Impact of Alternative Raw Materials on the Profitability of a Large-Scale Bio-Coal Pellet Plant in Finland

The aim of this paper was to compare the annual economic impact of a large-scale bio-coal pellet plant by raw material specifically for the Finnish Lakeland region. In this study, the total production volume of the theoretical plant was 200,000 tons per year and the raw wood materials used were birch pulpwood, spruce pulpwood, pine pulpwood, and energy wood. These wood materials were young delimbed wood from early thinnings. The main goal of the paper was to illustrate that the energy content differences of raw wood materials affect the economic profitability of a bio-coal pellet plant at regional level. In this case, wood type also has a regional economic impact, which the pellet plant can influence through its raw wood material choices. The raw material comparison was based on measured data and not computational or literary data alone. The study found that lower solid wood energy densities caused higher relative costs for the total supply chain. A parallel phenomenon occurred with the required gross margin of the pellets, where lower energy content caused higher required gross margin for pellet sales. The gross margin was also sensitivity analyzed at different discount rates from 5% to 20%. At each required discount rate, the highest annual economic impact on the region was found for birch pellets, with values of 36.95 - 42.66 million €. Spruce pellets had the smallest annual economic impact, although it had the highest final pellet price in the same cases. The different economic effects were caused by the energy volumes sold.

Hydrothermal Carbonization of Deciduous Biomass(Alnus incana)and Pelletization Prospects

Thermal treatment of biomass has been attracting attention for a decade or so, especially torrefaction. However, for the past few years, wet pyrolysis, also known as hydrothermal carbonization (HTC), has been getting some attention. Hydrothermal carbonization is a thermal treatment of biomass in the presence of water in a temperature range of 180°C - 260°C. This method of treating biomass has some benefits which others do not, such as it can handle extremely wet biomass. However, treating biomass may not be enough for practical use. It may need to be transported and stored. Thus, this study explored the idea of pelletizing the HTC biomass. The mechanical strength of the HTC pellets was found to be 93%, whereas, higher heating value (HHV) (dry basis) was found to be 4% higher than the corresponding white pellets. The initial results with some limited parameters indicated that it would be possible to pelletize without binder. However, extensive research on energy balance and economic assessment would be necessary to achieve economic feasibility.

Metal and Composite Intermodal Containers in Comparative Cold Tests with Wood Chips

Intermodal containers have many advantages in the bulk supply chain, but idle times may cause freezing problems for containers in terminals and long-lasting deliveries, especially during the winter time in Nordic conditions. The aim of the cold tests was to study metal and composite containers’ ability to tolerate wood chips freezing into the inner surface of the container. Two of the containers were normal metal containers and one was a composite container. The loaded containers were put inside the laboratory hall, the temperature of which was -30°C, and kept there for variable times: less than 24 hours. The inner surface of one of metal containers was treated with a special coolant, EC1. After the test, the chips were unloaded, and the container walls were checked to determine whether there was any material left on them. The test results indicated the advantages of composite containers having a thermally insulated structure without freezing problems. At the same time, chips were freezing badly onto the floor of both metal containers. A frozen chip layer with a thickness of approximately 50 cm - 60 cm was stuck to the floors. As such, EC1 did not seem to prevent the freezing of the chips onto the inner surfaces. The results proved that intermodal logistics of truck and train transportation would be more suitable for composite containers than for metal containers in the winter time in Nordic conditions.