12th european biomass conference amsterdam 2002

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1 FORENERGY A SOLUTION FOR THE FUTURE ENERGY NEEDS Dr. Arto Timperi, Manager, Dr. Sylvain Martin, Project Coordinator Timberjack Energy Technology PO Box 474, FIN-33101, Tampere Finland E-mail: [email protected] www.timberjack.com The demand of energy is constantly increasing and new alternative energy sources are sought to meet the strict growth and environmental demands. Biomass is an alternative viewed as having the greatest potential. Timberjack is actively working on equipment and solutions to create a complete chain for the production of forest bio fuel. The R&D results have been recently demonstrated by the worlds biggest biomass fuelled power plant Alholmens Kraft in Pietarsaari Finland. The biomass production systems are further investigated and demonstrated for the different European conditions. The tests have been carried out in Germany, Italy, France and Spain. 1. NORDIC COUNTRIES LEAD THE DEVELOPMENT OF FOREST BIOFUELS This paper deals with the use of forest biomass means the exploitation of forest residual branches, tops and other wood parts left on the site after harvesting. Timberjack has together with its partners developed a unique forest fuel production system that is demonstrated at several power plants in Finland. This technology is further researched and developed under EU funded project FORENERGY having partners from Austria (ARCS), Italy (IRL), France (AFOCEL & CEMAGREF), UK (SHOTTON) and Finland (UPM-Kymmene and Timberjack). The aim is to demonstrate this new forest fuel production technology for the other areas and conditions in Europe. Large power companies within the forest industry are interested in using forest residual along with other raw materials for energy, such as bark, peat and fossil fuel. The increased use of forest residual for energy production requires, however, that the production, deliveries and quality of forest residuals are secured. In addition, the operations need to be financially viable and profitable. Today an impressive part of the total energy supply in Finland and Sweden (>25%) comes from the renewable energy sources. The forest industry, pulp mills and saw mills have played an important role in developing efficient utilization of biomass, such as bark, wood waste and other by-products from the industrial process. 2. FOREST ENERGY SYSTEM The production of bio fuel is expensive because the material is usually scattered over the site area. Also the energy content of biomass is lower than the fossil fuels are having. The main problem with the transportation is the low density (Fig 1.). For that reason also the transportation cost is very significant. The development work of Timberjack has been two folded; to improve the economy of the collection work in the forest and to improve the transportation economy. The common development factors have been the automation in the forest and the increase of compression ratio of the biomass material for transportation. Figure 1. The transportation problem of biomass. Collecting the forest residuals in a new compressed way enables a cost-effective material handling (Fig 2.). Also the power plant can be optimised to be efficient and clean when it is designed for wood material entirely. These are the key elements for competitive wood energy production. Figure 2. Forest energy chain. When the basic research for the new type of forest residue production technology was conducted. It became evident that the process of energy generation calls for understanding and development of the whole energy chain, as well as the subsequent piloting. Only when mastering these it is possible to demonstrate the total economy, applicability and environmental friendliness of the renewable energy system. Forest residuals for energy production are mainly obtained from regeneration harvesting sites and young tree stands as well as from the first thinning. The

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Page 1: 12th european biomass conference amsterdam 2002

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FORENERGY – A SOLUTION FOR THE FUTURE ENERGY NEEDS

Dr. Arto Timperi, Manager, Dr. Sylvain Martin, Project Coordinator Timberjack Energy Technology PO Box 474, FIN-33101, Tampere Finland

E-mail: [email protected] www.timberjack.com

The demand of energy is constantly increasing and new alternative energy sources are sought to meet the strict growth and environmental demands. Biomass is an alternative viewed as having the greatest potential. Timberjack is actively working on equipment and solutions to create a complete chain for the production of forest bio fuel. The R&D results have been recently demonstrated by the worlds biggest biomass fuelled power plant Alholmens Kraft in Pietarsaari Finland. The biomass production systems are further investigated and demonstrated for the different European conditions. The tests have been carried out in Germany, Italy, France and Spain.

