Opportunities in biochar production continue to present themselves to organizations with biomass streams, and although launching and successfully executing a project can be a daunting process, it doesn’t have to be.Heyl Patterson Thermal Processing has been delivering custom-made rotary calciners to customers for over 50 years, now operating as part of fully integrated services provider Carrier Process Equipment Group (CPEG). The company’s facility in Louisville, Kentucky, has been the testing ground for hundreds of different types of biomass. Douglas Spisak, president of Heyl Patterson, says that carbonization of wood streams tops the list. “They account for over 75% of the projects we see coming in,” he says.&nbsp;Heyl Patterson provides services specifically tailored to fully assist clients down the project development road, beginning with education regarding different technologies, how they work and the incentives available, and then devising a path forward to get as much economic backing behind a project as possible. Spisak emphasizes that the project development process involves many components, from feed handling and biochar storage to the capture and use of volatile gasses coming off the process. Because of this, the company has dedicated individuals to support these different areas, some of whom have been employed there for as long as 40 years. “Another organization we have handles the financial, economic and carbon credit support areas of our business,” Spisak says. “We try to have all of those entities involved right at the start so everyone hears the same story and can work with a potential client to find a solution, including details like how much it will really cost, expected production and must-knows from an emissions standpoint. If it gets beyond that, we have a series of tests that we recommend going through to ensure there wasn’t anything uncovered in the earlier testing, and also to give us a higher degree of confidence in the solution that we’re offering.” &nbsp;As a subsidiary of CPEG, Spisak says, Heyl Patterson has become a full solution system provider. “We think that puts us at an advantage—I’ll equate it to a puzzle. You can go out and buy all the individual pieces of the puzzle from 100 companies, or you can go to one company and buy the whole puzzle, and be assured that it works.”&nbsp;Experience matters, Spisak emphasizes. “Within our organization, most individuals have over 20 years’ experience, and the majority of the five companies within CPEG have over 100 years of experience. It’s important for our customers to hear potential solutions from all these companies—there are range of technologies available; we’re not trying to shoehorn them into one particular technology with a single offering. More importantly, we’re able to provide many years of experience behind each solution, so at the end of the day, our customers feel confident that what they’re getting is going to work.”&nbsp; &nbsp;

2025-10-02 - SPOTLIGHT: Heyl Patterson Thermal Processing | Biomass Carbonization: Full System Solutions (Biomass Magazine)

Opportunities in biochar production continue to present themselves to organizations with biomass streams, and although launching and successfully executing a project can be a daunting process, it doesn’t have to be.

SPOTLIGHT: Heyl Patterson Thermal Processing | Biomass Carbonization: Full System Solutions

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