conveying systems bring the three main residuals – sawdust, shavings and chips – from the sawmill. Front-end loaders then feed the different materials from various locations in the plant. “Sawdust and chips go into the green area, where we have green hammer mills. From the green hammer mills they go to the dryer drum, and from the dryer drum to the dry hammer mills,” Sellin explains. “At that stage, we incorporate some shavings that are already dry into the process.” The materials then go into the pellet mills, followed by a cooler underneath it, and a screen underneath that. The green hammer mills come from Bruks Klockner, while Promill provided the dry hammer mill and the pellet mills. German company Geleen provided the counterflow cooler while TSI supplied all of the drying elements, including the furnace and dryer drum. The TSI drying system consists of a 30m 2 grate area heat energy system and a dryer system centered around a 14x80 foot long dryer drum, explains Zlatko Savovic, sales director for TSI. The dryer system uses four high-efficiency cyclones, underneath which there is a dedicated machined type airlock. To prevent pitch buildup, the dryer system’s gas ductwork and exhaust stack are ‘double-ducted,’ which in turn reduces downtime for cleaning maintenance and the chance of fire “The heat energy system comprises a large u-turn secondary combustion chamber that removes most of the sparks from entering the dryer system and it also reduces the amount of ash entering the dryer system, thus providing the client with low pellet ash content,” Savovic adds. Once the material has gone through the cooler, it goes outside into two different holding silos, and then to Barrette-Chapais’ shipping silo at the Port of Grande-Anse, in Quebec. “It’s a very common, usual pellet design,” Sellin says. This was done on purpose. Granule 777 asked Prodesa to handle the engineering, design, and procurement of the equipment, and to supervise the installation because of their expertise in the industry. “I think most of the manufacturers we have chosen are the best in all of their areas,” he adds. “Klockner for the green hammer mill are very good, a well-reputed brand. Same thing for Promill on the press.” The pellet plant is fully automated, so there are very few operators compared to the amount of machinery operated. “Everything is computer-operated, PLC [programmable logic controller] driven, and one operator can power stop or accelerate all the equipment and machinery in the power plant,” Sellin explains. Even so, an additional 40-60 jobs have been created from the new operation, including in transportation and at the company’s storage facility at the Port of Grande-Anse. SAFETY FIRST When asked about safety, Sellin says it’s the most important aspect of operating the plant. “The first thing I’m reminding our employees of is that we are producing fuel, not wood,” he says. “The aim of that product is to burn and to generate Canadian BIOMASS CBM_FWS Conference_SeptOct19_CSA.indd 1 15 2019-09-11 1:06 PM
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