1. NORDIC COUNTRIES LEAD THE

DEVELOPMENT OF FOREST BIOFUELS

This paper deals with the use of forest biomass means the exploitation of forest residual – branches, tops and other wood parts left on the site after harvesting. Timberjack has together with its partners developed a unique forest fuel production system that is demonstrated at several power plants in Finland. This technology is further researched and developed under EU funded project FORENERGY having partners from Austria (ARCS), Italy (IRL), France (AFOCEL & CEMAGREF), UK (SHOTTON) and Finland (UPM-Kymmene and Timberjack). The aim is to demonstrate this new forest fuel production technology for the other areas and conditions in Europe. Large power companies within the forest industry are interested in using forest residual along with other raw materials for energy, such as bark, peat and fossil fuel. The increased use of forest residual for energy production requires, however, that the production, deliveries and quality of forest residuals are secured. In addition, the operations need to be financially viable and profitable. Today an impressive part of the total energy supply in Finland and Sweden (>25%) comes from the renewable energy sources. The forest industry, pulp mills and saw mills have played an important role in developing efficient utilization of biomass, such as bark, wood waste and other by-products from the industrial process. 2. FOREST ENERGY SYSTEM The production of bio fuel is expensive because the material is usually scattered over the site area. Also the energy content of biomass is lower than the fossil fuels are having. The main problem with the transportation is the low density (Fig 1.). For that reason also the transportation cost is very significant. The development work of Timberjack has been two folded; to improve the economy of the collection work in the forest and to improve the transportation economy. The common development factors have been the automation in the forest and the increase of compression ratio of the biomass material for transportation.

Figure 1. The transportation problem of biomass. Collecting the forest residuals in a new compressed way enables a cost-effective material handling (Fig 2.). Also the power plant can be optimised to be efficient and clean when it is designed for wood material entirely. These are the key elements for competitive wood energy production.

Figure 2. Forest energy chain. When the basic research for the new type of forest residue production technology was conducted. It became evident that the process of energy generation calls for understanding and development of the whole energy chain, as well as the subsequent piloting. Only when mastering these it is possible to demonstrate the total economy, applicability and environmental friendliness of the renewable energy system. Forest residuals for energy production are mainly obtained from regeneration harvesting sites and young tree stands as well as from the first thinning. The

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objective is to gather the residuals from the forests as easily and efficiently as possible, while leaving the necessary nutrients in the forest. Most probably, there will be alternative ways of securing the raw-material resources. The branches can be either collected, chipped in the forest and transported to a power

plant, or they can be bundled in the forest, transported to the power plant where they are then crushed or chipped with more powerful equipment and cheaper energy. Timberjack has taken an active role in charting the use of biomass and designing the necessary machines and equipment for gathering, transporting and exploiting of biomass. Timberjack is not working on this alone, but in a close cooperation with the leading companies in the field. The solutions cover the entire chain needed for effective use of biomass. 3. SILVICULTURAL METHODS FOR YOUNG FORESTS Silvicultural measures such as thinning and cleaning generate biomass, which can be used when producing energy. This renewable and clean energy raw material is also generated when cleaning the roadsides and power lines. Modern technology allows this valuable biomass to be used in energy production effectively and economically and in an environmentally friendly way Timberjack is developing a new mechanized method for restoring too dense and young forests. The basis of this method is the multifunctioning, accumulative harvester head 720, which collects the cleared trees quickly and effectively. The individual stems are cut with a knife. The harvester head collects automatically 1 to 10 trees at a time. This bundle of trees is then stacked in suitable place. The ideal base machine is a small harvester designed for thinning (Fig 3. Timberjack 770/720). It is possible to switch between the energy head and a normal harvester head for the production of pulpwood as well as with an exchangeable harvester head for the collection of energy wood. This increases the availability of the machine and improves the profitability of the machine investment. The productivity of this method is significantly higher than the traditional manual methods are. Nowadays, at least in Scandinavia, it is not possible to find the labour to work for this kind of thinning operation. The Forenergy project has been testing this felling/collection method so far in Finland, Sweden, Germany, Italy and France. The results have been very promising. Since the tests were started several machines have entered into the commercial operation. The tests will be further on conducted in the different conditions over the Europe.

