neilharrison

The Wood Heat Conference has been put together by wood heating companies for the industry, is dedicated to the UK wood heat sector, with opportunities to learn from the experience of others here at home, and hear from international experts from industry and academia on the state-of-the-art in biomass supply chains and installations in Europe. The conference is aimed at fuel supply chain companies, installers and distributors of boilers and ancillary equipment, consulting engineers and other advisors, as well as those considering major investment in wood heat systems. Hosted at the iconic Great North Museum in Newcastle, the 2014 Wood Heat Conference is a must-attend event, with speakers drawn from industry and government here and abroad. Running on 20th and 21st November, the conference has the theme of Raising Our Standard, with speakers covering subjects including : • DECC’s recent review of installer practices and standards; • Wood heating technology ‘over the horizon’ in Europe; • Effective financing for wood heat projects; • Establishing and operating a biomass fuel supply centre; • The Biomass Suppliers’ List; • District heating design; • Emissions from biomass boilers; • Good practice in heat metering; • Alternative sources of biomass for heat. The conference will include speakers from the Government, the Wood Heat Association and the Renewable Energy Association, meaning those attending will have a better grasp than ever of the opportunities available in the wood heat industry. If you would like to know more, please see the attached flyer and programme, or post a question! WHA Conference Flyer.pdf WHA Conference Programme.pdf

Various interesting (and depressingly familiar) points made on this thread. Despite what folks think of government departments such as DECC, the Commercial RHI is currently offering very good value for money for the government delivering carbon savings (effectively what ROC's, FIT's and RHI are paying for), so all of us in the wood heat industry should be cheering that there's support available now for domestic customers - it all translates into demand for our products. The solar and wind boys have had a crack, now it's our turn! No, the domestic RHI is not as generous as the commercial equivalent, but then the market (in terms of #'s of boilers sold) is potentially far greater - 1.1m domestic oil customers in the UK for starters - so the last the government wants/needs to do is make the domestic RHI so generous that everyone is prompted to replace their oil boiler all at once - there simply isn't the industry there to deliver these sorts of numbers, or even a fraction of them. There are already enough horror stories out there - we don't need any more (although we are getting them, almost daily in our experience) from further turbocharging the market. Unfortunately, like any industry, we have our fair share of cowboys, and there is currently no meaningful mechanism to address this issue - there are plans afoot from both government and the (yet to be formally launched) Wood Heat Association however (Welcome to The Wood Heat Association). Would have been better if something was in place before the RHI, but hindsight is always 20/20. Selecting the right boiler does require a sound understanding of the local supply chain, the competence of the available local installer base, and of the different makes and models of equipment - something which is completely lacking in the UK. Ask yourself, how many wood-fired boilers have you ever bought? Do you know the difference between an MCZ and and ETA? No? Neither does the wider public! Salesmen will promise anything to secure a sale unfortunately, and mis-selling (polite-speak for fraud) appears to be rife in our sector at present. Wild promises about income, system efficiencies, fuels that can be burnt, etc.... are are all too common. If anyone has any particular horror stories, I'd be very pleased to hear them - we are currently undertaking work for DECC to understand what is happening out in the biomass heating sector. Please drop me an email : neil @ reheat.uk.com.

Hi Pierre Sorry for the slow response - a much needed holiday (now a distant memory!). A quick response to your points/questions (200+ emails to clear). I'd go for a concrete box with appropriate reinforcement. You want it to last the 20 years of the RHI. You should make sure that your agitator arms are sweeping to the full extent of the store on all sides, so worth boarding out (with something non-degradable, e.g. Marmax Stokboard) to ensure you don't get a rabbbit hole in the middle of the chip with a ring around the store that is never recovered (unless you get in there with a pry bar). This is a bit of a fanny on, but better to do it now while the store is empty than a year or so down the line! The agitator arms come in 500mm steps up to 6m, but above 4.5m they are hinged. There is no means/need to adjust them once they're on there (only replace them). Not sure why the through-wall auger section would need to be replaced. It should be the auger section which is connected to the agitator that goes through the wall - not the add-on sections, as if it's these, then it will be impossible to remove blockages from that section of auger. This is perhaps what's been identified as an issue by your installer, who to their credit are doing something about it rather than leaving you to discover this the hard way (this happens a lot!). Sounds like you've got the concrete issue sorted - definitely recommend the panneling. Oversize pieces will find their way into the auger, which assuming they're not chair-legs, will be moved to the rotary valve and 'corrected'. We're based up in Northumberland, but work with installers across the UK, and do a lot of consultancy around fuel supply, due diligence, fault finding, etc... in the wood heat industry. Your dream chipper is probably a Junkkari or Farmi. Finnish-built and very popular with farmers and foresters over there for producing their own chip or chip for local heating schemes. G30 might be a tall order at that price, but a larger ETA is fine up to G50. Make sure your chip is below 30% if you're storing it for 6+ months - you could get issues with fungal degradation, meaning the carbon content (& therefore useful heat) drops and spores become an issue.

It is certainly cheaper to allow the corners to fill with woodchip, but it will degrade over time and cause problems - someone, at some point, will have to climb in and shovel it all out. Far better to avoid this in the first instance by boarding out, after all, the RHI is very generous and you are making an investment in equipment that is intended to last for 20 years. You can, under certain circumstances (particularly if using chip at the extremes of what's classified as G50), have an issue with something called "cohesive arching", which may result in the chip-filled corners forming the pillars for an arch which bridges the rotary agitator, and which requires manually breaking-down. Absolutely you need ventilation for the fuel store. Hope this helps.

Interesting looking install, and right choice of small commercial boiler if you're looking to burn arb-sourced chip (ETA have a single-chamber rotary valve with a chipper blade that can cut through oversize with the cross section of a chair leg). Things to watch out for (just going off the photos)... Recovery auger should be at a maximum of 15 degrees. Fuel store walls and floor need to be 100% watertight - your panels should have butyl rubber seals between them. Make sure your installer fits the ETA access doorway above the pressure relief point where the auger leaves the store. Make sure that the panel on the top of the sealed auger section can be removed to clear any chip blockages (that auger looks to be at the maximum of what's sensible/possible with the ETA HACK). Not sure of the size of your store, but the spring arms on small chip boilers can be a bit gutless at their limit - consider asking your installer to go up 500mm on the arms (will cost you a couple of hundred quid). Fit hardwood strike plates where the auger teeth meet the walls to avoid taking chunks out of the concrete over time. Be sure to board out the corners with something non-woody to ensure full recovery. Finally, board out under the agitator to avoid issues with the initial load of chip turning to soil over a 2-3 year period and causing problems. Neil