MJ/kg Ethanol: 30 MJ/kg Wood: 14-17 MJ/kg From Doug Singbeil - FPInnovations

Torrefaction

Mild pyrolysis (200-4000 C) Briquettes hydrophobic Coal like properties Higher energy than pellets Yields affected by bark, species (lignin), MC% Status: pilot/demonstration stage

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Pyrolysis

< 7000 C Lower char output for hardwoods High bark content may reduce oil output Status: energy is at pilot plant stage;

specialty chemicals is commercial

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Gasification

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• “Town gas/syn-gas/producer gas” since 19th C • Popular during fuel shortages

Syngas

>6000 C Process: heat in the absence of

oxygen (controlled oxygen) and collect the gas

Status: pilot to commercial

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Gasification: Nexterra

Outputs: Steam Heat and power Hot water

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Ash – asset or liability?

Principle “uses”: – Landfill – Soil amendment

• Soil type – has value on some soils • Environmental concerns: heavy metals etc. • Reference:

“Introduction to spreading wood ash on forest soils in Canada – Ash spreading primer” by Grant Nishio, FPInnovations Grant.nishio@fpinnivations.ca

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Ethanol

Hardwood species better than softwood because of lower lignin content.

Similar requirements as for pulp chips: – Size – Bark – Contamination

Status: demonstration

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Summary

With current state of technologies, willow has the greatest use as an energy crop.

Extended rotation popular can produce chips for pulp plus other products.

Bark content, product size and moisture content are universal themes.

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Questions / Discussion

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Eric.phillips@fpinnovations.ca