Nationwide Boiler hires new technical sales engineer Nationwide Boiler Inc. has hired John Clarkson as technical sales engineer. Clarkson, a package boiler and emissions compliance expert, will provide technical sales support for customers within the southern California region.
Clarkson has 46 years of industry experience and an engineering degree from California State Long Beach. He entered the boiler industry working for Porter Boiler in the parts department followed by a field service position, and within three years moved into senior management. In 1984, Clarkson established a partnership and cofounded Southern California Boiler Inc., a two-man company that eventually expanded and acquired four other boiler companies. Throughout the years, Clarkson made significant contributions to the growth of this company, known today as California Boiler Inc.
Clarkson has experience working with many well-known manufacturers in the boiler industry and has assisted with the development of ultra-low NOx burners to meet the most stringent regulatory requirements for California. Kramer appointed vice president of engineering at SunGas Renewables SunGas Renewables has named Andrew Kramer as vice president of engineering. Kramer brings critical experience and leadership to the SunGas team with years of experience in the design, installation, and operation of U-GAS gasification technology, the core technology in SunGas&rsquo;s fluidized bed gasification product.
Kramer has deep knowledge and experience in the design and operation of multiple gasification technologies. As senior director for GTI, he has overseen all aspects of design, operation, and maintenance of GTI&rsquo;s pilot-scale gasification and related facilities including fuel feeding, gas feeding, syngas cleaning, conditioning and end-use systems. Kramer&rsquo;s past experience includes integration of gasification technology in gas-to-liquid conversions processes, including the Topsoe Improved Gasoline Synthesis process, Fischer-Tropsch and methanation systems.
Prior to GTI, Kramer served as production control supervisor for Zeneca. He has a bachelor&rsquo;s degree in chemical engineering from Tri-State University in Angola, Indiana.
BiON names Syed Nazim as CEO BiON, one of Malaysia&rsquo;s most established environmental engineering and renewable energy solutions providers, is pleased to announce the appointment of Syed Nazim bin Syed Faisal as CEO of the company. Nazim joined the BiON as finance director and executive director in September 2018.&nbsp; Prior to his new position, Syed Nazim was the group chief financial officer of Serba Dinamik Group, an international energy services group and a controlling shareholder of BiON, where he remains an executive director. Ubben joins Enviva board of directors Enviva Partners LP has the appointing of Jeffrey Ubben, chairman of ValueAct and co-portfolio manager of its Spring Fund, to the general partner&rsquo;s board of directors.
Ubben is a founder and the chairman of ValueAct Capital, where he is portfolio manager of the ValueAct Spring Fund and a member of the firm&rsquo;s management committee. Ubben is a director of AES Corp., where he is a member of the compensation and financial audit committees, AppHarvest and Nikola Corp. He is the former chairman and director of Martha Stewart Living Omnimedia Inc., and a former director of Catalina Marketing Corp., Gartner Group Inc., Mentor Corp., Misys plc, Sara Lee Corp., Twenty-First Century Fox, Valeant Pharmaceuticals International, Willis Towers Watson plc, and several other public and private companies.
&nbsp;Prior to founding ValueAct Capital in 2000, Ubben was a managing partner at Blum Capital Partners for more than five years. Ubben serves on the boards of Duke University, the Nature Conservancy&rsquo;s NatureVest, and the E.O. Wilson Biodiversity Foundation. He formerly served as chair of the National Board of the Posse Foundation for nine years. He has a bachelor&rsquo;s degree from Duke University and a Master of Business Administration from the Kellogg School of Management at Northwestern University. Element Markets hires O'Neill Element Markets has onboarded Scott O&rsquo;Neill as senior vice president of operations. O&rsquo;Neill will lead the company&rsquo;s best-in-class renewable natural gas (RNG) operations and compliance teams. Scott brings 25 years of expertise to Element Markets across a number of segments of the RNG industry, including project development, regulatory policy, methane capture and greenhouse gas&nbsp; management. Most recently, he&nbsp; served as most recently, director of biogas marketing at Waste Management Inc.
Southern Company Gas grows leadership team Southern Company Gas announced three new leadership positions and the creation of two new departments, sustainability and innovation and renewable natural gas (RNG), to support the company's continued commitment to addressing climate change and reinforce the importance of natural gas in a sustainable energy future.
The Sustainability and Innovation Group will be led by Joanne Mello, who has been named director of sustainability and energy policy. In this role, Mello will oversee the company's sustainability and innovation strategy by aligning efforts conducted across the business and strengthening partnerships with external industry groups and stakeholders.&nbsp;
Greg Jones has been named director of Climate &amp; Environmental Policy. In this role, he will lead the company's greenhouse gas emission initiatives and will direct the company's participation in environmental rulemaking, legislation and policy initiatives.&nbsp;
The RNG Group will be led by Robin Lanier. In this role, she will develop and execute an effective strategy for growing Southern Company Gas' RNG capabilities, a critical component in the company's sustainability strategy. Lanier will plan, monitor and manage the company's RNG advancements. Xebec acquires Air Flow Xebec Adsorption Inc., a global provider of clean energy solutions, has entered into an agreement to acquire all outstanding securities of Enerphase Industrial Solutions Inc., doing business as Air Flow. Air Flow&rsquo;s principals will remain with the company after the acquisition, in order to optimize their integration into Xebec&rsquo;s industrial service and support business and to grow the operation over the coming years.
Total consideration payable by Xebec is approximately $6 million, subject to certain holdbacks, adjustments and time-based payments. Air Flow is a distributor and service provider of compressed air equipment in North Carolina. Incorporated in 1981, the company brings decades of industry experience and has built long standing relationships with major manufacturers and has developed a significant service footprint through numerous equipment installations. Enviva completes acquisition of Georgia Biomass Enviva has completed its previously announced acquisition of an industrial-scale wood pellet production plant in Waycross, Georgia, and associated contracted terminal capacity in Savannah, Georgia.&nbsp;
The newly acquired Waycross plant has been operating since 2011 and has a production capacity of approximately 800,000 metric tons per year. All production is exported through the Port of Savannah to Enviva&rsquo;s customers under long-term take-or-pay off-take contracts, many of which extend until the mid-2040s.&nbsp; Following the acquisition, Enviva&rsquo;s total annual wood pellet production capacity is approximately 4.9 million metric tons.&nbsp; With the acquisition complete, the Waycross plant is now called Enviva Pellets Waycross.

