WOOD PELLET PRODUCTION PROCESS ANALYSE Costs. The capital costs of the plant depend on the type of material used. Material with moisture content of greater than 12% will need drying. A dryer can cost up to 40% of the entire capital costs. In addition capital will be required to overcome the time it takes to achieve profitability. Many pellet plants take 6 to 18 months to refine the process before becoming profitable. This report compares the costs of various sizes of plant. 1.5 ton per hour - $ 145,000.00 USD 4.5 ton per hour - $ 275,000.00 USD 20 ton per hour - $ 20 million USD Capital costs of a three and ten ton/hour pellet plant. $CDN Dryer: Hammer Mill: Pellet Machine: Cooler: Storage Conveyors, Separators: Peripheral Equipment: Buildings: Total:
700,000.00 - 3,550,000.00 120,000.00 - 530,000.00 280,000.00 - 890,000.00 19,000.00 - 360,000.00 430,000.00 - 1,290,000.00 740,000.00 - 640,000.00 810,000.00 - 1,520,000.00 $ 3,100,000.00 - 8,780,000.00
This 94 page report looks at the entire landscape of the fuel pellet industry in Canada. Source: Strategic analysis of a pellet fuel opportunity in Northwest. British Columbia. By Ernie Urbanowski BSc, University of Saskatchewan. http://ir.lib.sfu.ca/retrieve/2213/etd1891.pdf Case study - AB Forssjo Bruk, pellet production plant in Austria. Annual turnover – Euro 5.5 million Raw material consumption is approx 300,000 m3 sawdust per year. Annual production capacity 45,000 tons of wood pellets. The plant has two presses for wood pellet production. The capacity is 7 tons per hour. Breakdown of pellet production costs. Dry material: Dry material 53% Staff 20% General investment 2% Grinding 2% Pelletizer 14%
Cooling system 1% Storage 4% Periphery 4% Wet material: Raw materials 34% Drying 30% Staff 13% General investment 3% Grinding 4% Pelletizer 9% Cooling system 0% Storage 3% Periphery 4% Bulk distribution – 38 metric tons/vehicle. Bag distribution – 42 pallets per vehicle.832Kg/pallet (1830lb) Pellet prices: Bulk delivery – Euro 44 per MWh – Euro 215/ton Sack delivery – Euro 47 per MWh – Euro 230/ton *** Over 50% of the production costs are related to the raw material cost. This report also contains European market information. Source: Sustainable energy Ireland. http://www.innovawood.com/Innovawood/Uploads/Kellet1.pdf --------------------------------------------Demand and supply Pellet shipments data and pellet appliance shipment statistics can be found here. http://www.pelletheat.org/3/industry/marketResearch.html# Demand. Increased demand for wood pellets, triggered by rising oil prices, is pushing up pellet prices on the east coast, according to a report by the Montreal Gazette. 76,000 pellet-burning stoves were sold in Canada in the first nine months of 2005, a 98% increase over the same period in 2004. Pellet sales rose 96% in B.C. and 30% in Quebec and the Maritimes. Buying and shipping pellets from the West Coast has added to higher prices in the East.
