Using biomass as a source of renewable energy is getting a lot of attention recently as the U.S. looks to become energy self-sufficient, reduce reliance on foreign oil and use less fossil fuels that may contribute to global warming.
Using plant matter – wood fiber – to produce electricity or heat is not new to the forest products industry. Many forest products companies already do so, or they are engaged in business activities to supply the wood fiber, or both.
A number of our advertisers supply biomass combustion systems or wood burning furnaces and cogeneration systems — or related products. Many of these advertisers are businesses that manufacture kilns and other equipment for lumber drying; they also manufacture or supply systems and equipment to produce hot water and-or steam for lumber drying. Some advertisers specialize in biomass combustion systems or wood burning furnaces.
On the following pages we have allocated space for these advertisers. Each section lists the advertiser’s name, contact phone, a Web site (if they have one), followed by a brief description. Advertisers are listed by alphabetic order.
We also have allocated space to two advertisers that specialize in sales of used machinery and equipment for the forest products industry, including dry kilns and biomass combustion systems. These advertisers, Ben Jones Machinery and Canadian Mill Equipment, are located at the end of the guide.
Many of these companies have long, successful histories in offering their products and services in this area. Wood-Mizer Products, a leading manufacturer of portable band sawmills and which also operates an industrial equipment division, AWMV, has recently expanded into this area with its development of the Bio-Mizer biomass combustion system.
The prospect of increased reliance on biomass for renewable energy should mean greater market opportunities for the forest products industry, particularly for low value wood fiber and residuals.
See the related article in this month’s issue on page 44 about the new biomass energy cogeneration plant at the University of South Carolina, and how one struggling lumber remanufacturing business adapted and tapped into this important new market.
Biomass Combustion Systems
(508) 798-5970
www.biomasscombustion.com
Biomass Combustion Systems (BCS) Inc. can help companies eliminate escalating fuel bills by using wood waste to heat facilities.
The BCS 450,000 BTU and 800,000 BTU Hot Air Shop Heaters will heat an industrial plant safely and reliably. They burn 70 to 140 pounds of waste wood per hour.
The 25-year field-tested design features compact all-steel construction. BCS shop heaters are ruggedly built to withstand long-term industrial use. The fireboxes are engineered with extra thick end-walls, which, unlike refractory fireboxes, will not crack and break with repeated hand firing.
The BCS patented After Burner Chamber minimizes unsafe particle emissions and optimizes heat production. In the main chamber, wood gases are released and then drawn through the After Burner Chamber for maximum combustion; the narrow, hot chamber creates a concentrated high temperature for an extended period of time while maintaining a constant flow of oxygen to mix with the gases. With proper operation, the systems are virtually smoke-free with minimal impact on the working environment.
BCS hot air furnaces are well suited for businesses that generate waste or scrap wood, such as sawmills, pallet companies, lumber remanufacturing plants and more, or any commercial facility with access to wood fuel.
BCS also supplies fully automated wood fired boilers to produce steam and hot water from 100-600 hp.
Bio-Mizer
(866) 441-4208
www.biomizer.com
Wood-Mizer Products Inc. developed the Bio-Mizer, a biomass furnace that converts wood waste into renewable energy. The Bio-Mizer will help sawmill owners save on fuel costs and reduce waste.
The Bio-Mizer utilizes a wide range of biomass waste products — sawdust, wood chips, agricultural and animal waste — to produce heat that is safe, clean and carbon-neutral. It can heat a shop, kiln, greenhouse or business complex.
The Bio-Mizer produces energy that is cost-efficient and carbon-neutral. Burning biomass with the Bio-Mizer produces no more greenhouse gasses than if the plant or biomass decayed naturally. This makes the impact of burning biomass a net gain of zero or carbon-neutral.
The Bio-Mizer is designed to meet the heating needs of industrial applications with heating demands ranging from 500,000 to 1 million BTU. This stand-alone system can be used to replace an existing fossil fuel furnace, or it can be engineered into new heating systems.
Fritch Mill in Snohomish, Washington is the first mill in the U.S. with a Bio-Mizer biomass furnace. The successful installation of the first Bio-Mizer at Fritch Mill is an important step for the industry.
Fuel Efficiency
(800) 448-9794
www.fuelefficiencyllc.com
Fuel Efficiency LLC provides products to improve efficiency and reduce operating costs for all types of heat transfer equipment.