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Business Briefs

In the past, black pellet technologies have struggled to gain a foothold in the market. To date, matching the limited supply of black pellets with the desired demand from end users has been a brake on the black pellet industry's development. But for the first time, a substantial pipeline of new black pellet projects is emerging. Several are due to start-up this year, with at least seven commercial-scale black pellet mills under construction and due to start-up in 2020-&rsquo;21. A further eight projects are planned or seeking permits. This pipeline of projects amounts to approximately 2 million metric tons of annual capacity.
So why now? International efforts are stepping up to phase out coal, particularly in Europe where several countries have already phased out coal-fired power generation and many more have set ambitious targets to do so. It&rsquo;s not only power stations that offer an opportunity to use black pellets to replace coal. Industrial process heating applications, as well as district heating networks, will need to find renewable energy alternatives.
Of course, there are challenges with black pellet technologies. They were was considered in the late 2000s and early 2010s, when U.K. coal conversions and the initial round of Dutch cofiring were being planned. But the supply chain could not be established quickly enough to fulfil demand&mdash;RWE, Drax and others turned to white pellets instead. Utilities now using white pellets in Europe have made the investments needed for white pellets and have developed their supply chains, meaning that, at this point, black pellets are unlikely to be an option for them.
Once again, black pellet developers are now in a race to begin operating. They must successfully demonstrate their technologies to new prospective customers if they are to win market share from white pellets and other renewable technologies.
The Rotterdam power plant, owned by Onyx Power (backed by the private equity firm Riverstone Holdings), could be vital in proving the feasibility of using black pellets at a large scale. The Dutch coal-fired power plant, formerly owned by Engie, has begun using black pellets under the Netherlands&rsquo; SDE+ renewable energy subsidy scheme. It has signed a supply agreement with steam-exploded black pellet producer Arbaflame, but it is evident it will use other black pellets as well, including torrefied pellets. Engie had planned to cofire black pellets while evaluating the potential of a full conversion. Hawkins Wright understands that Riverstone, which purchased the power plant in 2019, will continue with those plans. All Dutch coal-fired generation must cease by 2030, but the Rotterdam plant was only commissioned in 2015, so potentially, it has a long operating life ahead of it.&nbsp;
There are opportunities for black pellets outside Europe, particularly in Japan. Although the country does not have a coal phase-out target date, public support for coal is waning. In April, both Mizuho and SMBC joined Mitsubishi UFJ&mdash;the three major Japanese banks&mdash;in pledging no longer to fund new coal power stations.
Land is scarce and expensive in Japan, so a wood pellet fuel that can easily replace coal and be stored in the same space without the need for expensive and bulky storage facilities would be advantageous. But if black pellet supply chains are not built up quickly enough, Japanese project developers may face the same challenges faced by the early European wood pellet users. Conditions of the feed-in tariff subsidy scheme mean power generators must prove they have a secure supply of biomass. If that cannot be demonstrated early enough, projects may have to make the investments needed to use white pellets, diminishing the advantages of black pellets.
Another opportunity in Japan could come later, due to its Energy Savings Act. The act requires all large power plants to achieve a minimum generating efficiency of 41% by 2030. Usually, energy efficiency is calculated as the proportion of energy output (megawatt-hour (MWh) of electricity) versus energy input (MWh of fuel). On this basis, only the most modern ultra-supercritical coal plants would have an efficiency above the required 41%. In this instance, however, the methodology used by the government to calculate efficiency permits biomass fuel to be deducted from the assumed energy input of the power station. This means that cofiring biomass is a simple way of enabling coal power stations to achieve the required 41% efficiency standard.
As Hawkins Wright discusses in its latest report, the Black Pellet Market Outlook, the development of the black pellet market has been delayed by numerous problems in the past. But as producers learn from earlier challenges and improve their technologies, now could be the chance for them to fulfil their many promises. Author: Rachael Levinson Biomass Research Manager, Hawkins Wright rachael@hawkinswright.com www.hawkinswright.com

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In the past, black pellet technologies have struggled to gain a foothold in the market. But for the first time, a substantial pipeline of new black pellet projects is emerging. 

Timing Key to Resurgence  in Black Pellet Market

Boilers and their burners are a major cost factor in most industrial processes, critical commercial operations and institutions. Therefore, it makes good financial sense to optimize these systems so they operate at peak efficiency.
Throughout the different thermal processes, energy is lost due to equipment inefficiencies and mechanical and thermal limitations. Over time, companies find that burner settings will drift due to component wear, temperature, dirt, soot and leaks. This drifting can ultimately affect an organization&rsquo;s fuel usage, equipment efficiency and product quality. Understanding how energy is used and wasted can help companies identify ways to improve efficiency. Consider the following ways boilers and their burners impact a company&rsquo;s bottom line.
Fuel economy. On average, a boiler will consume in fuel four times its initial cost every year. Substantial savings can be achieved if the boiler, including the burner, has a regular maintenance schedule that is based on operating conditions. Like a carburetor in someone&rsquo;s favorite old car, burners are typically tuned in the summer and winter months. Tuning optimizes the fuel/air ratio for the ambient air, warm air during the summer months, and cool air during colder winter months so that the boiler operates more efficiently while maintaining safety. The burner-tuning procedure is complex and exacting, since every 2% increase in oxygen can result in a loss of 1% in efficiency. An improperly tuned burner is just as bad as an out-of-tune burner.
To fully reap financial benefits, it is critical to work with a knowledgeable, experienced and qualified industry expert. A tighter control of the air/fuel ratio results in a better control of the combustion reaction and its efficiency. On average, companies with industrial boilers that have regular tuning schedules can see a 1 to 2% fuel savings.
Boiler stress. A maintenance schedule that includes regular boiler cleanings can help avoid costly stress on a company&rsquo;s boiler. Without regular cleanings, heavy sooting will occur due to incomplete combustion of the fuel air mixture of the burner. Buildup of this heavy soot will begin to insulate the inside of the boiler, resulting in heat transfer efficiency becoming less and less as more heat escapes through the boiler stack. The damaging soot accumulation will also generate hot spots within the boiler, which can eventually lead to boiler cracks, stress fractures, ligament fissures and reduction of heat transfer in the boiler. The devastating result can be exceedingly costly repairs or purchase of a new unit.
U.S. EPA compliance. To decrease air pollution produced from boilers (carbon monoxide, hydrochloric acid, mercury, and trace amounts of other heavy metals) the EPA has put in place boiler and burner tune-up requirements. Most companies operating an industrial, commercial or institutional boiler must comply with EPA requirements for source boilers, National Emission Standards for Hazardous Air Pollutants for Area Sources. Without these mandatory tune-ups, companies can face both civil and criminal penalties that could include daily fines and even imprisonment.
All the issues listed can contribute to a less-than-optimal use of fuel, energy and equipment, in addition to increases in operating costs.
The burner is really at the heart of boiler efficiency. If it doesn&rsquo;t have a good burn and decent heat transfer, it seriously limits operations. As a result, top priority should go to keeping an organization&rsquo;s burner tuned by a knowledgeable expert. The damage that can be caused by an improperly tuned burner is almost as great as that of a totally untuned burner, and in a fuel-rich environment, it could lead to an explosion.
Whether you tune your boiler and burner regularly for compliance reasons, cost efficiencies or both, keeping them tuned should be an integral part of any industrial, institutional and commercial maintenance program. Author: Mike Winkelmann General Manager, Plibrico Mechanical Services contact@plibrico www.plibrico.com

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Keeping boilers and burners tuned should be an integral part of any industrial, institutional and commercial maintenance program.

Three Ways Boilers and  Burners Can Affect Bottom Lines

Despite the global coronavirus pandemic, the U.S. biomass power fleet continues to operate, and we continue our business in Washington, D.C., and Maine.
In June, the Biomass Power Association and California Biomass Energy Association released a video, &ldquo;How Biomass Works,&rdquo; which also illustrates its carbon benefits. We teamed up on this video to provide a tool to all of our members and everyone in the larger biomass community who needs a quick, engaging and easy-to-understand way to explain biomass. Working with a geographically diverse team, we scripted the video to address some common misconceptions while making it relevant to many audiences, whether that be someone trying to educate a local lawmaker, dispel myths in the media, or explain biomass to a school group, for few examples. We invite all in the biomass community to use this video whenever needed.
All the while, we have and continue to aggressively pursue inclusion in the Renewable Fuel Standard. In May, we became aware of a letter sent by a top U.S. EPA political appointee responding to a letter by the National Association of State Foresters. The letter made clear that the EPA still has no intention of acting on electric RINs or on expanding the definition of forest feedstocks accepted under the program&mdash;not just for electricity, but for all types of fuels. In light of this letter, we have redoubled our efforts to make Congress aware of EPA&rsquo;s negligence in making the RFS accessible to non-corn fuel providers, and to get EPA to act.
There are two bills currently working their way through Congress that could prompt the EPA to finally act. One is a bill sponsored by Sen. John Thune, R-South Dakota, and Sen. Jeanne Shaheen, D-New Hampshire, that would require the EPA to process all outstanding fuel applications and completed pathways. The other is an appropriations bill supported by 127 signers of an April letter to House and Senate Appropriations Committees. We thank all of the biomass, biogas and waste-to-energy companies as well as municipal governments and membership organizations from 36 states that signed the letter, and we are hopeful we will see the bill end up as law by the end of this year.
Finally, as we target all three branches of government to pressure the EPA to enact the electricity portion of the RFS program, we are pleased that our litigation has been rescheduled. The oral arguments of our court case challenging the 2019 RVO for its lack of electricity volumes were postponed from May 1 due to COVID-19 but are back on the schedule for the D.C. Circuit court of appeals for September 25.
As always, if you&rsquo;d like to learn more about why biomass power should be part of the RFS, please visit www.rfspower.com or reach out to me directly. Contract: Carrie Annand Executive Director, Biomass Power Association &nbsp;carrie@usabiomass.org www.usabiomass.org&nbsp;&nbsp;

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Despite the global coronavirus pandemic, the U.S. biomass power fleet continues to operate.

