www.fpinnovations.ca Tony Sauder Doug Singbeil Marian Marinescu Grant Nishio Exploring Potential Products from willow and poplar plantations Eric Phillips Researcher, Silvicultural Operations May 1 st, 2012; Edmonton
Outline General economic factors Solid wood products Pulp Heat energy Direct combustion Chips or pellets Co-firing Heat process products Bio-char Bio-oils Syn-gas Ethanol Ash 2010 FPInnovations. All rights reserved. Copying and 2
General economic factors What factors influence the value of your product? Product itself What are the customer requirements? Pre-harvest size of trees Harvested cost at roadside Contaminants Bark Moisture content Material form does it need further reduction to meet a market requirement? Energy content Location distance to market 3
Minimize transport costs Transport represents a significant portion of the delivered product costs Decrease distance Improve transport efficiency Decrease moisture content Increase density 4
Proximity to processing facility Lyonsdale Biomass Commercial power plant $21.50/t chips 100 k source 5
Improve transport efficiency Increase efficiency through Truck/trailer configuration selection Increase Density Moisture content decrease weight through roadside drying 6
Dry chips Dry chips to meet customer requirements 7
Business planning and decisions Business plan? Cost/revenue estimates? Short or longer rotation? Potential products? Economies of scale? www.esf.edu/willow/download.htm 8
Business planning: tools and guides 9
Short verses long rotations willow poplar Short rotation ~ 3 years Energy crop 20-25+ year rotation Pulp + energy Lumber + pulp + energy Carbon credits? 10
costing example extended rotation + value added Costs commodity + value added site prep & maintenance $605 $605 plant $1,176 $1,176 taxes $247 $247 rent $1,236 $1,236 prune & sort $2,002 harvest & transport $5,560 $5,560 total costs $8,824 $10,825 Revenues pulp paper and OSB $12,973 $8,649 veneer & furniture stock $7,413 total revenue $12,973 $16,062 profit $4,149 $5,236 Poplar 20 yr rotation 370 m 3 /ha $/ha 11
Solid wood products furniture acoustic fence whips 12
Solid wood products live fencing animal bedding 13
Extended Rotation - example Saw-logs (veneer) + pulp chips + energy chips Plantations grown for pulp chips 14
Other values? Snow fence Wildlife use Visuals Carbon credits? Bio-Chemicals Others? 15
Reduction Processes Direct combustion Pellets Pulp Syngas Bio-ethanol 16
Direct combustion: Indian Head, Saskatchewan example Harvest natural willow Air dry Grind <2 (5cm) 17
Direct combustion: Indian Head, Saskatchewan 2 Anderson WB55 Biobaler Hay Buster tub grinder Fink Machine / KOB Viessmann furnace Burn Agro-Forestry Development Centre 18
Energy 19
Energy calculator http://www.fpinnovations.ca/fpjoule/views/report.aspx 20
Pellets Used to create a dense uniform product for direct combustion. Consumer as well as industrial market but residential requires low ash and therefore low bark content. Tops and branches may yield higher ash content. Lower lignin makes pellet production more difficult. Status: commercial 21
Co-fire Wood biomass can be added to other feed-stocks such as coal. Up to 50% additions are reported to not affect combustion. Particle size and moisture are critical. Other types of commercial burners may have different requirements. 22
Pulp requirements Chip thickness and size Uniform size with few pins/fines and thick chips Bark content <1% Rule of thumb: <3 (8cm diameter) = energy only 3-10 (8-28cm diameter) = 75% pulp, 25% energy 23
Wood conversion with heat Heat wood in the absence of oxygen to produce secondary products: Densified wood Bio-char Pyrolysis oil Syngas 24
Biomass conversion w/o Oxygen comparison of processes Torrefaction Pyrolysis Gasification Process Temp: 200 350 C 350 500 C > 600 C Primary product: Dense wood Pyrolysis oil Syn-gas Value-added product: Biocarbon, biochar crude oil diesel + other products Heating value of primary product*: 18-21 MJ/kg 17 MJ/kg 4 MJ/kg 15 MJ/kg Yield/bdt wood: max 700 kg max 750 kg or 625 L variable depending on gasifier design *Compare to: Natural gas: 43 MJ/kg Diesel/fuel oil: 42 MJ/kg Coal: 33 MJ/kg Ethanol: 30 MJ/kg Wood: 14-17 MJ/kg From Doug Singbeil - FPInnovations
Torrefaction Mild pyrolysis (200-400 0 C) Briquettes hydrophobic Coal like properties Higher energy than pellets Yields affected by bark, species (lignin), MC% Status: pilot/demonstration stage 26
Pyrolysis < 700 0 C Lower char output for hardwoods High bark content may reduce oil output Status: energy is at pilot plant stage; specialty chemicals is commercial 27
Gasification Town gas/syn-gas/producer gas since 19 th C Popular during fuel shortages 28
Syngas >600 0 C Process: heat in the absence of oxygen (controlled oxygen) and collect the gas Status: pilot to commercial 29
Gasification: Nexterra Outputs: Steam Heat and power Hot water 30
Ash asset or liability? Principle uses : Landfill Soil amendment Soil type has value on some soils Environmental concerns: heavy metals etc. Reference: Introduction to spreading wood ash on forest soils in Canada Ash spreading primer by Grant Nishio, FPInnovations Grant.nishio@fpinnivations.ca 31
Ethanol Hardwood species better than softwood because of lower lignin content. Similar requirements as for pulp chips: Size Bark Contamination Status: demonstration 32
Summary With current state of technologies, willow has the greatest use as an energy crop. Extended rotation popular can produce chips for pulp plus other products. Bark content, product size and moisture content are universal themes. 33
Questions / Discussion Eric.phillips@fpinnovations.ca 34