The company, based in New York, is best known as the manufacturer of Brock ‘Fuel-Saver’ Turbulators, which are designed to enhance heat transfer characteristics of firetube and cast iron sectional boilers.
Fuel Efficiency also manufactures other products proven to reduce the operating costs of boilers and other heat transfer equipment. These products include:
• turbulators for shell and tube heat exchangers
• B.E.T. automatic boiler tube cleaning systems
• Ultraspray liquid boiler cleaning concentrate
• and the Brock digital stack temperature monitor.
Fuel Efficiency also distributes many types of boiler gaskets. They are available in a variety of styles and sizes, including high temperature EPDM molded gaskets, Blue Max and spiral wound gaskets for waterside or complete fireside kits.
BET automatic boiler tube cleaning systems can drastically reduce or in many cases eliminate the need to manually clean firetube boilers. Timed puffs of air or steam automatically remove residual build-up. Keeping the firetubes clean on a continual basis will improve the heat transfer efficiency of the boiler and reduce fuel requirements. This is all done while the boiler is on-line so that there is no boiler down time as with manual or mechanical cleaning methods, and it eliminates the messy, unpleasant task of manually cleaning boiler tubes.
Innovated Control Systems
(877) 427-5456
www.porta-kiln.com
Innovated Control Systems (ICS) designs and manufactures portable lumber dry kilns. They are tested at the factory and shipped pre-assembled.
ICS is located in Ontario, Canada. Its Porta-Kiln XL line of kilns are conventional type kilns and are available with steam, hot water and-or wood fired heating systems. High flow reversing circulation fans, combined with its vent heat recovery system, create an efficient air handling system.
Straightforward, intuitive and reliable controls allow precise control of the entire drying process. Controls are self-sufficient and do not require a PC to operate. Combined with a computer, they can provide logging and remote monitoring and control capabilities.
ICS also designs and builds special purpose units.
All equipment is designed for maximum performance and efficiency.
Jackson Lumber Harvester
(715) 926-3816
www.jacksonlbrharvester.com
Wisconsin-based Jackson Lumber Harvester Co. manufactures and sells Webb Burners™.
In cooperation with inventor and physicist W. B. Webb, Jackson manufactures a complete line of these biomass burners available in sizes up through 60 million BTU per hour.
Webb Burners generate large quantities of heat for industrial processes at substantially less cost per BTU than traditional oil- or gas-fired systems. They may be fired with a variety of solid fuels, including sawdust, corn cobs, sunflower hulls, flax shives, pelletized wood, charcoal, peat and coal dust. Moisture content must be less than 20%, and maximum particle size is ½-inch.
Fuel is augured out of the storage bin by the fuel feeder unit and blown into the biomass burner. Complete combustion occurs in semi-suspension within seconds, resulting in emissions rivaling those of natural gas burners. There is no smoke (except when the fire is first ignited) nor carbon monoxide, VOC, SOx, or NOx emissions.
Hot gases from combustion exhaust into the hot gas transfer duct at the top of the biomass burner and are drawn through the duct into the downstream process by induced draft fan(s).
Controls provide automatic modulation of firing rate based on process outlet temperature or other process parameter, and they monitor burner and process inlet temperatures for safety shutdown.
Jackson also supplies sawmill equipment and wood shaving mills.
Kiln Drying Systems & Components
(800) 274-5456
www.kdskilns.com
North Carolina-based Kiln Drying Systems and Components Inc. (KDS) is a full service lumber dry kiln manufacturer. The company’s product lines represent high quality, ruggedly built drying systems for hardwood and southern pine.
KDS offers complete hardwood kiln systems and direct fired or steam pine kilns and has full in-house installation capabilities.
KDS also offers clean-burning green sawdust fueled burner systems complete with fuel storage and recirculation and ducting systems.
The KDS sawdust fueled burner system and high temperature kiln produce very clean lumber. The heavy-duty design provides tight control and long-term service. Sawdust storage and unloading systems are designed for reliable, low maintenance service. An automatic ash removal system utilizes hydraulic cylinders for durability and reliable operation.
KDS offers track and package-style conventional temperature kilns. The company also provides services to upgrade and refurbish kilns, including air enhancements, fan systems, re-skins, doors, heating coils and more as well as replacement parts.