The panic buying that depleted inventories should be corrected for winter 2006-07 with a planned increase in capacity to manufacture the pellets. Swaan foresees a price correction next year as well and warned manufacturers and retailers against trying to profit too much from increased demand. http://www.forestweb.com/iiFeed/clients/canfor/feed.taf?nID=578153568&feed=xTranet This report looks at the world supply of wood pellets. It says that there is increased demand in the UK. Production from Sweden is not sufficient to meet domestic, UK, Danish and Dutch market for 2004 (700,000t) and 2005 (1.4MT). Source: The Northern Energy Initiative. http://66.249.93.104/search?q=cache:b6F6fUWhByYJ:www.eif.org.uk/initiatives/Biomass/Situat ionalAnalysis03.pdf+canadian+%22demand+for+wood+pellets%22&hl=en&ct=clnk&cd=15 This report highlights the shortage of raw materials in Sweden and Denmark. Source: EUBIA. http://66.249.93.104/search?q=cache:KsgQOAfeQ9sJ:www.pelletcentre.info/CMS/webedit/imag es/cmsdoc__19/Part%2520IV%2520from%2520D18%2520Report%2520on%2520critical%2520 factorstechnical%2520obsticles_1.pdf+canadian+%22demand+for+wood+pellets%22&hl=en&ct=clnk &cd=21 --------------------------------------Manufacturers. Pellet Flame Inc. http://www.pelletflame.com/ Pinnacle Pellett Inc. http://www.pinnaclepellet.com/ Princeton Co-Generation Corp. Contact: Gary Johnston/ Dean Johnston
[email protected] Telephone 250-295-6940, Fax 250-295-6943 Box 2440, Princeton, BC, Canada V0X 1W0 Premium Pellet http://www.premiumpellet.com/ B.C. Pellet Fuel Manufacturers Association Box 2929, Prince George, B.C. Canada V2N 4T7 http://www.pellet.org/members.html Energex Produces 50,000 tons per year. http://www.energex.com/energex_info.htm
Dry Creek Products http://www.drycreekproducts.com/intro.html Premium Pellet Ltd Largest wood pellet producing plant in the world. Armstrong Pellet Inc Dansons Group Inc Energex Pellet Fuel Inc La Crete Sawmills Ltd Lakewood Industries – Pellet Division. Langs Dehy Ltd Marwood Ltd Pacific BioEnergy Corp. Pinnacle Pellet Inc Princeton Co-Generation Corp. Shaw Resources. Source : Pellet Fuels Institute. http://www.pelletheat.org/3/residential/fuelAvailability.cfm#canada
------------------------------------Industry standards The pellet fuel industry has developed fuel standards that must be met by all pellet mills. These industry standards assure as much uniformity in the final product as is possible for naturally grown materials that become processed, but not refined, fuel. The pellet fuel industry, through the PFI, has determined that pellet mills have the responsibility to test and certify their product. The Institute recommends that manufacturers conduct both in-plant and independent laboratory tests of their product on a regular basis. PFI-graded fuel must meet tests for: · Density: consistent hardness and energy content (minimum 40 pounds/cubic foot) · Dimensions: length (1 ½” maximum) and diameter (1/4” x 5 1/16”) to assure predictable fuel amounts and to prevent jamming · Fines: limited amount of sawdust from pellet breakdown to avoid dust while loading and problems with pellet flow during operation (amount of fines passing through 1/8” screen no more than .5 percent by weight) · Chlorides: limited salt content (no more than 300 parts per million) to avoid stove and vent rusting
· Ash content: important factor in maintenance frequency.
This page gives contact details for testing laboratories. Source: Pellet fuels institute. http://www.pelletheat.org/3/industry/index.html Shelf life depends on the composition. Some manufacturers add a bonding agent to increase shelf life. http://www.videncenter.dk/uk/Articles/yellow.htm Austrian standard for wood pellets. · Pellets have to be protected against wetness and pollution during storage and transport, therefore storage only is allowed in closed halls and manipulation areas have to be roofed. Manipulation areas and storages have to be kept clean (especially free from soil, sand or grit) · Before delivery of pellets to the (private) final consumer fines have to be separated up to a maximum content of 1 % fines · Transport lorries (over 8000 kg payload) have to be equipped with an adjusted on-boardweighing system · Tank lorries must be equipped with an efficient suction technique and dust bags to avoid high pressure in the storage room and dust emissions during filling. · Tank lorries must be equipped with pipes at least 30 m long. · Traders and transporters have to develop working instructions for delivery of pellets and train their stuff according this instructions. · Each filling of a storage room at the end-consumer has to be documented by a check-list. The check list has to contain at leastinformation whether the heating has been stopped during filling, whether the storage room is closed, if there are old pellets remaining in the storage room, length of pipes needed for filling and other special remarks concerning the storage room or the filling procedure. Another Austrian standard for pellets storage at the end consumer (Önorm M7137) has been stated in 2003. In Austria recently about 95 % of pellets storages are specially equipped rooms in the cellar of the building. This standard defines quality criteria for pellet storage rooms or bunkers (under floor or above) at the final consumer to ensure storage conditions at the end consumer’s home not effecting pellet quality. Another purpose is to harmonize storage equipment and filling couplings of the storage with the equipment of pellet tank cars and filling operations.
