Tillsonburg, Ontario, pending finalization of funding. Production of pellets and briquettes is planned for mid-August 2010. They’ll be destined for greenhouse boilers and residential stoves. Ian Moncrieff, president and CEO, is leading the project. “The site includes 20,000 square feet of warehouse space, an office, and seven silos that can hold 9,000 to 10,000 tonnes of pellets and briquettes,” he says. A bagging plant will also be built. “Bags will be sold out of a showroom, where we’ll also provide the opportunity to purchase pellet stoves and boilers,” says Moncrieff. The planned annual production capacity of the plant is 23,000 tonnes of briquettes and 27,000 tonnes of pellets. This volume is expected eventually to double. The production increase will likely be achieved by adding a third shift. Although the final decision has yet to be made, the plant will likely use ring-die pellet-making technology. Moncreiff says that there are a couple of other technologies available in Canada (PSI in New Brunswick and IMI in Walkerton, Ontario), but after eval- uating the options, he is leaning towards LaMeccanica of Italy. The briquette-making system may be mechanical or hydrau- lic, says Moncrieff. Although he does not know of any Canadian densified-fuel briquetting technology currently on the market, he says, “there is a company in Waterloo, Ontario, that makes bri- quetting mills for other applications, and we are working with them to create a prototype.” At first, cardboard, wood, and agricultural residues such as corn stalks and soybean straw will be used. The plant’s ultimate feedstocks, however, will consist of Miscanthus grass, prairie grass, switchgrass, and hybrid willow grown by local former tobacco farmers. It takes two to three years for these perennial crops to mature to the point that they can be harvested for feedstock. At six or seven tonnes of biomass per acre, more than 15,000 acres will be required to make 100,000 tonnes of product annually. The venture is also involved in a research study with Ontario Power Generation to investigate biomass options to supplement and re- place coal by 2014 at the Nanticoke Generating Station. – Treena Hein hearst pellet plant Industries LacWood is preparing to open northern Ontario’s newest pellet plant. Normand Lacroix is president of Industries LacWood in Hearst, Ontario, a company of approximately 60 em- ployees that manufactures wood products such as bed slats and shelving units. Lacroix intends to expand his business by opening an internally operated pellet plant, which is expected to be fully running by June 2010. “We are implementing this project to add value to the end cuts of the raw material we are already using,” says Lacroix. According to Lacroix, Industries LacWood uses high-quality wood to make its products, and the pellets will be no different. At this point, the raw materials that will be used to produce the pellets will come strictly from the company’s factory. “We put high importance on the quality of the raw material, which I think is something that will set us apart from other plants,” Lacroix says. He notes that the wood he uses is dried to 10% moisture content, and he intends for the pellets to have a high BTU content. Industries LacWood will build most of the equipment used in the plant, with the exception of a hammermill and a pellet mill. The hammermill will process the raw wood before it’s fed into an electric-powered, all-in-one pelletizer that Lacroix has purchased from Sweden Power Chippers. The pelletizer will press out 6 mm by 2 cm pellets and then cool them. It has a production rate of one tonne/hour of pellets. After researching various types of pellet mill, Lacroix decided that this particular machine would best suit his needs. “We have the knowledge and capacity to build the conveyor and everything else we need,” Lacroix says. “It is a fully internal project.” Lacroix also purchased a Taylor scale and Fischbein sealer to package the pellets. They will be bagged on-site and distributed by Industries LacWood. Lacroix is planning to offer a variety of distribution options, including 30- to 40-lb bags, one-tonne bags, and large bulk bags. Lacroix believes he will have no trouble supplying his targeted residential market. “We are expecting to produce about 7,000 tonnes/year,” he says. Although this is a small output compared to the larger-scale pellet plants, Lacroix doesn’t foresee a prob- lem with developing his market. “It really will be a product pro- duced in the north, for the northerners. The population here is more sensitive to green energy, so that is what we want to promote,” says Lacroix. Industries LacWood is interested in sup- plying to the agricultural industry, and Lacroix is looking into offering the pellets to greenhouses. There are no current plans to target an industrial market, but Lacroix has not dismissed that option. • – Stefanie Wallace 28 CanadianBIOMASS MAY/JUNE 2010
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