How Biomass Works, Even During a Pandemic

Despite the ongoing pandemic&rsquo;s effects on the world economy, at least one thing has remained unchanged&mdash;heat, power and fuel are still needed, and will continue to be.
For residential wood pellets, manufacturers are potentially positioned to have a record season, with millions of Americans now staying at home rather than going into the office or school. Diving right into content in this issue of Biomass Magazine, you&rsquo;ll read more on that in both features authored by Tim Portz, executive director of the Pellet Fuels Institute. In his page-13 story, &ldquo;Business as Unusual,&rdquo; Portz details how one pellet manufacturer, Indeck Energy Wood Pellets, has adjusted its operations in response to COVID-19, in order to continue making fuel and capture opportunities on the horizon. The story nicely compliments &ldquo;Connecting Fiber Makers with Fiber Takers&rdquo; on page 15, which details producers&rsquo; past and year-to-date-fiber purchasing habits and expenditures. Things look good so far this year, as EIA data suggests that 2020 may see record wood fiber purchases by pellet producers since the 2016 launching of the Monthly Densified Biomass Fuel Report. Portz paints a picture of cautious optimism as producers prepare for the upcoming heating system, with reports from retail partners that pellet BBQ sales are up significantly, and heating pellet appliance sales also up. One crucial question remains, however, and that&rsquo;s whether fiber streams from hardwood sawmills&mdash;already affected by the trade war with China&mdash;will be further impacted by the pandemic, and thus create a strain on producers&rsquo; supply chains.
In our final feature, &ldquo;Analyzing Automation&rdquo; on page 18, I discuss automation and smart technologies with experts from Valmet, Siemens and Martin Engineering, how automation has evolved over the decades and the benefits of today&rsquo;s ideal systems. Companies like these are continually advancing these technologies to meet power facilities&rsquo; evolving needs, including protection against increasingly common cyber-attacks.
For more aligning with our operations and maintenance co-theme, be sure to check our page-26 contribution article, &ldquo;Ensuring Plant O&amp;M Expense Matches its Market Mission,&rdquo; by Clive Watson, Solomon &amp; Associates, for advice on how to first identify a facility&rsquo;s market mission, and then determine what&rsquo;s most important among cost control, reliability and efficiency.
Moving on to dust control and fire and explosion protection, check out &ldquo;Preventing Dust Explosions in Pellet Production,&rdquo; by Clive Nixon, BS&amp;B Safety Systems, for guidance on tailoring prevention and mitigation solutions to the specific application.&nbsp; Related to that topic, we have included two company spotlight articles on Rembe and CV Technology, both field experts that have much to offer when it comes to ensuring facilities are safe and in line with regulations.
The last story I&rsquo;ll highlight is our exclusive, quarterly excerpt from Forisk Consulting&rsquo;s upcoming wood fiber review, in which author Andrew Copley evaluates the pandemic&rsquo;s effects on eastern Canada&rsquo;s forest industry in Q2 2020, and subsequent impacts on the region&rsquo;s fiber markets.
Things seem to change almost weekly during these unprecedented times, but we&rsquo;re confident many of our industry sectors are seeing growth nonetheless and will come out even stronger on the other side. Meanwhile, we here at Biomass Magazine wish you good health and prosperity, and will continue to bring you accurate, in-depth and timely industry news and information.
&nbsp;
Author: Anna Simet Editor asimet@bbiinternational.com

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Despite the ongoing pandemic's effects on the world economy, at least one thing has remained unchanged—heat, power and fuel are still needed, and will continue to be.

Continuity Amidst Uncertainty

Ignition source control is vital to the prevention of avoidable explosions. Mechanically generated sparks, hot surfaces and flames or smoldering material together make up over 50% of identified dust explosion ignition sources. Spark detection and extinguishing systems can be very effective at managing small sparks and embers in many closed material transfer systems. Heat and smoke detectors are also proven strategies for managing fires in early development.
Rembe is proud to offer a leading-edge technology solution to fill the gap between spark and fire detection with the Hotspot and GSME early fire detection sensors:
&bull; The Hotspot optical detector monitors infrared heat energy of a superimposed grid on a targeted area. Tiered alarm outputs are triggered on predefined temperature anomalies such as high setpoint, temperature differential, rate of rise or defined zone monitoring.
&bull; The GSME combustion gas detector uses semiconductor technology to identify specific pyrolysis gases, providing the GSME an advantage and opportunity to detect and alarm before flame development. This improves fire prevention response time as well as efforts and safety for mitigation and control measures.
The Hotspot and GSME are specifically designed for reliability in harsh, humid and dusty industrial environments. The Rembe design team carefully prepares the placement and configuration parameters specific to each unique application. Rembe specifically recommends the Hotspot and GSME detectors as preventative control of ignition sources associated with combustible dust explosion hazards; the opportunities for fire prevention are also vast. Some application examples include conveyors, silos and storage bins, air filter systems, dryer systems, pellet plants and electrical equipment.
The Hotspot and GSME sensors can operate as stand-alone systems with various alarm output options or in multiples combined with the user friendly, touchscreen Rembe Exkop Express explosion safety controller.&nbsp; Large plants with an appetite for integrated monitoring, control and response can also benefit from the state-of-the-art Rembe IQ Safety Cockpit, a customized monitoring, reaction and response platform for fire and explosion prevention and protection systems. The IQ Safety Cockpit, like a process or security HMI system, provides real-time explosion event status on board and through a mobile device app to notify key personnel for expedited safety response.&nbsp; Preconfigured reactionary inputs and outputs with nearly endless compatibility options provide immediate critical event information and rapid response deployment.&nbsp;
The first seconds following an industrial explosion are critical. The IQ Safety Cockpit is the central information source, local or remote for event details and locations. It can both allow and take control of reactive individually plant configured responses such as deluge sprinklers, evacuation alarms, process shut down or bypasses.

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Ignition source control is vital to the prevention of avoidable explosions.

