pellets - etusivu · (2,1 kg pellets=1 l light oil=10 kwh) ... loader, or customers pick up the...

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16.6.2006

Pellets

8:15-10:00 Production

• Raw materials

• Equipment

• Quality issues

10:00-10:15 Coffee/Tea break

10:15-12:00 Use of pellets

• Transportation

• Storage types

• Boilers and burners

12:00-13:00 Lunch

13:00- Visit to wood pellet heating plants

Wood pellets day:

Some facts about wood pellets

• Newly discovered renewable fuel

• Diameter 6-10 mm and length 10-30 mm

• Bulk density in average 650 kg/bulk m3

(ca. 1,5 m3/ton)

• Low ash content with pure wood pellets, ca.

0,5 %

• High energy content, 4,7 kWh/kg

(2,1 kg pellets=1 l light oil=10 kWh)

Why pellets?

Why to refine shavings, saw dust

etc?

- More demand for by-

products

better price of by-products

more profitable

operation

- Easy to transport

- Clean and easy

combustion

Wood pellets

• main materials are shavings, cutterdust and

sawdust

• material has to be dry before pressing

(moisture content preferably <15%, optimum

~12%)

• many different tree species can be pelletized,

although coniferous are often considered to be

best / easiest

• mixture of species is normal situation (>50%

coniferous, <50% deciduous)

Raw materials

Other pellets for energy purposes

• Bark

• Peat

• Reed canary grass, straw, hay, grain etc.

Raw materials

Different steps in pellet production:

- Screening of incoming material

- Drying

- Separation of irrelevant materials

- Milling

- Mixing, steam addition

- Pressing

- Cooling

- Screening

- Packing

Pellet production process

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Vapo Energy wood pellet plant, Ilomantsi, capacity 70 000 tn/a

Drum dryer

Flat diepellet press

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Round diepellet press

Small size pellet production

Small hammer mill

Small size pellet production

Production of pellets in 2005 ca. 260 000 tn

Pelletpackages

Pellet packages

Pelletpacking

- Determines the price level

- particular criterias for I and II class pellets

- When producing pellets, the end user must be

known (=markets)

- small households need I class pellets

- big power plants can use II class (bulk)

pellets

- Affects on many different things:

- transportation, burner type and

adjustment, ash behaviour, emissions

Quality of pellets

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Bulk pellets are transported for small

households in trucks with pneumatic

equipment

• most common way in Finland and Austria

• Pellets in big bags (normally 500 kg) or small

bags (16-20 kg) are transported by truck with

loader, or customers pick up the bags with

trailer

• common way in Sweden

Transportation

Pneumatic filling of pellet silo

(Nursing home in North Carelia)

Transportation

Refining saw dust into pellets brings logistical

benefits

- It is possible to have large scale

production for export markets

- It is possible to offer a substitute for oil

• Important new sectors of business in pellet

production and in equipment production

• No loss of jobs in transportation sector

• Wood pellets are suitable for heating one-

family houses, farms, block buildings…

• They are also used in different size heating

and power plants

• At big power or heating plants, when using

pulverized combustion, the pellets are crushed

prior to feeding

• Conversion techniques for almost every

purpose can be found (even wood gas

applications etc.)

Using pellets

Using pellets

• The situation in some countries:

• Finland, ca. 4 500 users

• Sweden, ca. 1 000 000 users

• Germany, ca. 45 000 users

• Future visions for 2010, Finland as an example:

• the share of pellet heating in new houses 30 %

• 25 000 houses with pellet heating

• the potential is big: ca. 250 000 one-family

houses with oil heating

Using pellets

Storage solutions and conveyors:

Small silo for manual filling

Using pellets


Big outside silo for pneumaticfilling (note the checkingdoor)

Using pellets


Pellet silo forhouseholds(horizontalposition),pneumatic filling

Using pellets


Inside silo(horizontalposition)

Using pellets


Inside silo, specialframe construction

Using pellets

Pellet boilers and

burners:

-”Skandinavian type”

- Boiler and burner

are separate units,

possible to change

separately

Using pellets

Pellet boilers and

burners:

- ”Middle European

type”

- Boiler and burner

are one compact

unit, sold always

together

Using pellets

Pellet stove:

- Automatic heating unit

for household use

• The production is a complicated process

•The equipment needed are expensive

• The skills needed do not come from a quidebook

• The early stage requires special knowledge of

raw materials, equipment and markets / end use

Difficult entering of markets

• The EU wide standard for biofuels is not yet fully

operating

• Undeveloped markets of heating equipment

• We have not enough research results to promote

the markets

• Especially about the emissions

Problems with pellets

• Pellets started to come less than 10 years ago

• One pellet mill (Vapo Oy, municipality of Ilomantsi)

• Capacity ca. 70 000 tn/a, recent investments

• Users are mostly private houses and municipalities,

effect range 5-500 kW (almost 20 over 50 kW centres)

• Interest in pellets is strongly rising, due the high oil

and electricity prices

Pellets in North Carelia

• Finlands leading areas in development of pellet

sector

Pellets in North Carelia

pellets - etusivu · (2,1 kg pellets=1 l light oil=10 kwh) ... loader, or customers pick up the...

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