Question: Answer		Does burning wood reduce my overall plant operating costs? This will be determined by the difference between your current fuel cost and the cost of wood waste. With the recent increases in fuel prices, the savings from burning wood has been huge! In general, if your annual fuel bill is over $250,000/year, you are a good candidate. If your annual fuel bill is over $600,000/year, you are an excellent candidate. If you are paying over $0.50 per therm for natural gas or over $1.00/gallon for fuel oil, and you have access to wood waste, you are also a good candidate. The short formula looks like this: Fuel Cost (Natural Gas/Oil) - Wood Fuel Cost - 1/5 Wood Burning Equipment Cost = Approximate Savings per Year.
Question: Answer		What types of wood can be used as fuel? Any type of wood or wood waste can be used as boiler fuel, but fuels over 55% moisture are more difficult to burn and can be problematic. The best fuels are the driest, as they burn well and typically produce the least air pollution, and usually require the least energy input to produce a given unit of heat or energy. Best fuel has 5-45% moisture content. Fuels up to 65% moisture will burn but will produce limited energy. With a fuel moisture content of 55% and below combustion is more efficient and boilers will run with less attention.
Question: Answer		How much of my natural gas/oil bill can I expect to save? Savings with capital equipment being expensed over five years can be 25% - 75% of your existing annual fuel bill.
Question: Answer		How many operators are needed for a new wood boiler? With fuel of 55% moisture and below, the new automated boilers run with minimum of attention. Local laws and licensing may require you to staff differently at various times. Some sander dust boilers are fully automated and only require an operator to check occasionally on the boiler. Boilers over 100 million BTU may require an operator be present or available at all times
Question: Answer		Will the boiler meet local environmental requirements? Yes, with the addition of air filtration equipment. The new boilers burn with very low particulate, and low CO emissions, but Best Available Control Technology (BACT) requires a Bag Filter, or an Electrostatic Preceptor to clean the flue gas, in many states.
Question: Answer		How efficient are the new boilers? With standard equipment, 50% efficient on dry wood, and 74% efficient on 45% moisture, are about the upper limits. With an addition of air heaters and economizers, a 3% to 4% increase is possible. With new hot water heat recovery systems an additional 8-10% efficiency gains are possible.
Question: Answer		Can we burn both wet and dry fuel? Yes! The big difference is that wet fuel may take 80% more air than dry fuel. Operationally, you may wish to meter the wet and dry fuel to create a consistent fuel blend or you may want to exhaust the least merchantable fuel before using a more valuable fuel. With the controls designed for this scenario, this can easily be accomplished. In general, any time there are continuous variations in fuel quality, it is desirable to have an operator near by the steam plant.
Question: Answer		Why didn’t we install a wood boiler five years ago? Five years ago natural gas was much cheaper than today. The savings burning wood was very small then, but today that has all changed and burning wood waste will now save you a large percentage of your fuel bill. With natural gas prices expected to continually rise, and our regional demand increasing, prices will continue to move upward over the next five to ten years. The experts forecast a 5% annual increase over the next 10 years. This sounds small compared to changes in fuel prices in 2007 & 2008.
Question: Answer		Can we generate our own electricity? Yes! You can generate your own electricity. It strictly a question of economics. Your most profitable opportunity is to displace natural gas/fuel oil used to generate steam. If after meeting the plant’s thermal load, you still have a surplus of wood, you can generate additional steam and generate electricity for your plant use or to sell back to the utility or a broker. This involves more capital costs and this has a longer pay back than displacing natural gas or oil used for your plant’s thermal loads.
Question: Answer		Can wood fired boilers be leased? Yes! There are lease companies that will provide the capitol for this type of project. The financing is based on your company’s risk profile. The advantage is that all of your procurement cost can be expensed at the rate you pay the lease. With this option, you can increase your profits in the first year of burning wood.
Question: Answer		How do I know if wood burning is economic for my plant? The first step is to determine what wood waste streams you have available and how much net income per ton this represents. The second step is to take your natural gas bill or oil bills and determine what you are actually paying per therm or per gallon for fuel. Then give us a call and we can quickly give you an idea what savings you can expect.