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Biomass case study

Replacement of an existing heating factory by a wood chip
or pellet plant
1 Description of the case
A factory has to replace its old heating plant. Considerations regarding using biomass as
alternative for oil have to be made. The present buildings include:
Description Area
m
Heat transfer Heating
source
Office 67,50 Hot water Oil boiler
Other rooms 257,00 Hot water Oil boiler
Work shop 1 423,00 Hot air Oil fired air
heater
Work shop 2 128,35 Hot air Oil fired air
heater
Production hall 446,00 Hot water Oil boiler
Potential new
production hall
( 5.350,00 ) Hot water Oil boiler
Sum 1.321,85
( 6.671,85 )
Installed power:
Oil boiler: 104 kW
Oil air heater: 230 kW Nennleistung
Hot water preparation: 2 small electric heaters
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2 Assessment of energy demand
The assessment of energy demand and heat load shows that in this specific case economic
measures for energy savings can be implemented, which decrease the heating load to 140
kW. Such an assessment of energy saving measures is of particular importance, when
implementing biomass heating systems. A later decrease of heating load can lead to
operational problems in case of overdimensioned biomass boilers. Renewable energy should
also be used as efficiently as possible.
The assessment of energy demand after realization of conservation measures has resulted
in the following figures:
Description Heat load
kW
Final annual energy demand
kWh/a
Office 11 14300
Other rooms 23 29900
Workshop 1 51 66300
Workshop 2 18 23400
Production hall 41 53300
Potential new production
hall
500
650000
Sum without new production
hall
Sum with new production
hall
144
644
187.200
837.200
The calculated energy demand corresponds to 1300 hours of full load operation.
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3 Investment costs
Both boiler and oil fired air heater need to be replaced. The chimney has to be improved.
It is considered to build a completely new large production hall due to a potential large new
customer. New personnel will also result in an increased demand for hot water. Total heat
load would increase to 650 kW.
Costs including installation and putting into operation (Note: These costs are real costs that
have been collected in Austria for 2004).
Device Investment costs (Euro)
Oil boiler 150 kW 12.850
Oil boiler 650 kW 33.000
Oil storage (for 650 kW): 10.000l 6.500
Biomass boiler for dry wood
chips, pellets (under feed stoker)
150 kW
29.300
Compact boiler for pellets
150 kW
24.000
Biomass boiler for dry wood
chips, pellets (under feed stoker)
650 kW
54.657
Biomass boiler for wet wood chips
(moving grate)
650 kW
60.380
Chimney improvement
(for 150 kW)
Chimney improvement
(for 650 kW)
3.745
9.072
Heat storage tank 0,6 / Liter
Wood chip storage (concrete)
Wood chip retrieval from storage
(for 150 kW)
Wood chip retrieval from storage
(for 650 kW)
200 / m
6.615
7.485
Storage silo for pellets (no fuel
retrieval necessary)
104 / m
For simplification use the following figures for annual operation related costs:
Biomass Oil
Electricity costs 0,6 / kW 0,5 /kW
Personal costs 10 / kW 0
Chimney sweep 300 300
Maintenance, service 4 /kW 2 /kW
Insurance 2,5 /kW 1 /kW
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4 Subsidies
Typical subsidies for Austria are 30% of investment costs
5 Fuel costs
For this example the following characteristic figures for Austria should be used:
Fuel kWh / l
or.
kWh / kg
Euro / liter, or
Euro / kg
excluding
VAT
Cent / kWh
excluding
VAT
Light fuel oil 10 0,38 3,8
Quality forestry wood
chips (35% humidity)
3,2 0,060 1,9
Industrial wood chips
(40% humidity)
2,8 0,040 1,4
Wood pellets (8%
humidity)
4,7 0,123 2,6
6 Fuel storage
For pellet heating systems the storage of annual demand can be economic as pellet costs in
summer can be up to 20% lower than in winter. For larger boilers and the use of wood chips
it is not economic to store the entire annual demand. It should be possible, however, to store
at least 1.5 truck loads of fuel to assure economic transport. As a minimum fuel demand for 1
week of operation in full load mode is often mentioned: The adequate fuel volume will need
to be calculated for each case depending on the local availability of fuel and the priorities of
the customer.
