Efficient wood energy harvesting, logistics and handling

WES2013 – FOREST ENERGY & BIOECONOMY 2013Koli National Park, Finland 11.-15.2.2013

12.2.2013Kalle Karttunen (LUT) & Juha Laitila (Metla)

Lappeenrannan teknillinen yliopisto,LUT Savo Sustainable Technologies,

Bioenergy technology

Content

1. Forest fuel markets in Finland

Cost-efficiency improvement potential of…

2. Harvesting

3. Logistics

4. Handling

5. Conclusions

1. Forest fuel markets in Finland

In 2011 the use of forest chips was 7.5 million m3 (~ 14 TWh), which was almost 4% of total energy use in Finland

All of this was transported by trucks either as chips or as uncomminuted materialOnly some trials with trains and barges/vessels have been carried out

The target is to increase current use to 13.5 million m3

(25 TWh) by 2020As a result, there will be a regional imbalance between locations of demand and supply of forest chips

Forest fuel markets in Finland

Small scale use. 9%Other, -Rotten wood. 7%Stumps. 13%Logging residues, 30%Energy wood, 41%

Fore

st c

hips

use

, TW

h

(Ylitalo, 2012)

• Small-sized energywood is the most used source of forest biomass nowadays

Forest fuel markets in FinlandSh

are

of s

uppl

y ch

ains

, % Share of volumes (2011):

Stationary chipping,18%Terminal chipping, 21%Roadside chipping, 61%

• Roadside chipping system is the most used chipping method of forest biomass• Terminal chipping is expected to grow in future because of increased use (buffer storage) of forest biomass and need of long-distance transportation (transfer storage)

Cost-efficiency potential of …

More efficiency means that same task can be donefaster but not necessarily cheaper as unit cost

More cost-efficiency means that same task can bedone cheaper as unit cost but not necessarily faster

The biggest cost-efficiency improvement potential of supply chain:- Harvesting

- Small-sized energywood harvesting solutions- Logistics

- Long-distance transportation solutions- Handling

- Terminal handling solutions

2. Harvesting

Small-sized energywood harvesting solutions are essential for cost-efficientsupply chain of forest chip (cutting costs are high)The cost structure of forest chips:

0

5

10

15

20

25

30

35

40

Who

le tr

ees

& c

hipp

ing

at th

ero

adsi

de

Who

le tr

ees

& c

hipp

ing

at th

ete

rmin

al

Who

le tr

ees

& c

hipp

ing

at th

epl

ant

Logg

ing

resi

dues

& c

hipp

ing

atth

e ro

adsi

de

Logg

ing

resi

dues

& c

hipp

ing

atth

e pl

ant

Logg

ing

resi

dues

logs

&ch

ippi

ng a

t the

pla

nt

Stum

ps &

cru

shin

g at

the

plan

t

Stum

ps &

cru

shin

g at

the

term

inal

Cos

t at t

he p

ower

pla

nt, €

/m³

Delivery from terminal

Transporting

Chipping

Forwarding

Bundling

Stump lifting

Cutting & bunching

Overhead costs

X

Reference: Laitila et al. 2010

Harvesting methods

Suitable harvesting and wholelogistical choice depends basiclyon the size of trees:

Whole trees (<11cm)Delimbed energywood(>11cm)

Suitable forest facilities for harvesting of first thinning shouldbe paid attention

Integrated logging of pulpwood and energywood is an option

Optimal forest management should be paid attention:

Cutting volume and timing of pre-commercial and firstthinning is crucial

0

20

40

60

80

100

120

140

160

5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13

Logg

ing

cost

, €/m

³

Diameter at 1,3 m height, cm

Delimbed longwood

Whole-trees

Logging cost, €/m³ = Cutting + ForwardingCutting removal 1500 trees per hectare

Reference: Laitila et al. 2010

Delimbed energywood

3. Logistics

Long-distance transportation solutions can be developedMore payload (and lower costs) for biomass transportation:

Refining biomass to increase energy content (drying)Developing lighter transportation solutions (or increase weight limit)Developing larger transporation solutionsIncreasing energy density of biomass (compression)

MT

Refining biomass to increaseenergy content (drying)…

Case: Delimbed energywoodDrying is the easy way to refinebiomass to increase energy contentDrying was found to be moreeffective to the delimbedenergywood than whole treeharvesting in a year follow-up studybecause of tearing effect (Karttunen et al. 2010)

Difference in moisture contentfrom 40% (3 MWh/tn) to 30% (3.5 MWh/tn) means ~15 percentage difference in energycontent and same in money

=Transportation costs are the cheapest for delimbed energywood(€/m3) and as energy unit (€/MWh) even much cheaper

0

10

20

30

40

50

60

70

28.maalis 17.touko 6.heinä 25.elo 14.loka 3.joulu 22.tammi 13.maalis 2.touko

Kos

teus

pito

isuu

s %

Karsimatonkokopuukoivu

Karsimatonkokopuumänty

Karsitturankapuu (sis.koivun jamännyn)

Wholetrees:

BirchPine

DelimbedEnergywood:

Birch, pine

Moi

stur

e co

nten

t, %

2009 Time 2010

Developing lighter transportation solutions…Case: Intermodal composite containerComposite container truck can be even5 tons lighter than traditional options

5 tons of payload means over 10 % more capacity and less trucks is needed

Light container logistics can be donecost-efficiently compared to traditionallogistics

Effective roadside chippingEffective unloading system

… or increasing road weight limitRoad weight limitation may change in Finland (from 60 tons to even 76 tons)

More truck variationCost saving potential

Reference: Karttunen et al. 2013

GW

h

http://personal.lut.fi/users/lauri.lattila/Mikkeli/MikkeliNetti.html

Figure: Traditional (18 trucks) vs. composite container (12 trucks) supply costs (€/MWh) for forest chips to fulfill a need of large-scale powerplant (750 GWh). Includes the costs from roadside the powerplant.

