BLACK MOUNTAIN WOODFUELS THE DESIGN AND TESTING OF A DOMESTIC-SCALE COMBUSTION SYSTEM TO ACHIEVE MAXIMUM BENEFITS FROM TORREFIED BIOMASS (BIOCOAL) PELLETS.

BLACK MOUNTAIN WOODFUELS

THE DESIGN AND TESTING OF A DOMESTIC-SCALE COMBUSTION SYSTEM TO ACHIEVE MAXIMUM BENEFITS

FROM TORREFIED BIOMASS (BIOCOAL) PELLETS.

DESIGN OBJECTIVES

1. DESIGN A COMBUSTION PROCESS THAT MAXIMISES THE GAINS IN ENERGY PROVIDED BY TORREFIED BIOMASS (BIOCOAL) PELLETS.

2. REDUCE RAW-MATERIAL INPUT, OVERALL MANUFACTURING CARBON-FOOTPRINT AND BUILD COST.

3. REDUCE THE FINANCIAL BURDEN OF OPERATIONAL COSTS.

4. INCREASE MARKET OPPORTUNITIES AND DEVELOP MARKET LEAD.

THE STATUS QUO

1. INEFFICIENT COMBUSTION PROCESS.

2. POOR PRODUCT DESIGN.

3. BURDENSOME OPERATIONAL COSTS.

4. EXPENSIVE.

DESIGN PROCESS

“INDUSTRY STANDARD” PELLET BOILERS CAN HAVE AS MANY AS 180 INDIVIDUAL COMPONENT PARTS, MANUFACTURED FROM COPPER, STAINLESS STEEL, CAST-IRON, MILD STEEL, CERAMIC MATERIAL AND ALUMINIUM.

THE MAJORITY OF PELLET BOILERS HAVE AN ELECTRICAL BLOWER, A FUEL-LOAD AUGER, AN IGNITION SYSTEM AND A WATER PUMP: COLLECTIVELY THIS COULD AMOUNT TO AN HOURLY ELECTRICAL USE OF AT LEAST 300WATTS. THEORETICALLY, A SINGLE PELLET-BOILER COULD CONSUME ALMOST 500KILOWATTS OF ELECTRICITY IN A SINGLE YEAR.

IMPROVED BIOMASS FUELS WILL ALLOW FOR THE DEVELOPMENT OF NEW COMBUSTION PROCESSES THAT WILL REQUIRE FEWER COMPONENT PARTS, AND A REDUCED ELECTRICAL BURDEN LEADING TO REDUCTIONS IN THE OVERALL RETAIL COST OF DOMESTIC-SCALE BOILERS/STOVES.

IMPROVED BIOMASS FUELS

TORREFACTION, IS A PROCESS IN WHICH BIOMASS IS DRIED AT LOW TEMPERATURES IN AN OXYGEN-FREE ENVIRONMENT. THE RESULTING PRODUCT IS COMMONLY REFERRED TO AS “BIOCOAL”.

THE TORREFACTION PROCESS INCREASES THE CALORIFIC VALUE OF A WOOD-PELLET FROM 17MJ/KG TO 25MJ/KG, AT PRODUCTION YIELDS OF UP TO 750KG/HR BIOCOAL FROM 1 TONNE/HR OF “WET” WOOD (AT 20% MOISTURE CONTENT).

IN THE NEXT 3-5 YEARS, BIOMASS IMPROVEMENT TECHNOLOGIES WILL BECOME COMMON ACROSS THE UK AND EUROPE.

THE CHALLENGE FOR INDUSTRY IS TO MATCH THESE GAINS WITH IMPROVED COMBUSTION SYSTEMS.

FUEL CHARACTERISTICS

MAXIMUM EFFICIENCIES ARE GAINED FROM BIOCOAL WHEN IT CAN BE PELLETISED (DENSIFICATION). TORREFIED PELLETS CAN DEVELOP AN ENERGY DENSITY OF UP TO 7kWh/KG – WHITE PELLETS HAVE AN AVERAGE ENERGY DENSITY OF LESS THAN 4.8kWh/KG.

BIOCOAL IS A HYDROPHOBIC PRODUCT WHICH CAN BE PRODUCED FROM BOTH HARDWOOD AND SOFTWOOD SPECIES.

THE DG-20T PELLET STOVE

DESIGN CHARACTERISTICS:

BATCH LOADED PROCESS – REMOVING THE NEED FOR AUGER-LOADING.

MOISTURE-FREE FUEL – REMOVING THE NEED FOR HIGH-LOAD ELECTRIC BLOWER.

TOP-DOWN COMBUSTION PROCESS – DELIVERING A 99.50% BURN EFFICIENCY.

REDUCED MATERIAL INPUT – REMOVING MORE THAN 100 COMPONENT PARTS.

THE DG-20T PELLET BURNER HAS BEEN DESIGNED TO BURN BIOCOAL PELLETS.

THE PROTOTYPE HAS BEEN TESTED TO PRODUCE OUTPUTS RANGING FROM 12kWh to 20kWh, MAKING IT SUITABLE FOR NEW BUILD PROPERTIES AND MORE THAN 70% OF EXISTING DOMESTIC PROPERTIES IN EUROPE.

COMBUSTION EFFICIENCY

GRAPH 1 COMBUSTION CHARACTERISTICS OF STOVE AT 20kWh OUTPUT RUNNING FROM 3WATT BLOWER – BIOCOAL.

GRAPH 2 COMBUSTION CHARACTERISTICS OF STOVE AT 12kWh OUTPUT RUNNING FROM 1.5WATT BLOWER – BIOCOAL.

CURRENT POSITION

A PRE-PRODUCTION MODEL WILL BE PRESENTED FOR TESTING TO CRE Ltd (KIWA) IN JANUARY 2015.

CE MARK PROCEDURES WILL BE DETERMINED ALONG WITH BUILD-MATERIAL REQUIREMENTS TO SATISFY EN/EC STANDARDS.

FINAL DETERMINATION OF BUILD-COST, ACCEPTANCE OF BIOCOAL TO BIOMASS SUPPLIERS LIST, RHI COMPLIANCE.

MANUFACTURE FULL PRODUCTION MODEL BY APRIL 2015.

BLACK MOUNTAIN WOODFUELSRED PIG FARM, BETHLEHEM,

LLANDEILO, SA19 9DR, WALES, UK

www.blackmountainwoodfuels.co.uk

blackmountainwoodfuels.wordpress.com

Email: [email protected]