Truck capacity for blowing in of pellets: approximately 12 tons or 18 m pellets
Truck capacity for pellets (dumping) . 20 tons or. 30 m pellets
Truck capacity for wood chips (dumping) 80 m3

The most common storage systems are underground concrete storage, where fuel can be
dumped and outdoor metal silos (as typically used in construction industry for concrete etc.)
It should be considered that a storage, into which fuel is dumped, usually cannot be used to
its full capacity. The amount of fuel fitting into a storage depends on the geometry of the
storage and the location of the opening. In this case it should be considered that the storage
room can be filled up to a maximum of 75%.
In the Excel sheet the costs for fuel storage have to be entered under construction costs. It is
considered that in this case no construction costs are necessary to adapt the heating room.
The costs for improving the chimney can be entered in the line installation costs as the latter
are included in the boiler costs and must not be entered separately.
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7 Selection of biomass boiler
Different biofuels have quite different combustion properties. It is of decisive importance to
have a clear definition of fuel when selecting boiler manufacturer or a certain type of boiler.
Potential future changes in fuels should be considered in advance. This is the most important
precondition for the selection of the proper wood boiler and for secure and problem free
operation.
In general the following types of boilers are available:
Wet wood chips (>40% water content): moving grate boiler
Dry wood chips (<35% water content) : underfeed stoker, compact boiler (up to
approximately 300 kW)
Pellets: underfeed stoker, compact boiler (up to approximately 300 kW)
Biofuels will in the future be defined by a CEN standard (TC 335). It is recommended to use
this standard in contacts both with boiler suppliers and with future fuel suppliers.
8 Load management
Due to the wide variation of temperatures during the heating season every heating system is
subject to significant load variations. In addition to that loads are changing during the day for
example during the heating up of the building in the morning. Different solutions are available
to cover the heat load changes. In most cases the boiler is dimensioned in a way that he can
handle even the highest loads. This can however lead to problems, when the boiler is
operated under very low load conditions leading to energy losses and higher emissions. In
addition boilers designed for peak load are larger and cost more.
For the management of load variations different strategies are possible: Establishment of a
heat storage tank, establishment of a second conventional boiler covering peak load (and
providing backup) or establishment of 2 biomass boilers. Which solution seems appropriate
has to be decided in every single case. State of the art wood boilers can also operate in very
low loads with good efficiency and combustion properties.
In this example it is suggested to consider the heat storage tank for load management
assuming that in the specific case the heat storage tank allows a reduction of heat load down
to 70% of the initial value (for the 144 kW case) assuming that a volume of 40 liters per kW
of heat load is used. For the case of the 650 kW heat load it is assumed that the heat storage
tank allows a reduction of heat load to 60% of the initial value assuming a volume of 20 liters
per kW of heat storage volume.
9 Calculation tasks: develop a proposal for replacement of the
heating oil system with a biomass boiler
Calculate for both scenarios (144 kW, 650 kW heat load):
1. Calculate fuel demand per year for wood chips from forestry, wood chips from
industry and pellets (in kg and loose cubic meter (srm)) !
2. Develop proposals for the size of the fuel storage for wood chips and pellets. Check if
a concrete storage or a metal silo is more economic for pellets. Check if 20% lower
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pellet costs in summer justify the establishment of fuel storage for the entire annual
demand. In this case assume fixed other costs (underfeed stoker) and check the
impact of fuel storage size on heat costs.
3. Calculate the volume and costs of a heat storage tank and check the influence of
heat costs. Assume in this case (simplifying) a linear decrease of boiler costs
between 650 kW and 150 kW. Assume also that the heat storage tank increases the
annual efficiency of the plant from 75% to 80% and reduces the costs for service and
maintenance by 50%.
4. Compare the heat costs depending on the selected fuel - take into account the
different boiler types needed to match the fuels and the different costs for the fuel
storage.
5. Analyse the competitivity of biomass in comparison to oil and gas assuming that only
in the 650 kW case a new oil storage has to be established.
6. How does the subsidy affect the economics of the plant?
7. How would a doubling of fuel costs affect (biomass costs, oil costs) the comparison of
economics?
Develop a most economic and a most reasonable scenario for biomass heating to your
management and present the results of your analysis in approx. 10 power point sheets.
Acknowlegement
The development of this case study was actively supported by the following companies: Fa.
kowrme Schrkhuber www.oekowaerme.at , Fa. Binder Feuerungstechnik www.binder-
gmbh.at and Fa. ACETEC www.acetec.at