LOAD AND GRIND As you can see here, good loaders and purpose-built grapples are keys to getting good production from biomass grinders, chippers and hogs. Willibald is another option for processing harvest slash or yard wood. The Willibald MZA 4800 mobile shredder is designed for green waste and harvest residuals, although the manufacturer makes a range of smaller (MiniMax) biomass shredders as well. Willibald has a Canadian dis- tributor in Embrun, ON, but is looking to expand distribution. www.willibald-gmbh.de. Elmia Wood 2009 the next showcase Want to know more about Scandinavian bioenergy technol- ogy and ideas? A great place to start is Elmia Wood 2009, the world’s largest forestry show. The live logging “in the woods” event takes place June 3-6 in Jönköping, and is a must-see event if you can spare the time (allow at least three days) and money.According to business area manager Torb- jorn Johnsen, biomass harvesting, handling, processing, and hauling technology will make up a big part of the exhibition next year, as all major forest economies look to turn up their renewable energy output. Track the event and associated edu- cation opportunities as they evolve at www.elmia.se/wood. CUTTING A BIOMASS SWATH To be sure, readily available harvesting slash and legacy piles are still the lowest-hanging fruit when it comes to biomass piles in Canada. But there are a growing number of applications for small- diameter or unmerchantable (UMT) tree harvesting for energy in the right conditions and loca- tion. There is no shortage of tools to do the job, as World Bioenergy was enough to make an old Tenco shear guy reminisce. Energy wood harvesting options at the show included good old-fashioned, two- sided shears, guillotine style cutters, chainsaw driven disc models from Bracke with accumulating arms, or a single mowing style feeling head with chain saw cutter, like the Bracke model at right. CARDBOARD ROOFING? Slash is so valuable in Scandinavia that folks donʼt even want the stuff getting rained on. After harvest, slash is collected by forwarder and neatly piled in rows at the edge of the harvest block to allow it to dry ahead of chipping. In many cases, these slash rows are protected by “energy wrap” like the piles in southern Sweden shown here. The motivation is economic – protected logging residue provides higher heat values than unprotected slash, a realization that comes from thinking about things in KW per hectare rather than our standard tonnes or cubic metres per hectare. The paper board laminate is rolled over the slash piles by the forwarder that collected it, and serves two key roles – To make slash recovery more efficient in winter (no snow or ice jamming the piles up); and to create drier biomass. One supplier is Finlandʼs Walki group, which among many other products makes “Wrap Energy”. After seeing some of their wrap in the woods, we spoke with a Walki rep at World Bioenergy 2008. He explained that independent studies conducted in Finland show a 10 to 15% lower MC from using the wrap. The fi bre sheets simply get chipped or hogged with the slash. www.walki.com. HAVE PELLET MILL, WILL TRAVEL This pellet mill in a box comes from Sweden Power Chippers, and can be dropped into place by a forklift, and set to work in hours wherever the fibre is. SPC makes turnkey solutions to match the raw material supply and infrastructure, from infeed to automated outfeed and bagging sys- tems, and everything in between. Its equipment and solutions are handled in Canada by Silvana Import Trading of Montreal, suppliers of a host of other forestry gear, such as Bracke automated planters and biomass harvesting heads. www.silvanatrading.com. AD INDEX Bandit Industries, Inc ...........................................................................2 Bioenergy Developing Trends ..................................................31 Canbio .............................................................................................................11 Cardinal Distribution ........................................................................13 Combustion Expert, Inc ...................................................................4 Location Bioénergie, Inc ..................................................................5 Quadco ..........................................................................................................6 Renewable Solutions, Inc................................................................11 Silvana Import Trading, Inc .........................................................16 Wellons Canada ................................................................................32 CanadianBIOMASS 31
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