BIOMASSupdate Groupe Savoie to dry wood uSinG bark Sainte-Julie, QC – Groupe Savoie is investing in its northern New Brunswick sawmill operations by building a 55,000-tonne/ year wood-pellet plant. Using a Wellons FEI stepped grate combustor, the plant will burn bark to dry white wood in an M-E-C rotary dryer for the pel- letizing process. The Wellons FEI stepped grate burner has an automatic ash extraction system, which makes it possible to burn wet bark without stopping operations to clean out the grate. Using bark for the drying process gives a use for this low-grade fuel and keeps all of the white wood for the finished product. Many of the early pellet plants use part of the dry white fibre coming out of the dryer to operate a dry wood burner. This means up to 20% of the value-added produc- tion that leaves the dryer has to be burned to operate the dryer. With the Wellons FEI stepped grate burner, the wet bark can be burned directly in the combus- tion chamber without any special fuel treatment. Thus, the dryer yields 20% more value-added product or a 20% smaller dryer is required. The pellet plant is currently in construction and will be operating in spring 2010. aStec acquireS ontario pellet-mill company Chattanooga, TN – Astec In- dustries has acquired Industrial Mechanical & Integration (IMI), located in Walkerton, Ontario. IMI is a small company that has wood- pellet-making machine technology. Rick Minke, president of IMI, and key employees have agreed to re- main with the company to further develop and promote this new technology. IMI has been testing the technology for two years and is now making the first group of production machines. "We are excited about the potential of this new technol- ogy,” says Dr. J. Don Brock, chairman and chief executive of Astec Industries. “Conventional pellet production machines were designed for easy-to-use materials and do not always work well with a wide variety of wood spe- cies. With this acquisition, Astec Industries can provide a one-stop solution to customers desiring to own a pellet plant that can process material from roundwood all the way to the finished product. We are well positioned to be a turn- key supplier to the growing wood pellet industry.” Enligna expands NS pellet production Halifax – Wood pellet manufacturer Enligna Canada is expand- ing its production capabilities in Upper Musquodoboit, Nova Scotia, to meet international demands. The province, through Nova Scotia Business Inc. (NSBI), is supporting Enligna Canada with a $2.42-million term loan. This financing will help the com- pany improve and upgrade its pellet mill facilities. Headquar- tered in Germany, Enligna's Canadian operation is the fourth largest producer of wood pellets in Canada. The company uses sawmill, chipping waste, and other wood byproducts to 6 CanadianBIOMASS produce wood pellets. "As a veteran exporter to European markets, we are seeing more and more demand for renewable energy sources such as wood pellets," said Fraser Gray, president of Enligna Canada. "This financing has helped us purchase new machinery to meet growing international demand for our products." Enligna has expanded its operations on the former MacTara site and currently employs 58 people. The company works with about 20 independent harvesters who supply raw materials. NOVEMBER / DECEMBER 2009 The Wellons FEI stepped grate burner will burn wet bark to dry white wood for pellets. morbark and Hti form partnerSHip Winn, MI – Morbark, a man- ufacturer of wood reduction equipment, has forged an agree- ment with Heat Transfer Inter- national (HTI) of Kentwood, Michigan. HTI is a technology company that provides turnkey waste-to-energy biomass gasifi- cation systems. The agreement, which will create new jobs in Michigan, includes a manufac- turing agreement for Morbark and an equity investment in HTI. Morbark’s investment in HTI is in line with its vision of sus- tainable energy through respon- sible forestry. “Not only will we manufacture wood reduction equipment, we’ll be producing the systems which convert wood and other organics into usable electricity and steam,” says Lon Morey, president and CEO of Morbark. “Our agreement with HTI will allow us to manufac- ture large custom equipment systems with world-class quality, and will allow HTI to focus on managing the rapid growth of its exciting sustainable energy technology.”
Canadian Biomass November/December 2009: Page 6
