Canadian Biomass • Winter 2019 • Equipment Spotlight

The triple-pass dryer for wood chips and biomass by Uzelac Industries has a number of unique advantages over similar dryers. Its bolt-on tire design reduces maintenance and increases tire life, while the overhead drive reduces wear on the rollers. Access doors on the outer and intermediate cylinders allow for easy inspection and cleaning of all three cylinders of the drum. Uzelac Industries also custom-designs and manufactures its own equipment, offers project management and 3D modeling, and supports hundreds of dryer installations in North America with parts and service.

Thompson Dryers believes products should work like they are supposed to. Armed with this belief and more than 70 years of experience, Thompson designs industrial rotary dryer systems for the biomass, forest, ethanol, livestock feed, and fertilizer industries – primarily in North America and Europe. Proprietary technology ensures products are dried uniformly with minimal air pollution, little material degradation, and low fire risk. Thompson also offers a wide range of solutions to handle all dryer repair and maintenance needs including alignment and resurfacing, inspections, parts, drive, bearings, trunnions, drum crack repair and more.

Stela Laxhuber GmbH specializes in low temperature belt drying technology. Continuous developments and customizable optimization in various applications allows Stela to be called a technology leader in this expanding market. One of the greatest benefits using high efficiency belt dryers reflects by usage of waste heat or other low-temperature sources. The latest development of the Stela RecuDry system with heat recovery scores an energy savings of around 35-55 per cent compared to common standard drying systems.

The Wyssmont Turbo Dryer Thermal Processor has long been used in vapour recovery systems, heat recovery systems, and environmentally sealed systems specially designed with condensers for products such as biomass and biofuels. The processor recently produced one million pounds of torrefied wood for a test burn in a mixed coal power plant. It operates at 300°C to produce wood with a heating value equivalent to coal. The Wyssmont Turbo Dryer Thermal Processor can be the best solution for your drying needs.

PDI offers complete drying packages including installation, design, and project management of the drying island. As project managers, engineers, and drying experts, PDI provides safe, timely, and efficient drying system projects. PDI drying systems are designed to meet the diverse needs of today’s manufacturers. The result is innovative equipment that provides cost-effective and environmentally compliant performance, adhering to even the most stringent guidelines. PDI’s customized solutions use advanced technology to ensure a consistent, quality finished product.

Dieffenbacher high-capacity drum dryers are well recognized for their efficiency and reliability. They are the ideal solution for drying wood particles for particleboard and pellet production, strands for OSB production, disintegrated seasonal annual crops and other biomass. The dryer internals are designed according to the material characteristics for high thermal efficiency and low moisture fluctuation. Dieffenbacher drum dryers meet high safety standards. The perfect integration of energy systems and drum dryers creates additional value for customers, from the planning phase through the complete lifecycle.

GEA has become the preferred supplier of drying technology in the bio-ethanol industry, providing distinguished product quality. To increase efficient energy usage, systems can be heated by turbine exhaust gases or utilize exhaust gas-recycle which also renders the system inherently safe. The Feed-Type Ring Dryer is designed for drying feed and fibrous materials where extended drying times are required without product damage. Features include a cold disintegrator for breaking up agglomerates and a manifold for recycling heavier and wetter particles back to the disintegrator. GEA also has experience drying other moist materials including corn fibre/gluten, wheat and corn feed, cellulose and lignin. This dryer is capable of evaporative capabilities of up to 30 tonnes per hour. GEA will pair the Ring Dryer with a Fluid Bed Cooler for final powder conditioning.

ECP’s Z8 Rotary Dryer is a patented reverse flow, impinging-stream dryer design with increasing thermal-velocities providing maximum heat-transfer with multi-stage dehydration within drum embodiment. The material first passes through a single-pass section and then through a reverse-flow triple-pass section, and then repeats the process. This provides uniform dehydration of all particle sizes with no overheating of fines with increased production capacity and minimized VOC emissions. The Z8 Rotary Dryer can be designed as a drop-in replacement for Single-Pass and Conventional Triple-Pass Rotary Dryers. ECP’s technology includes trunnion bases, saddle drives and high efficiency cyclone collectors.

As with most machinery, frequent and thorough maintenance can extend the life of biomass dryers and help avoid unexpected dryer shutdowns.

Canadian Biomass asked dryer manufacturers for their top tips and best practices for maintaining biomass dryers to avoid downtime. Here’s what experts from Thompson Dryers, Uzelac Industries and Player Design had to say:

1.Create a lubrication/cleaning schedule. Make sure the bearings, tires and tracks, and chain are lubricated (not over lubricated), and the burner, ducting, and bases are free from excess build up.

2.Implement bi-weekly checks of moving components to ensure the dryer is tracking and aligned properly.

3.Schedule annual inspections. Even though you may not see a problem, you are likely looking at the dryer every day and things are easily overlooked.

4.The dryer drum and trunnion wheels should be properly aligned every one to two years to extend the life of the dryer.

5.Regularly resurface drum tracks and trunnion wheels to reduce stress loading and shock vibrations. Resurface seal rings to ensure proper sealing, which reduces the risk of explosions and fires.

6.If headplates show signs of cracking, installing stiffening rings can prevent flexing and stop the headplate from cracking. Simply repairing cracks will not stop the flexing.

7.If your burner isn’t working, make sure to check the ignitor and flame sensor for problems first.

8.A recycle air system set-up controls the temperature in the ducting, which avoids the costly and expensive practice of rebuilding refractory.

9.Changes in fuel usage can indicate a leaking seal. Monitoring fuel usage and checking seals regularly can prevent seals from leaking.

10.Implement a dryer training program for new operators to reduce the chance of accidents and prevent misuse of equipment. Make sure to review the equipment operating manual prior to use.