Spotlight - Electronic Eyes, Nose, for Early Fire  and Explosion Prevention

IHI Power Services Corp. was formed in 2012 to provide operations, maintenance, management and power plant support services to the U.S. power generation industry&mdash;plants owned by sister company IHI Power Generation Corp., and third party-owned facilities as well. IPSC currently provides O&amp;M services to over 13.5 gigawatts in the U.S., 87.1 MW of which is biomass, and owned and/or operated by IPSC. This owner/operator model has been advantageous to the company, says Rick Spurlock, IHI Power Corp.&rsquo;s west region director of operations, enabling it to approach each scenario with the mindset of a plant owner. &ldquo;IPSC is unique in the fact that we started as an owner/operator in 2012, with three biomass and two coal plants in California,&rdquo; he says. &ldquo;Since then, we&rsquo;ve expanded across the U.S. to 14 states and now also operate combined cycle, simple cycle, wind, pumped hydro, and battery storage facilities. We believe our experience and approach puts us in the shoes of the owner.&rdquo;
Spurlock has served as California biomass power plant Rio Bravo Fresno&rsquo;s manager for the past 12-plus years. With power industry experience spanning back nearly three decades, Spurlock, a staunch advocate for California&rsquo;s biomass industry, is a natural fit at the company. He highlights IPSC&rsquo;S &ldquo;value-added&rdquo; service, resulting from years of hands-on experience in the power generation industry, and, despite the company&rsquo;s relatively small size, the ability to respond quickly to owners&rsquo; needs. &ldquo;That&rsquo;s part of our culture, and a well-known trait of ours,&rdquo; he says. &ldquo;We have a lean management team, but our network runs deep with several decades of industry experience. When needed, we can call on subject matter experts to complement our teams.&rdquo;
On the biomass power industry specifically, Spurlock says while all power generation technologies come with challenges, these plants are more labor- and maintenance-intensive than most other types of energy the company operates. Thus, they require sufficient knowledge and experience to keep plants operating to expectations and in line with regulations, as well as efficiently and safely.
A major component in IPSC&rsquo;s core guiding principles is safety and health, which Spurlock says is integrated into every aspect of work culture at IPSC.&nbsp; &ldquo;Some examples include our energy-initiated hazard training, and our focus on utilizing the safety hierarchy of controls to eliminate or reduce the hazards that we deal with daily,&rdquo; he says. &ldquo;IPSC&rsquo;s philosophy regarding safety and health is that success is not measured by the absence of injuries or incidents, but by the system that we have built, which has multiple layers of protection in the event something does not go as planned. We view every situation at work or home with a safety lens.&rdquo;
By using proven programs, industry best practices and our core guiding principles, IPSC strives to provide world-class service to each facility and project it manages. This, Spurlock adds, &ldquo;ensures that all IPSC team of service providers work together to operate plants safely and in compliance, while maximizing financial performance. &ldquo;

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By using proven programs, industry best practices and our core guiding principles, IPSC strives to provide world-class service to each facility and project it manages.

Spotlight - Value-Added O&M 

One of the most common oversights in the biomass energy industry is failure to distinguish fire and explosion scenarios from one another. Thus, protection against only one or the other is deployed in at-risk process areas, rather than both. &ldquo;In many process areas where material is conveyed, we often see only spark detection or explosion venting, but these systems should really be used in conjunction with each other,&rdquo; says Jason Krbec, sales engineering manager of CV Technology. &ldquo;A spark detection system is meant to lower the likelihood or frequency of an explosion of fire occurring but can also protect against a fire, whereas an explosion vent is really just for explosion protection. A combination of both will achieve the level of safety you need.&rdquo;
Krbec serves on several NFPA technical committees for combustible dust and is a 10-year veteran at CV Technology. The company specializes in complete explosion and fire protection solutions for facilities manufacturing and handling dry bulk materials, with a slate of offerings including explosion venting, flameless venting, chemical suppression, explosion isolation, spark detection and more.
CV Technology prides itself on tailor-made dust explosion and fire protection solutions, as proper strategies are unique to each factory, process and company, Krbec points out. For biomass and bioenergy facilities, a dust hazard analysis (DHA) is extremely valuable in learning about a facility&rsquo;s risks and what&rsquo;s needed to adequately protect assets and employees, he says. OSHA&rsquo;s September 2020 deadline for biomass and bioenergy facility DHAs is looming. Rather than looking at it as meeting a regulatory requirement, Krbec recommends facilities use the document as a tool for plant personnel to use to educate themselves of the potential risks at their individual facility. &ldquo;It&rsquo;s not uncommon to realize there are areas of the plant at risk that weren't considered before,&rdquo; Krbec says. &ldquo;Something as simple as maintenance work may change once it&rsquo;s understood there&rsquo;s a hazard in that piece of equipment&mdash;for example, properly cleaning out a piece of equipment before doing any welding.&rdquo;
Dust explosions and fires aren&rsquo;t uncommon at biomass plants, Krbec points out, but the right protection equipment can make a world of difference in reducing risk and changing the outcome of a fire or explosion event. &ldquo;Typically, the No. 1 hazard we see are in particle size reduction areas&mdash;for example, the hammermill system and what&rsquo;s downstream,&rdquo; he says. &ldquo;That layered approach of spark detection and explosion protection in these areas is how an acceptable level of safety is achieved.&rdquo;
Infrared spark detection is a big advantage, according to Krbec. &ldquo;While ultraviolet spark detection systems on hammer mills can see light and sparks, they can&rsquo;t detect the really low-energy particles that may pose a threat. Infrared technology is a game-changer in those areas when used in combination with explosion protection.&rdquo;
&nbsp;The NFPA standards are documents that the biomass industry can use for guidance on combustible wood dust, but that may not be clear as there aren&rsquo;t a lot of biomass- or bioenergy-specific requirements in them. At least, not quite yet, Krbec adds. &ldquo;That is currently being worked on, and as it changes, the safety and awareness level for the biomass industry should improve.&rdquo;&nbsp;

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CV Technology prides itself on tailor-made dust explosion and fire protection solutions.