KDS supplies complete kiln control systems, from basic Partlow systems to state-of-the-art computerized PLC controls with user-friendly access and a graphics package.
KDS can supply kilns ranging in capacity from 20,000-200,000 board feet.
Messersmith Manufacturing
(906) 466-9010
www.burnchips.com
Messersmith Manufacturing, based in Michigan, offers biomass fuel combustion systems for institutional and industrial applications and more. The company has designed, built and installed biomass boiler systems for 25 years.
Messersmith Mfg. can supply a unit to heat a school, factory, farm building, shop, greenhouse, or other building or facility.
Messersmith Mfg. biomass fuel combustion systems are designed for economical operation. They burn inexpensive particle fuels, such as wood chips, sawdust, chopped or broken corn cobs or wood shavings. They are efficient, generating less smoke, soot and ash than burning logs, and can produce up to 20 million BTU, depending on the unit.
Messersmith Mfg. biomass fuel combustion systems are simple yet safe and reliable. A traveling auger bin eliminates the need for a costly hydraulic system and reduces bin construction cost.
Automatic flue cleaning systems are a standard feature of systems, maintaining maximum transfer of heat to the boiler with no operator attention.
Messersmith Mfg. combustion systems are notably reliable when burning whole tree chips because of the simplicity of the fuel flow path to the boiler, including the absence of rotary air locks.
Nova Dry Kiln
(877) 949-0150
www.novadrykiln.com
Nova Dry Kiln LLC is a manufacturer of lumber dry kilns, pallet heat-treat chambers and firewood kilns. It has customers throughout the U.S. and a number of foreign countries, including Russia, Egypt and Peru.
The company provides wood drying solutions that enable customers to achieve excellent short-term and longer-term financial results. These results are achieved by supplying systems that exceed industry standards and are of high quality, longevity and operational economy and are simple to use.
Nova Dry Kiln systems are designed around hot water as the heat transfer medium, which provides increased efficiency and versatility when it comes to selecting fuel type.
Nova Dry Kiln is an OEM dealer for many types of hot water boilers, including biomass/wood waste equipment. These systems can reduce operating costs and increase profits.
Using hot water to heat wood material allows a very uniform temperature profile throughout the wood. This is due to the use of a hot water to air heat exchanger and in-floor heat system combining to heat the circulating air.
Nova Dry Kiln is committed to provide strong customer service and technical support. The company’s specialists can provide training in lumber drying as well as solutions to any processing problems.
Uni Temp Dry Kilns
(870) 777-2375
Uni Temp Dry Kilns LLC is a full service dry kiln manufacturing and installation company. It specializes in producing equipment to dry and treat wood products.
Uni Temp offers everything from kilns with conventional heat sources, such as natural and propane gas, to oil fired boilers and biomass energy sources. Services include complete ‘turnkey’ jobs to a single phase of any project.
Uni Temp has built thousands of kilns throughout the U.S. the past 63 years and prides itself on customer satisfaction. Production and installation are tailored to the specific requirements of a customer.
The company’s primary business objective is to provide top quality products and service that yields 100% customer satisfaction.
The Uni Temp management team is continually working to provide new innovations for the wood drying industry through advancements in technology and increased energy efficiency.
For example, the company can help customers implement continuous drying technology. The process utilizes BTUs from heated lumber exiting the main chamber to pre-heat green wood entering the pre-drying chamber and conditioning the exiting lumber. Benefits include constant set point temperatures for smoother operation, level demand loads on the energy source, ease of scheduling and improved lumber quality.
Uni Temp also is dedicated to keeping the operation of equipment ‘user friendly’ for the customer.
Ben Jones Machinery
(706) 324-2604
www.benjones.com
Ben Jones Machinery is a machinery dealer that specializes in used sawmill machinery for the lumber and plywood industries. Its specialty is sawmill machinery suited for small and medium sized operations.
Ben Jones Machinery can supply equipment and machinery related to biomass energy production and use, including boilers, dry kilns, hogs, chippers, debarkers, conveyors, and more.
Canadian Mill Equipment
(800) 319-8871
www.cmesales.com
Canadian Mill Equipment (CME) is a leader in the sale and brokering of used, reconditioned or rebuilt wood processing equipment.
CME can supply used machinery and equipment for biomass and related wood energy operations, such as co-generation plants, dryers, debarkers, hogs, pellet mills, conveyors, storage bins, shaving mills and baggers.