Figure 3. Carrier TJ-770 and the multifunction felling head TJ-720. 4. LOGGING RESIDUALS At regeneration forest sites 35-45% of residual biomass is generated for every solid cubic meter of industrial wood produced. Forest residual is a clean energy source that can be utilized effectively and productively with the new bundling technology. The collection of residuals enables the forests to be regenerated immediately after the harvesting and the forests can be used for recreation. In the bundling method, the forest residual, or slash, left behind by a harvester, is collected and fed into the bundler, which produces compact slash logs. Typically slash logs are around 3 meters in length and about 60-80 cm in diameter. Each bundle contains about 1 MWh of energy when combusted. A felling area of one hectare in size yields about 70 – 140 bundles (Fig. 4.). After being bundled, the slash logs are transported from the forest to the roadside with standard forwarders. Slash logs can be stored temporarily in the forest or they can be transported directly to the power plant by truck. The slash logs are usually crushed at the power plant or terminal inventory, which enables the use of very effective and economical crushing or chipping method (Fig. 5-8). The bundling system makes the storing of bundles clean and easy. Because the compact bundles do not start decomposing immediately, it is possible to store those for the peak periods in energy production. The bundles can be stored either in the forest or at power plant, and the bundles can be easily dried in stacks. Moreover, the bundles are available for use throughout the year.

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In the Forenergy project the bundling technology has been tested so far in Germany, France and Spain (Fig. 6.). The tests have shown that the method works well with the hardwood too. Normally the old power plants are optimised for fossil fuel types. This limits effectiveness and causes more emissions because of the less efficient combustion when biomass is used in this kind of power plants. However, when the power plant is designed entirely for wood fuel the fuel handling can be optimised for the bundles. This saves energy and reduces investment and maintenance costs.

Figure 4. Timberjack Bundler 1490D.

Figure 5. Bundles transportation in the forest.

Figure 6. Bundles in France; fresh and old material.

5. POWER PLANT SYSTEMS A very modern biomass power plant has started its commercial operation in Pietarsaari, Finland. This Alholms Kraft Biopower Plant is the world’s largest CHP district heating plant fuelled by biomass with the power of 550th MW. Timberjack’s machines are involved in the fuel supply of the plant and the experiences gathered will also be used in developing the machines for other plants. The plant is using more than 300.000 bundles annually (Fig. 7, 8 and 10.). The performance of the collection system is measured and every single truck load of bundles is measured by weight, number of bundles and the cost. The database is continuously improving its coverage and accuracy. In Finland there are also several other power plants using the bundles. The newest plant is JAVO in Jämsänkoski having the thermal power of 185th MW. The fuel system of JAVO is designed very flexible to take bundles, stems and stumps. The plant has been in commercial operation since May 2002 (Fig. 9). It is estimated that by using the bundles, the transportation distance can be increased to > 200 km and even longer when railways are used. This makes the bundle technology very competitive against the use of fossil fuels (Fig. 10.).

Figure 7. On-road transportation of bundles.

Figure 8. Alholmen crushing station (550th MW).

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Figure 9. JAVO fuel feed in.

Figure 10. The worlds first bundle train. 6. SUMMARY Timberjack has played an active role in developing the mechanized felling system for young forests and bundling system because we believe that enables the large-scale utilization of forest energy – both commercially and according to the principles of sustainable development in an environmental friendly way. These methods will lift the production of the renewable forest bio energy into a new higher level that is fascinating, economical and environmentally sound. The technology has been proven by several commercial projects.

REFERENCES [1] www.timberjack.com [2] A. Timperi, Timberjack News 1/2000, 2/2000, 1/2001, 2/2001, 3/2001, 1/2002 and 2/2002 [3] A. Timperi, Nordic-Japan Environmental Conference 2000, Nagano City, 14-15.11.2000 [4] A.Timperi, New Technologies for the Collection of Wood Residuals from Forests, Danbio 25-28.09.2001 [5] S. Martin, Racolta del legno per energia: Lavori in Corso, Biella Conference, 28 Settembre 2001