Equipment Configuration

Abstract

The Uniconfort two-chamber biomass gasifier was manufactured in Italy and has the ability to use green chips with high moisture content (55% to 60%). Fuel cost savings are obtained when chip pre-processing is minimized. The gasifier provides 230⁰F hot water for wood product drying needs and for the ORC units. The gasifier is easy to integrate into an existing or new facility due to its compact size. Gasifier operation does not require special skills or advanced training. Waste heat provided to the closed cycle ORC units boils a working fluid into a pressurized vapor that drives a twin screw rotor expander. The rotor spins an electrical generator to produce power. Project Benefits Benefits of the Integrated Biomass Center and Campus design include a higher biomass material recovery and use rate; reduced harvest cost per acre due to smaller landings and reduced in-the-woods sorting and processing requirements; reduced raw material costs for campus businesses; reduced trucking costs; job creation (both on-site and in the woods); decreased fire suppression costs and wildfire hazards due to removal of more raw material from the woods; and improved air quality due to reduced slash burning. Electrical energy production is net metered by the local utility (Pacific Power). Campus forest products companies currently utilize all of the heat and up to 2/3rds of the electricity produced by the energy center. When efficiency losses and parasitic pumping and compression loads are deducted, the net power generation is between 70 and 75 kW. Energy Efficiency Benefits Wallowa Resources Community Solutions staff notes that the project converts a solid waste liability into an asset-a feedstock for the production of both electrical and thermal energy. Annual electrical energy sales under a net metering agreement are valued at $60,480 while thermal sales account for an additional $60,000 in revenue. Fuel costs (at $18/ton) amount to $42,768 annually while labor and maintenance expenses add up to $20,400 per year. Energy sales benefits thus equal about $57,300 per year. Best, the dollars spent for energy remain in the local community. Total project costs exceeded $1.3 million, yielding a simple payback on investment of 7 years when grant money is taken into consideration. Replicability The Integrated Biomass Energy Center serving as an "anchor tenant" for a forest products-oriented business park is a concept that can be replicated in many distressed rural communities that were once dependent upon sawmill operations. The concept complements forest management activities, but does require a committed and knowledgeable management team and public sector financial support to be cost-effective. "The biomass gasifier has been awesome. The ORC units provide an opportunity for the highest and best use for the available thermal energy." Christoffersen noted that since the ORC warranty expired, maintenance costs have increased and power generation costs are being re-evaluated.-Nils Christoffersen, Wallowa Resources Community Solutions Nils Christoffersen Wallowa Resources Community Solutions (541) 426-8053 x25 The 4.7 MMBtuh Uniconfort biomass gasifier (left) and the in-feed from the wood chip bin (right)