Heating with Woodchips

[Peter]

Plus if you factor in unlimited quantities of free fuel, if you happen to be a tree surgeon, it starts to look very attractive.

[Mr Ed]

As a seasoned tree-man I cannot see the reasoning behind Ed's choice of wet chip unless he wishes to bring home a few sackfuls of residues each night. Nobody here comes home and slings wet wood on their fire. ( maybe they do). I would think that he, like most of us would rather have a less demanding machine that can be fed the premium fuel rather than a premium machine that must be fed a premuim fuel.

 

a costing that may be of interest follows.

 

http://www.actionrenewables.org/uploads_documents/LgeDomesticWoodBoiler.pdf

 

I personally would never use wet chip. But if I'm designing a boiler, I want it to be as tolerant of fuel type as possible. I dont want it being finniky and fussy about what its fed.

[Arran Woodfuels]

We are developing a project to buy and install an AGRICONT biomass heating unit at a local 600 year old castle. The 150 kWh VETO wood chip boiler will be connected to the existing heating system and will dramatically cut the castles' heating bills.

 

http://www.highlandwoodenergy.co.uk/pdf/Veto%20Agri%20Cont%20energy%20centres.jpg

 

This will, of course, use our own wood chips and we will charge the property owners per kWh of heat energy used. The responsibility is then on ourselves to ensure we supply the best quality chips to extract the most heat energy per m3.

 

Should be an interesting challenge......

[woodplans]

Saw this on E bay, might be useful for someone with room and plenty of waste wood.

 

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/WOODSTOVE-BOILER-CENTRAL-HEATING-FORESTRY-TREE-SURGERY_W0QQitemZ200298257158QQcmdZViewItemQQptZUK_BOI_FarmingEquipment_RL?hash=item200298257158&_trksid=p3286.c0.m14&_trkparms=66%3A2%7C65%3A3%7C39%3A1%7C240%3A1318

[Taxus]

I went to a County Council & F.C. run event in the summer, promoting woodchip fuel.

It put me right off, only 1 machine in the whole of Hampshire capable of producing the chips...

Issues with availability of fuel, supply of the appropriate boiler types, constant supply of the correct fuel chip, and delivery of the chips.

 

The seminar site visit went to a local estate where the chip boiler was 'running' the fuel and h/w for the estate cottages, main house, workshop and the owners outdoor heated swimming pool......BUT, they had run out of chips...

 

I'm sticking with logs, its a bit like not eating 'over processed' food

[Mr Ed]

I went to a County Council & F.C. run event in the summer, promoting woodchip fuel.

It put me right off, only 1 machine in the whole of Hampshire capable of producing the chips...

Issues with availability of fuel, supply of the appropriate boiler types, constant supply of the correct fuel chip, and delivery of the chips.

 

The seminar site visit went to a local estate where the chip boiler was 'running' the fuel and h/w for the estate cottages, main house, workshop and the owners outdoor heated swimming pool......BUT, they had run out of chips...

 

I'm sticking with logs, its a bit like not eating 'over processed' food

 

 

I dont get your point. We're all tree services' here on the forum with tonnes of chip - And ANYWHERE is capable of buying chips in - you just pick up the phone.

 

Personally, I'd say your biggest mistake was going on a seminar run by a local authority and the FC, both of whom would struggle to find their own arses with a map.

 

Its funny how most of continental europe can make this work but we cant...

[Buzz]

Taxhus a quick web search will show that to be complete bullox, apart from the firm i work for you'll find many smaller enterprises all that can supply G30-60 spec woodchip.

 

Many like Midlands Woodfuel supply regular clients on a pay as you go format.

 

The biggest problem with wood fuel is miss-information and hearsay.

[Taxus]

Thanks for the responses from Mr Ed and Buzz,

 

You're probably right.....but don't shoot the messenger......I'm trying to add to the debate here.....

 

What I'm saying is that the event was attended by the people who make the decisions on what heat source to run their: schools, swimming pools, hospitals, social housing etc on.

 

I went there with a little bit of knowledge on the subject, and came away thinking that it had been massively undersold, and that it appeared to me that it was a 'half cocked' idea. Give it a few more years and we may be nearer the mark.

 

The 'one' suitable woodchip producing chipper was a tractor mounted unit that produced the right grade of chip via screens, and was available to hire. I asked the question and was told that it was the only one in Hampshire.

 

The seminar was there to tell all the delegates who, what and where to buy, source the boilers, systems and chips, and left me totally unimpressed in the future of the project.

 

No one more disappointed than me, as I've been banging on about 'cleaner' fuels for years now.

HWF meeting.pdf

[Buzz]

Sadly most people looking into woodfuel will go to the FC. The FC has some good guy the Biomass Manager in Wales to name but one.

 

They would have told you it's the only chipper in Hampshire because the chipping firm no doubt went there to drum up some business for there chipper.

 

I could name 3 firms off the top of my head Hants based that have had screened drum chippers for over 4 years.

[Mr Ed]

And I get sick of hearing that the screened chippers are the only thing capable of producing the 'right' kind of chip. Your average tree surgeons timberwolf / Jensen / Schliesing / Greenmech etc will produce way better quality of chip than the big screened machines - they just wont do it in the high volumes necessary for commercial biomass production. But there are hundreds of small chippers working away in every county.

 

They would have told you it's the only chipper in Hampshire because the chipping firm no doubt went there to drum up some business for there chipper.

 

.

 

To true. I can remember for years the FC have been telling people that the Hiezohack is the ONLY suitable machine for chipping biomass.

 

The other very important thing is speccing the right boiler. Wet chip source? it needs a drying room or a boiler with a ceramic refractory lined combustion chamber.

Unscreened chip with oversized chunks? it needs a heavier auger or a ram feed system.

 

The Truth Is Out There...

Edited January 17, 2009 by Mr Ed