Simulation model available:

0102030405060708090

100

50 100

150

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250

300

350

400

450

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550

600

650

700

750

€/M

Wh

Traditional

Composite container

Developing larger transportation solutions…

Case: Waterway transportation bybargesLarge volume of barge itself (vs. 15-50 average truck loads) It´s possible to increase number of barges in transport logisticsIt is possible to increase number of barges as a part of interchangeablelogistics

Increasing energy densityof biomass (compression)…

Energy density (MWh/frame-m3) of barge load was 25% better than trucks That’s mainly because of large load size compressing the forest chips load itself.

0,0

2,0

4,0

6,0

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10,0

12,0

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16,0

0 50 100 150 200 250 300

Transport distance, km

supp

ly c

hain

cos

ts, €

/MW

h

Chip truck 3,000 hours, load: 34 tons

Chip truck 4,000 hours, load: 34 tons

Big tug-boat, load: 1,800 tons, harbour shiftindependentSmall tug-boat, load: 1,200 tons, harbour shiftindependent

Reference: Karttunen et al. 2012Figure: Supply chain costs (truck vs. tug-boat)

Nk Consult 2008

4. HandlingTerminal handling solutions

Material handling machinesExample: Mantsinen 100, forest chips (Karttunen et al. 2012)

Annual operation hours matter (2100 h)Cost-efficiency depends on:

Cost of machine: 95 €/h Productivity of machine/worker: 177 tn/h (=530 MWh)Unit cost: 0.18 €/MWh

It is possible to increase efficiency much better ifbigger buckets are used

Intermodal composite container logisticsExample: Fibrocom (Supercont) (Karttunen et al. 2013)

It is possible to increase cost-efficiency in loadingand unloading terminals:

Intermodal containers (truck and train)Automatic identification system (RFID)Fast handling with fork loader or fixedunloading machine

5. Conclusion

1. Forest fuel markets in Finland There is a big boom to increase the use of small-sized energywood

Logging costs are the most expensive part of cost structure for small-sized energywood

The biggest cost-efficiency improvement potential of supply chain2. Harvesting: Small-sized energywood harvesting solutions

The supply chain cost of delimbed energywood at power-plant is cost-competitive towards whole trees when the breast height diameter of the harvested trees (pine) was 11 cm or moreLogging of delimbed energywood is a promising way also to decrease moisture content and lower the supply chain costs

3. Logistics: Long-distance transportation solutionsMore payload (and lower costs) for biomass logistics can be achievedeither developing vehicles or refining biomass

4. Handling: Terminal handling solutionsHandling cost-efficiency can be improved by innovative technology

References

Laitila, J., Heikkilä, J. & Anttila, P. 2010. Harvesting alternatives, accumulation and procurement cost of small-diameter thinning wood for fuel in Central Finland. Silva Fennica 44(3): 465-480. Available: http://www.metla.fi/silvafennica/full/sf44/sf443465.pdf

Laitila, J. & Väätäinen, K. 2012. Truck transportation and chipping productivity of whole trees and delimbed energy wood in Finland. Croatian Journal of Forest Engineering 33(2): 199-210. Available: http://crojfe.sumfak.hr/v33no2/03_laitila_199-210.pdf

Karttunen, K., Föhr, J. & Ranta, T. 2010. Energiapuuta Etelä-Savosta. Lappeenrannan teknillinen yliopisto. Teknillinen tiedekunta. LUT Energia. Tutkimusraportti 7. Lappeenranta. 150 s. ISBN 978-952-265-003-0. Saatavilla (in Finnish): http://www.doria.fi/bitstream/handle/10024/66283/isbn%209789522650238.pdf?sequence=1

Karttunen, K., Väätäinen, K., Asikainen, A. & Ranta, T. 2012. The operational efficiency of waterway transport of forest chips on Finland’s Lake Saimaa. Silva Fennica 46(3):395-413. Available: http://www.metla.fi/silvafennica/full/sf46/sf463395.pdf

Karttunen, K., Föhr, J., Lättilä, L., Korpinen, O-J., Knutas, A., Laitinen, T. & Ranta, T. 2013. Metsähakkeen logistiikka komposiittirakenteisilla siirtokonteilla. Metsätehon tuloskalvosarja 1/2013. 29 s. Saatavilla (in Finnish): http://www.metsateho.fi/files/metsateho/Tuloskalvosarja/Tuloskalvosarja_2013_01_Metsahakkeen_logistiikka_komposiittirakenteisilla_siirtokonteilla_kk_ym.pdf