Wood gasifier in industry | References

Industrial company profits from Biomass CHP plant

South of the main ridge of the Alps lies Vintl in the Puster Valley. The valley is surrounded by mountains towering over three thousand metres. The village is an ideal starting point for numerous excursions and experiences in the high Alpine. Hubert Weissteiner is known as the manufacturer of discharge and conveyor systems as well as automated drying systems for wood chips. His fully designed systems are reliable and customised to the needs of the plant operators.

Hubert Weissteiner has a lot of commercial space and this space is utilised. The former rock-crushing plant of a marble producer has been converted into a fully automated system for generating electricity and heat from wood chips. The former rock-crushing sieve was, for example, converted into an effective long part sieve and a 30 metre long push floor dryer was installed into the spacious upper floor, which dries between 60 and 90 cubic metres of wood chips every day to the desired residual moisture.

Sensational operating hours of wood gasfiers

The two Spanner Re² HKA 45 plants commissioned in December 2013 were able to achieve 23,500 operating hours until October 2016. The average yearly operating time since the start of the plant is 8,304 hours, which corresponds to an annual utilisation of 95 %.

The generated heat of the two HKA 45 plants is required to produce high-quality wood chips and wood briquettes for the sale and private use of wood chips. In addition, a small district heating plant supplies thermal energy to the operation incl. restaurant as well as the adjacent large stone-processing (marble) plant. After the deduction of 17% self-consumption, the generated electricity is fed into the public electricity grid. A wood chip heating system utilises the sieved wood chips to cover the peak loads.

Wood chip management:

Hubert Weissteiner buys logs or sawmill residues and stores them in the open on his premises. If the storage area is full, an external shredder is hired and the shredded product is immediately stored inside a large hopper.

Plant schematic:

Storage area for logs: unlimited
Hopper for the storage of shredded logs: approx. 1200 m³
Push floor dryer: 30 metres long, drying capacity 60 to 90 loose cubic meters per day
Hopper for dry wood chips (for wood cogeneration plants): approx. 80 m³
Hopper for dry wood chips (for sale): approx. 250 m³

Conversation with Hubert Weissteiner about the Biomass CHP plant data:

Hi Hubert, you have a large building available on a large area. How do you use the available space for the wood processing?
The freshly shredded wood chips are stored inside a large hopper. The self-made double joint discharge system discharges the still moist wood chips; a vibrating sieve then separates the wood chips from long parts. The fully automated push floor dryer dries the wood chips to a maximum residual moisture of 10%. The dried product is then transported with a worm conveyor over a fines sieve. An extraction system takes the sieved out fines to a briquette press. The wooden briquettes are filled into big bags and sold. The finished wood chips are then finally transported to the storage hopper of the wood cogeneration plants. When this hopper is filled, the finished wood chips will end up in a ground-level hopper for the sale.

How did you integrate your own metal processing operation?
My large machines such as a plasma cutter and a trimming press are housed in the basement of the building for the production of wood chips and briquettes. The locksmith's shop is several hundred metres away at the main road and is like the restaurant of the parents supplied with heat.

How satisfied are you with the wood cogeneration plants from our company?
The plants do not require as lot of time and effort; the longest fault-free operation time is 453 hours. The production of the wood chips requires about half an hour per day; this includes the sale of the finished wood chips and the wood briquettes.

Photos of the plant: (Click on them to magnify)