quality of the biochar was at its best. “Realistically the process and the design of the system would stay very sim-ilar to how we have it now, just tailored a little more specifically to those wood feedstocks,” Olson says. “Whereas our initial design was to accept a wide variety of feedstock to reduce the waste rather than produce a valuable end product.” According to Olson, some of the pro-cess changes will be small, such as air-fuel ratios, and will continue to be worked out over the next few months as the com-pany focuses in on production in hopes of finally entering the biochar market. “We have a few people interested in purchasing biochar from us based on meeting certain testing results, which we have met with our initial runs of the planer shavings,” he says. “So from here we want to be able to increase our throughput, if we can, and start building up an inven-tory, then we’ll be looking to sell that at wholesale in the biochar market hopefully here in Alberta.” When it comes to Ulysses itself, Olson says the system will take longer to get to market as they continue to test its capa-bilities, and areas that need improvement. “In terms of getting another system out and operating, within the next six months would be a good goal to at least to be getting to that area,” he says. “We’ve got a few more months running through the demonstration here and we’ll have to confirm our throughput and show that Feedstock in Hopper Flue Gas Out Propane + Air Air Damper Combustion Chamber (Top) Pyrolysis Hearth Return (Bottom) Char or Biochar Out we can produce consistent reliable bio-char and I think once we get to that point, in the next six month to a year, we’ll be looking at getting another system out and improving upon the things that we’ve learned with this system here.” And these developments are what peaks the interest of NRCan researchers, who say they will continue to monitor the work being done at IRSI with Ulysses, possibly making use of it in the future. “[Our] idea is to evaluate the equip-ment, look at the possibilities and then use it where it fits in the future,” Keddy says. “We look at all different types of equipment for using woody biomass and evaluate the economic feasibility of using different types of feedstocks for that. As more feedstocks become available and as we try, test, and evaluate different types woody feedstocks we will be maybe using that machine (Ulysses).” Olson says the types of businesses interested in the Ulysses system itself are those that require or will produce a large amount of biochar and then when the time comes when IRSI is ready to begin releasing individual units they will take a hands-on approach that could be person-alized for businesses. “With the production of biochar and a reduction on what we want to run through the system, we’re now thinking that it makes a lot more sense to be a bit more involved in the actual operation of the system,” he shares. “So realistically what we could see ourselves doing is instead of an all-out sale of the system, we work with the site to set up more of a joint venture type of application.” • Learn more about the Ulysses system at www.irsi-inc.com. KINDLING THE FUTURE OF ENERGY Our Rotary Drying Systems convert products like this into fuel, feed supplements and fertilizer, all over the world. MEAT PROCESSING FERTILIZER BIOMASS CATTLE & HOG BLOOD MEAL • BONE AND FEATHER MEAL • EGG SHELLS AMMONIUM SULFATE • POTASH WOOD FIBER • CELLULOSE • AGRICULTURAL BIOSOLIDS MUNICIPAL SLUDGE • INDUSTRIAL SLUDGE • DAF SOLIDS • POULTRY MANURE Proudly grown in Greendale, WI, USA www.uzelacind.com Consultations are FREE. ( 414 ) 529-0240 2017-03-01 1:27 PM CBM_Uzelac_MarApr17_CSA.indd 1 Canadian BIOMASS 27
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