Spotlight - Custom Fire and Explosion Protection

Managing operations and maintenance (O&amp;M) expense is a critical component in ensuring a company&rsquo;s competitive position within the market.&nbsp; For biomass-fueled power generation facilities, it is of key importance that operating companies understand the market mission of each of their facilities and develop spending rationale that supports that mission.
Market Mission
Market mission can vary significantly from plant to plant, even within the same company. Numerous determinant variables can influence the mission, such as market opportunity and contractual commitments. The market mission, once understood, will help companies determine what is most important among the three keys to success: cost control, reliability and efficiency. Although all are important to the economic success of each facility (and the corporation), this article focuses on O&amp;M cost control relative to plant O&amp;M expense and its relationship to reliability. Balance An important balance exists between maintenance spending and reliability revenue (Figure 1).&nbsp; It is typical, especially when operating with thin margin revenues, for operating companies to initiate cost reductions as the first step toward desired improvement in financial performance. Although this approach can produce initial positive results from a financial perspective, history and data have shown that underbudgeting eventually leads to increases in unavailability, expenditure due to high unavailability, commercial risk and lost revenue opportunity.
Once a unit experiences poor reliability due to underfunding, it generally takes several years and significant funding to return the unit to the desired operational reliability. Cost control is of high importance to be able to stay in the game. This begs the question, &ldquo;What is the right balance for your plant?&rdquo;&nbsp; There are a couple of key points that data review, analysis and experience reveal:
&bull; It is not possible to &ldquo;cost cut&rdquo; your way to improved reliability.
&bull; Maintenance cost is driven by reliability (or lack thereof).
Taking these considerations into account helps answer the balance question: The combination of effective maintenance spending and reliability revenue produces the best bottom line results for a plant. Normalization It is unlikely that two identical biomass plants exist within a company, or even across the globe.&nbsp; There are differences from plant to plant, including those with simple configurations to those with very complex operations, or fuel quality situations that can cause variance in spending above the norm.&nbsp; Ultimately, the market does not care how complex a plant&rsquo;s operations are, nor the quality of the fuel. What the market does care about is the price of the electric commodity, and how reliably the units produce. This is where the use of data and effective normalization can&mdash;and should&mdash;be used to appropriate spending.
Many factors enter the equation that should be considered to establish effective maintenance spending budgets. Differing forms of normalization can be used, depending on the capacity factor at which a unit operates.&nbsp; The typical normalization for generating units operating at high capacity factors is on a production basis (megawatt-hour) denominator, whereas units operating at low capacity factors typically utilize installed capacity (megawatt) denominator for normalization.&nbsp;
A third method of normalization that has proven to be very effective takes the following factors (and others) into account:
&bull; Configuration: equipment installed, technology, size and age
&bull; Fuel: heating value, characteristics (percent ash, sulfur, etc.)
&bull; Utilization: Net capacity factor, net output factor, production levels, service hours and number of starts
Normalization of spending (Figure 2) can combine nonfuel O&amp;M + CapEx (black line) with variance in unavailability. This can help identify the sweet spot for the aforementioned balance.
A combination of the three normalization methods described above can lead to informed decision making when establishing plant budgets that will provide the right balance and satisfy the demands of market.&nbsp; Fuel Quality Impact For power generation assets consuming solid fuels such as biomass, fuel quality is a significant driver of nonfuel O&amp;M costs that must also be considered in establishing proper and effective budgets.&nbsp; For example, consider the comparison of solid fuel units that consume lower-grade fuel (less than 8,400 British thermal units per pound (Btu/lb); 19.54 megajoule/kilogram (MJ/kg)) to those that consume higher-grade fuel (greater than 8,400 Btu/lb; 19.54 MJ/kg). Depending on fuel qualities, the cost per megawatt-hour generated can be expected to be as much as 50% higher for the pulverizer or hammer mill components, with an even higher impact for the baghouse and nearly 35% higher for the precipitator components, if the unit is consuming a lower-quality fuel.&nbsp;
 Fuel quality can also have a significant impact on component availability. For example, utilizing the same comparative groups described above, the equivalent unplanned outage factor (EFOR) for pulverizer or hammer mill components can be expected to be approximately 25% higher for lower-grade fuels when compared to higher-grade fuels.
Plotting operating expenditures (OpEx) less fuel as a function of unit capacity factor can be useful in a company&rsquo;s fleet management financial planning. Incorporating the cost versus utilization function (Figure 3) for each unit in a fleet can refine a company&rsquo;s active fleet dispatch or long-term planning utilization models to improve the net cash margin given the fuel quality environment. This can be applied to refine unit marginal costs for producing additional MW given a certain load. This is the area where cost versus capacity relationships may have the greatest influence on fleet net cash margin. Conclusion Understanding a facility&rsquo;s market mission is the first key step to being successful in any given market.&nbsp; Once understood, appropriate spending levels (i.e., budgets) can be established that ensure the proper balance between maintenance spending and reliability revenue.&nbsp;
Quantifying the tradeoffs between fuel quality and fuel cost can significantly impact an O&amp;M budget and the unit&rsquo;s reliability performance. Are you paying less for lower-quality fuel, only to spend more in your maintenance budget? Does the lower-quality fuel get you higher dispatch levels, but also cost you more when unavailability occurs?
Normalizing the data and considering the impacts of differing grades of fuel quality are also important steps toward managing O&amp;M expense to ensure competitive position within the market.&nbsp;
*Market mission is defined as the primary key performance indicator (KPI) that optimizes the economic performance of any given asset.&nbsp; The major categories for power generation assets include reliability, efficiency and cost control. Examples could be high-availability base load, low-variable cost of production, or low, fixed-cost producer market missions, respectively. Although all performance indicators are important, identifying and focusing on the primary KPI will guide executives and plant personnel to long- and short-term business decisions that maximize opportunities for success. Having a primary market mission KPI also indicates that other performance indicators are second-tier performance indicators, and that when business decisions are made, there are tradeoffs in the real world.
&nbsp; Author: Cliff Watson
Consultant, Solomon Associates
cliff.watson@solomoninsight.com
www.solomoninsight.com

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Managing operations and maintenance (O&M) expense is a critical component in ensuring a company's competitive position within the market. 

Ensuring Plant O&M Expense Matches its Market Mission

Today, we know that the industrialization of our modern society has led to unintended consequences for our environment. Many of the means through which we power our buildings, drive our cars, and heat our spaces can have a negative impact on the planet, and on the health of those we care about.
Fortunately, much of this is changing through a global push toward clean energy sources and technology. More than ever, America is using its resourcefulness and ingenuity to usher in a cleaner future. Renewable natural gas (RNG) has become an increasingly important part of this future as a proven way to reduce our carbon footprint. Across the country, dairy farms, wastewater recovery facilities, landfills and other entities that process aggregated organic material are using methane capture and treating technologies to produce a sustainable energy resource that is displacing fossil fuel. Gasses that would otherwise be destroyed or enter the atmosphere as fugitive pollution are now purified for use in household and industrial thermal applications, to generate electricity, for vehicle fuel, and as a bio-feedstock. According to data from the U.S. Energy Information Administration, natural gas in the U.S. accounts for 29% of total electricity generation, 32% of industrial sector energy consumption, 24% of residential consumption, and 19% percent of commercial sector consumption. These numbers demonstrate that there is an undeniable opportunity to utilize gaseous waste streams to achieve deep decarbonization.
Over the past five years, RNG supply has increased by 291%. Despite that robust industry growth, much more can be done to increase consumer access to RNG. Programs that allow for utility procurement and distribution of RNG afford consumers the opportunity to decarbonize immediately, without the need to upgrade existing commercial or household appliances or industrial equipment. In Michigan, for example, DTE Energy offers its customers the option of paying $2.50 more on their monthly gas bill to participate in its BioGreenGas program and receive RNG from Michigan landfills and Wisconsin dairy farms. In Minnesota, Centerpoint Energy is working to provide a voluntary RNG program to 8,000 customers. Summit Utilities in Maine has partnered with the state&rsquo;s dairy industry to provide locally produced RNG to its customers. Northwest Natural, Dominion, National Grid, SoCalGas and many other utilities throughout the country are offering or developing similar RNG options.
With increasing supply and awareness, interest in RNG is also growing for its potential contributions to organizational sustainability. RNG-generated electricity helps companies reduce their carbon footprint and transition to a sustainable, baseload source of clean power that compliments investments in intermittent renewable power sources. For organizations with operations that require significant gas consumption, such those using gas in industrial heating applications, RNG can serve as an immediate drop-in substitute, in whole or part, helping companies realize their sustainability goals while maintaining their existing equipment and processes.
As demand for RNG grows, the RNG Coalition is working with the Midwest Renewable Energy Tracking System, or M-RETS, to expand the use of its renewable natural gas tracking system, and with Center for Resource Solutions on their Green-e&reg; Renewable Fuels certification program. With these new tools for RNG tracking and certification, consumers can choose RNG with increasing confidence, knowing that it meets the highest standards for environmental responsibility and sustainability.
RNG also provides significant opportunity to lower the carbon intensity of U.S. transportation fuel, because it is the lowest-carbon energy source available for use in both combustion- and electric-based transportation. When measured by &ldquo;cradle-to-grave&rdquo; life cycle analyses, which include the carbon impacts of atmospheric carbon avoidance, methane emissions processing and transport, deployment in a natural gas or electric vehicles, and displacement of gasoline or diesel, RNG can be carbon neutral or even carbon negative.
When used as a transportation fuel, RNG offers communities fuel price stability and fuel security for critical public services, including emergency response, garbage collection and construction, as well as bus fleets that take children to school and residents to work. RNG also provides a secure fuel for the trucking sector&mdash;an industry that transports as much as 70% of the nation&rsquo;s raw materials and goods to every corner of the country.
And despite what naysayers argue, supply isn&rsquo;t a limiting factor. According to a study by QSS Group, funded by the U.S. DOE, RNG production potential from organic waste is nearly 10 billion diesel gallon equivalents, more than 25 percent of the 38 billion gallons of diesel consumed each year.
RNG is good for local economies, with more than 250,000 new jobs estimated from industry development. Every city and town, large and small, and every rural area in America produces waste that can be converted to RNG. And because RNG is transported through existing gas pipelines, expanded use of RNG does not require significant infrastructure investment.
Capturing biogas and upgrading it to RNG can also greatly improve on-farm economics. This is especially true of farms with livestock, particularly cattle, hogs and chickens. Moreover, by codigesting local food waste in on-farm anaerobic digesters, we create a more circular economy.
RNG is an integral part of the balanced portfolio of low-carbon technologies needed to realize a clean energy future. In a recent study by MJ Bradley and Associates, the benefits of using renewable biofuels was analyzed as a complementary strategy to electrification and other efficiency measures to significantly reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions in the Northeast and Mid-Atlantic U.S. The study found that, under moderately aggressive adoption scenarios, a combination of renewable biofuels and electrification yielded greater reductions in GHG, nitrogen oxides, and particulate matter than either strategy alone.
As we work to achieve high-level reductions in atmospheric carbon and methane within the timeframe necessary to avoid the worst impacts of climate change, we need to employ every viable and effective tool at our disposal. RNG helps address the challenges presented by GHG emissions, fossil fuel consumption, and societal waste. As we progress in our journey to deep decarbonization, RNG will continue to play an increasingly important role. Contact: Sam Lehr Manager of Sustainability &amp; Markets Policy RNG Coalition sam@rngcoalition.com www.rngcoalition.com