The main criteria of this standard are: · The storage has to be protected against wetness · The storage has to be made tight against dust · The filling couplings of the storage have to be situated this way that they can be reached by a 30m long filling pipe. · There must not be installations of electricity, water or waste water in the storage room · The storage needs a opening of at least 400 mm diameter · Regional fire protection regulations have to be fulfilled. · Filling couplings have to be made of metal and have to be earthed.They have to be mounted properly (untwistable) · The filling coupling has to be a Storz A/110 - 4 inch coupling · The suction coupling has to be a Storz A/110 - 4 inch coupling or Storz F/150 - 6 inch coupling. · Except during filling couplings have to be closed with special screw-tops. · Filling tubes should be as short as possible, changes in directions should not be more than 45°, radius should be more than 500 mm Source: Dr. Brigitte HAHN. UMBERA GmbH http://66.249.93.104/search?q=cache:YrRsvrDfOSAJ:www.sei.ie/uploadedfiles/RenewableEnerg y/UmberaHahn.doc+%22wood+pellets%22++%22storage+conditions%22+&hl=en&ct=clnk&cd =1 -------------------------------------Residential scale automatic wood pellet fired boilers have become popular in Europe and North America. Fuel pellets can be produced from many biomass sources. Wood pellet costs GBP/MWh 15-30 Installation rates in the Uk and European market.
The capital cost of fuel producing equipment can be high requiring a hammer or chipper mill and a drier. Pellets can be supplied to the residential market at around GBP 25.40/MWh (GBP112/odt). Source: AEA Technology. http://www.dti.gov.uk/renewables/policy_pdfs/heatreportfinal.pdf Canada produces about 350,000 tons of pellet fuels per year. Approximately 100,000 tons of pelletised wood residues are being exported annually to Scandinavia from Canada, but the market within Canada remains underdeveloped. Gasified pellet stoves are being produced and sold in Canada that are burning moderately high ash pellets and grains at 80-85% sufficiency. Numerous attempts have been made in both Canada and USA to develop a wood pellet market but have met with limited success. Heating with biomass is also being proposed for homes. A biomass-fed furnace offered by a U.S. company can heat houses using fuels such as corn, rye, pellet fuel or even cherry pits. Source: Envirochem Services Inc. http://www.cec.org/files/PDF/ECONOMY/Biomass-StageI_en.pdf
Sea transport costs. This article looks at the costs involved with exporting to Europe. Source: A case study of Sweden as an importer. Aruna et al. http://www.p2pays.org/ref/04/03071.pdf ---------------------------------Source of funding The Softwood Industry Community Economic Adjustment Initiative was designed to encourage long-term, sustainable economic development in communities reviously dependent on the forestry industry. Many of those most affected live in small, remote and Aboriginal communities where there are few other economic options. The program, administered in the West by WD, in partnership with Community Futures Development Corporations, uses locally identified and driven initiatives to create positive long term economic benefits. In all, the Softwood Initiative has committed $50 million to implement 146 projects in more than 140 western communities. That funding has leveraged another $97 million from other sources, creating or maintaining 2,500 jobs in communities most affected by the Canada-United States softwood lumber trade dispute. Source: Western Economic Diversification Canada. http://www.wd.gc.ca/rpts/publications/wotw/2a_e.asp -----------------------------------
Production process. This report gives details of how wood pellets are produced. Source: The Tree Station Project. 2001. http://66.249.93.104/search?q=cache:ndUo0lj8UoJ:www.bioregional.com/TreeStation%2520Report%2520pdf.pdf+%22wood+pellet+market% 22+billion+canada&hl=en&ct=clnk&cd=13 This report gives details of the production process Source: European Biomass Industry Association. http://p9719.typo3server.info/196.0.html>