Anaerobic digestion and biogas capture, with subsequent upgrading to renewable natural gas, can greatly improve on-farm economics, especially those with livestock such as cattle, hogs and chickens. 

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Renewable natural gas (RNG) has become an increasingly important part America's push toward clean energy sources and technology. 

RNG's Growing Role in  Decarbonization Strategies

For ideal operation and combustion, biomass pellet systems require product of uniform size, shape, density and moisture content. To accomplish this, raw materials typically go through many processing steps that generate dust. Combined with many potential sources of ignition, present are all the ingredients for a dust explosion.
When a plant&rsquo;s dust explosion potential is evaluated, three questions must be asked: How can a deflagration event be prevented from starting? How can pressure created from a deflagration be mitigated? How can a deflagration be prevented from propagating to another piece of equipment or into the environment around the equipment?
Relevant NFPA codes that apply to wood pellet processing are NFPA 68 Standard on Explosion Protection by Deflagration Venting, NFPA 69 Standard on Explosion Prevention Systems, and NFPA 654 Standard for the Prevention of Fire and Dust Explosions from the Manufacturing, Processing and Handling of Combustible Particulate Solids.
To protect process equipment and personnel, a hybrid of technical measures is often required. Among the options are passive devices like explosion vents, along with active devices such as explosion suppression and spark detection and extinguishing systems. In addition, chemical or mechanical isolation devices are required to protect connected equipment and piping from propagation that could lead to a secondary event, which can often be more dangerous and destructive than the initial event. Dust Explosion Prevention Explosions result from the ignition of dust when mixed with air during processing, handling or storage operations. A rapid rise in pressure occurs in the containing structure, and if it is not of adequate strength to withstand the pressure, extensive damage and injury to personnel can occur.
Equipment in which airborne dust can accumulate include mechanical conveyors. Whenever an enclosed conveyor is being filled or emptied, there is a potential dust cloud that could be ignited. Dust collection equipment such as baghouses are particularly subject to potential explosions since they typically handle the driest, finest dust in a process. Dust can also accumulate when conveyed in bucket elevators, or when pellets are discharged into silos.
The first step in mitigating the risk for a dust explosion is preventing an event from occurring.&nbsp; Good housekeeping keeps the area free of dust and is a vital activity to protect both the building structure and personnel. Identifying and controlling potential ignition sources is also critical. While ignition sources cannot be totally eliminated, they can be significantly reduced. Techniques include spark detection along with monitoring temperature, belt alignment, slippage and motor drive overloading.
Dryers, which are used to reduce moisture content below 10% in pellet production, are one of the potential ignition sources. Temperature, flow and moisture monitoring are also important tools to help prevent ignition. Size reduction equipment such as hammer mills can also present a potential ignition source, either from foreign materials entering the mill or due to an internal failure.&nbsp; The introduction of metal and other foreign materials must be avoided using solutions such as stone separators and magnetic separators. Dust Explosion Venting During the early stages of a dust or gas explosion, explosion vents quickly open at a predetermined burst pressure, allowing the rapidly expanding combustion gases to escape into the atmosphere and limit the pressure generated inside the process equipment to calculated safe limits.
Venting is the most widely adopted protection mechanism because it provides an economical solution and is often considered &ldquo;fit-and-forget&rdquo; solution. However, it is important to note that vents need to be regularly inspected per NFPA 68. For decades, explosion vents have traditionally been designed using a &ldquo;composite&rdquo; approach that sandwiches plastic film between more resistant stainless steel sheets with holes or slots cut into them.&nbsp; These vents are designed to open at typically 1 to 1.5 PSI set pressure.
With this type of technology, over time, the holes and slots in the stainless steel sheets can admit particulates and debris. The buildup can eventually affect the functionality of the vent. A vent that becomes heavier in weight will open slowly and less efficiently. A better solution is a single-section explosion vent, comprised of a solitary sheet of stainless steel in a domed configuration. Perforations around the perimeter aid opening at the desired low-set pressure are protected with gasket materials.&nbsp; The single-section domed design produces a vent that is more robust, lighter in weight and largely eliminates the potential for buildup or contamination.&nbsp;
Despite its popularity, explosion vents will not work for every application. With venting, the combustion process releases a large ball of flame into the atmosphere.
While this might be an acceptable consequence for outdoor equipment such as silos, for applications within a plant, it could endanger personnel or equipment, and even lead to a secondary explosion. In cases where a flame ball must be avoided, flameless venting can be deployed. Flameless vents are designed to absorb the pressure wave, flame and particulates that would normally be ejected by a vented explosion.
To address this need, companies like BS&amp;B Pressure Safety Management provide a flameless system designed with the vent installed inside a housing that incorporates a flame arrestor. Explosion Suppression Equipment For processes where an explosion would ideally be prevented altogether, suppression systems are the optimal alternative.&nbsp; Explosion suppression equipment detects a dust explosion in the first milliseconds of the event, signaling explosion suppressors to rapidly release a flame-quenching medium, such as sodium bicarbonate, into the process equipment. This effectively stops the explosion in its infancy and results in a reduced explosion pressure that is safe for the protected equipment.
For a 24/7 process, a suppression system can be desirable because the speed of cleanup and refit allows for a quick return to production. With venting or flameless venting, the explosion fully develops in the process equipment, requiring cleanup, fire-related damages and other consequences that take time to get the process back into operation.
A typical suppression system consists of sensors and several explosion suppression cannons that propel an extinguishing agent into the process equipment. Pressurized nitrogen is typically used to provide the motive power. Explosion Isolation Chemical isolation systems protect interconnected equipment in the event of an explosion. Ducting and piping connecting process equipment can propagate an explosion of even greater intensity, and this is why NFPA 64 calls for isolation. If unprotected, the ducting, piping and connected vessels and equipment are at risk.
Broadly, explosion isolation can be categorized as passive or active, per NFPA 69. A common example of passive isolation is a flap valve that is essentially a one-way valve installed on the inlet duct to a dust collector. The flap is open during normal operation, latching close against a seat in response to the cessation of air flow and a pressure wave traveling in the opposite direction. These valves must be mounted horizontally, and due to pressure piling, must be mounted on a duct having a strength twice that of the reduced explosion pressure for the equipment it is isolating.
Another example of a passive isolation device is a suitably designed airlock to isolate a hopper in the event of a deflagration. These devices must conform to the requirements of NFPA 69 to provide adequate isolation. Not all rotary airlocks are equal in this regard.
Chemical isolation systems overcome the application limitation of flap-style valves. Chemical isolation is an active isolation method that typically consists of an explosion pressure detector that triggers a chemical suppressor. Chemical isolation is not limited to horizontal ducts or air flow direction.
Furthermore, chemical isolation can used on rectangular ducts and casings with moving internals such as drag conveyors.&nbsp; This method of isolation provides the more economical solution for large ducts. Dust explosion prevention and mitigation systems must be tailored to the application and the specific equipment used. Careful attention to prevention, mitigation and isolation will ensure the protection of both personnel and plant while limiting the potential for preventable business interruptions. &nbsp; Author: Clive Nixon BS&amp;B Pressure Safety Management LLC (918) 622-5950 sales@bsbsystems.com www.bsbsystems.com

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Components of a typical explosion suppression system 

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Dust explosion prevention and mitigation systems must be tailored to the application and the specific equipment used. 

Preventing Dust Explosions in Pellet  Production

The economic impacts of the coronavirus continued to challenge the forest industry in Q2 2020. The pulp and paper sector tends to follow economic growth subject to its product lines, whether pressured&mdash;newsprint and copy paper&mdash;or profitable&mdash;tissue and packaging. The volatility in Q1 2020 is adequately summed by the adage, &ldquo;We&rsquo;re all in this together.&rdquo; This saying might best be revised in Q2 to &ldquo;Well, we&rsquo;re all in the same storm, but we&rsquo;re riding it out in different boats.&rdquo; Sinking boats were made of newsprint and writing paper, while boats made of tissue and linerboard weathered the initial waves with fewer problems. Pulp and paper capacity in eastern Canada skews toward the former, rather than the latter.&nbsp; Increasing wood pellet production capacity in eastern Canada provides an additional market for fiber, and unlike the pulp and paper sector, industrial wood pellet production is driven by long-term offtake agreements.
The modest price movements in Q2 2020 for most wood fiber products in eastern Canada belied turmoil within the region&rsquo;s fiber markets. With the exception of softwood roundwood in the Maritime provinces, which were flat on the quarter, fiber prices declined in Q2 2020 (Figure 2). Softwood roundwood prices in Ontario and Quebec declined 1%, as did softwood chips. Meanwhile, hardwood roundwood prices declined between 2 and 8%, depending on the region. Spring breakup and lower activity in the region generally limited the number of transactions, masking the anticipated volatility in fiber markets.
The coronavirus deteriorated market conditions for printing and writing paper and has accelerated newsprint&rsquo;s decline as well. Nearly 12% of eastern Canada&rsquo;s pulping capacity reported some level of curtailment tied to COVID-19 impacts. Hardwood pulpwood values fell across the region as major hardwood consuming mills (many producing printing and writing paper) closed or significantly slowed operations. In the Maritime provinces, Port Hawkesbury temporarily halted wood purchases, following Northern Pulp&rsquo;s closure, in an effort to reduce surplus supply. Closures of newsprint mills also impacted softwood residual chip prices. Two Resolute Forest Products millsâ€•Amos and Baie-Comeau, Quebecâ€•announced closures. Annual supply agreements negotiated before mill contractions supported chip prices. Prices are anticipated to decline further, however, as new contracts are signed later in the year.
The reduction in chip demand is an additional headwind to eastern Canadian lumber producers.&nbsp; Despite sawmill curtailments as a result of the coronavirus, which temporarily curtailed 8% of the regions softwood lumber capacity, fiber supply outstripped demand as a result of pulp and paper mill closures. One of the largest sawmills in the region, Freeman Lumber, reported its impending closure in Q2 2020, citing the inability to sell residual chips before reversing course when new supply contracts were secured.
Wood pellet production provides an additional market for chips and sawmill residuals. The region serves domestic home heating as well as international markets. Higher production volumes are anticipated as the region continues to increase capacity. Of note, Barrette-Chapais&rsquo;s 210,000-metric ton (MT) Granules 777 facility in Quebec and JD Irving&rsquo;s 100,000-MT Grand River Pellets mill in New Brunswick came online in 2019. La Granaudi&egrave;re&rsquo;s 200,000-MT facility in Quebec is under construction and is expected to be operational by the end of 2020.
Since 2016, eastern Canada has represented, on average, 16% of Canada&rsquo;s wood pellet export volumes. In Q2 2020, however, the region saw a material decline in export volumes, falling to 87,000 MT, a 49% decline from Q4 2019. While volumes generally trend lower in the first quarter, year-over-year Q1 2020 wood pellet exports from eastern Canada were still 23% lower than in 2019. New Brunswick represented the largest volume decline as wood pellet exports fell 74% from the previous quarter (Figure 2). The magnitude of the decline, which reflected a drop in export volume from the province to the United Kingdom, was partially a function of higher-than-average Q4 2019 export volumes. Quebec, the largest exporting province in Q1 2020, also declined from the previous quarter. The 52,000 MT of volume represented a 21% decline from Q4 2019 as exports to Italy fell 91%, reflecting low prices for fossil fuel as well as impacts from the coronavirus.
The modest price movements in Q2 2020 for most wood fiber products in eastern Canada masked turmoil within the region&rsquo;s fiber markets. Managers and executives across the forest products industry adjusted production in response to the economic impacts of the coronavirus. While eastern Canada&rsquo;s wood pellet capacity is increasing, the region&rsquo;s pulp and paper sector declined as lumber production was curtailed. Increased fiber price volatility in the region is expected as market activity increases entering the summer. Author: Andrew Copley Forisk Consulting LLC 770-725-8477 acopley@forisk.com

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Forisk Consulting LLC discusses the impact of COVID-19 on second quarter fiber prices in eastern Canada. 

Forisk Wood Fiber Review: Eastern Canada Fiber Prices  in Q2 2020

In 2019, wood pellet producers in the U.S. consumed over 18 million tons of wood fiber, nearly 80% of which was the byproduct of upstream sawmilling and wood product manufacturing. Since 2012, wood fiber demand from pellet producers has steadily risen along with global demand for wood pellets. In 2019 alone, wood pellet producers spent nearly $500 million on residual wood fiber, greatly expanding the overall value of harvested wood while providing an offtake option for wood product manufacturers that, 20 years ago, simply was not there. Since 2016, the first year the U.S. Energy Information Administration began tracking wood pellet production and fiber procurement, wood pellet manufacturers have spent $1.6 billion purchasing over 50 million tons of residuals. The emergence of wood pellet producers as a steady and consistent buyer of wood fiber is a classic example of value-added forestry, but also highlights the difficulties of balancing the supply and demand relationship between markets that are simultaneously intertwined and disconnected.
Sawdust, wood shavings and wood chips are inevitably produced when whole logs are converted into dimensional lumber, wood flooring, cabinets and pallets. While efficiencies and innovation in sawmilling have reduced the amount of waste created in the conversion process, mountains of residues are created in the wood products sector, and manufacturers rely on steady and consistent offtake partners to move the material off their sites and bolster their bottom line.
This dynamic is not new. Stephen Faehner&rsquo;s family has been connecting fiber makers with fiber takers for longer than a century.Faehner, president and CEO of American Wood Fibers, notes that while the end markets may have changed, the challenges remain the same. &ldquo;My great grandfather, Eugene Faehner, was a brewer in New York City in the early 1900s,&rdquo; he says. &ldquo;When prohibition was passed, he found himself out of work with a growing family to feed. He got a horse and buggy and started picking up fiber in the city and finding buyers for it.&rdquo; Building a business of diversified buyers, Eugene Faehner sold the city&rsquo;s robust fiber streams to furriers, livery stables and even as an abrasive to tumble-polish nails.
Over 70 years later in Goshen, Indiana, Fiber By-Product&rsquo;s Dale Schrock began sourcing wood fiber for his own farm&rsquo;s poultry operation from local wood product manufacturers. Schrock cemented himself not only as a consistent offtake partner for the wood product manufacturing base, but also as a reliable and trusted source of bedding for the other livestock operators in the area, and the phone was always ringing. The business grew throughout the 1980s and &lsquo;90s, and as the economy surged the late &lsquo;90s and mid-2000s, Schrock would eventually have to confront the same challenging question that Eugene Faehner faced in 1930s New York: What happens when the fiber supply doesn&rsquo;t synch up with fiber demand?
Faehner and Schrock both recognized the value they have offered to their suppliers is consistency. Sawmills cannot be impeded by growing piles of sawdust, and in those early days, it would often give it away so long as it was removed regularly.
Eager to remain in step with the fiber output of his supplier base and emboldened by low fiber prices, Schrock turned to wood pellet manufacturing to absorb some of the inbound fiber and grow his business.&nbsp; In 2006, Fiber By-Products moved off the Schrock farm, establishing itself in nearby White Pigeon, Michigan, and subsequently building a wood pellet manufacturing facility that produced 20,000 tons of product in its first year. Built as a remedy for more fiber than the facility could handle, it didn&rsquo;t take long before the script flipped on Fiber By-Products.
The economic downturn of 2007-&lsquo;09 hit the company&rsquo;s fiber suppliers hard, and inbound material slowed to a trickle. Fiber By-Products had already proved itself as a producer capable of producing tens of thousands of tons of product, and customers counted on&nbsp; its volume. Fortunately, perhaps in anticipation of such a scenario, Fiber By-Products had installed a drum dryer when its facility was built, despite having enjoyed steady access to premium kiln-dried secondary wood production manufacturing residuals for years. &ldquo;For the first few years, that beautiful new dryer just sat, and a number of times we wondered we had even installed it,&rdquo; says Cory Schrock, vice president of operations. The dryer was a hedge, the type of alternative that successful, experienced farmers like Dale Schrock learn to put in place before there&rsquo;s a problem. &ldquo;We had a couple of cabinet shops and mills close their doors during the recession and didn&rsquo;t have enough material coming in,&rdquo; Schrock says. &ldquo;We got that dryer running and it ran full time for a couple of years.&rdquo;
The dryer allowed Fiber By-Products to reach further up the wood products supply chain and brought green material into play for its operation. Without it, Schrock doubts the pellet business at Fiber By-Products would have survived. Inventory as Buffer While diminished fiber markets present real challenges for producers, diminished demand brings its own&mdash;and perhaps even greater&mdash;challenges for pellet producers. During the heating season of 2015-&rsquo;16, pellet sales lagged dramatically in the second half of the season. According to U.S. EIA data, January through April of 2016 was the lowest wood pellet sales total (364,628 tons) when compared to the same time frame in the report&rsquo;s five-year history, and by a wide margin. January to April sales exceeded 600,000 tons in 2018, 2019 and 2020. Interestingly, residual purchases during the same time periods over the 2016- &lsquo;20 timeframe do not correlate with diminished sales. Wood pellet producers bought 3.6 million tons of residual fiber during that same period time in 2016, 3.2 million tons in 2017, and 3.7 million tons in 2018. Wood pellet producers, rather than turn fiber away and create hardships for their longtime fiber partners, continued to take fiber and simply converted it into inventory. National wood pellet inventories climbed 150,000 tons between January and April 2016. The industry hasn&rsquo;t built that much inventory in late winter since then, averaging just half that amount each year.
&ldquo;When the pellet industry turned down in 2016, we could have pulled back from our vendors and turned our production down,&rdquo; Schrock says. &ldquo;We didn&rsquo;t want to ruin those relationships. We had 26,000 tons of wood pellets in our warehouse at once. Without that fiber being densified, we couldn&rsquo;t have stored it, and we would have had to dump it or turn it away. Then, once demand came back, we wouldn&rsquo;t have been able to run fast enough to catch up.&rdquo;
While wood pellets are an effective way to store wood fiber volumetrically, they can create cash flow challenges for producers. Inventory levels peaked in September 2016 as producers had amassed 630,000 tons of inventory. Except in rare instances, inventory doesn&rsquo;t generate revenue until it ships, and as the heating season began in 2016, producers had nearly $100 million worth of wood pellets sitting in warehouses as they waited and hoped for winter.
Inventory levels have declined steadily since, with monthly inventory averages falling from over 500,000 tons in 2016 to under 150,000 tons last year. Since October 2018, inventory levels have never climbed past 250,000 tons and the industry seems to have developed a comfortable, but perhaps temporary balance, between fiber supply and pellet demand. A Pandemic Disruption In mid-March as the coronavirus pandemic descended on the American economy, wood pellet manufacturers braced for a sudden tightening of fiber supplies. Hardwood sawmills across the country were already struggling to manage retaliatory tariffs from China, their largest export customer, when coronavirus began to accelerate, and manufacturers considered the possibility of government-mandated shutdowns. In mid-March, manufacturers across the country worked to establish themselves with state governments as essential businesses hoping to remain in operation. Later that month, they were offered a reprieve when the U.S. Department of Homeland Security and the Centers for Disease Control established wood product manufacturers as essential, and states quickly followed suit.
Still, what remains unanswered is the impact on demand for upstream wood pellet manufacturers, and in turn, their output of wood fiber. The do-it-yourself fervor generated by the pandemic created intense demand for softwood dimensional lumber, but the story around hardwood fiber inventories is less clear. The most recent EIA data is current through April, and the only indication the report offers in terms of a tightening fiber supply is in the category of sawmill residuals. In April, well into the coronavirus outbreak, wood pellet manufacturers purchased just 223,000 tons of fiber, more than 20% off of the 2019 monthly average of 301,000 tons. All other residual categories were above or near their category&rsquo;s 2019 averages. If the coronavirus pandemic is going to significantly impede wood pellet producers&rsquo; ability to get ample fiber, it hasn&rsquo;t yet shown up in the data.
Instead, EIA data suggests that 2020 may well see record wood fiber purchases by pellet producers since it launched its Monthly Densified Biomass Fuel Report in 2016. Even with six weeks of COVID-19 reflected in the available data, 2020&rsquo;s first four months saw producers buy 4.6 million tons of residuals, up slightly from 4.4 million tons last year and considerably up from the 3.7 million tons they purchased in January through April 2018. Additionally, wood pellet producers are beginning to hear reports from retail partners that pellet BBQ sales are up significantly, heating pellet appliance sales are also up, and that work-from-home and school-from-home mandates may increase daytime wood pellet usage this heating season. So long as upstream sawmills and wood product manufacturers continue to operate and produce fiber, they&rsquo;ll find no shortage of wood pellet producers willing to buy it. Author: Tim Portz Executive Director, Pellet Fuels Institute tim@pelletheat.org www.pelletheat.org

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While sawmills have become more efficient and innovative over time, a vast amount of residue is still generated. Wood pellet 
producers must find the delicate balance of buying the volume required to meet production needs, and buying what a supplier 

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Wood pellet producers face a difficult challenge in balancing fiber supply 
and wood pellet demand.

Connecting Fiber Makers and Fiber Takers

Since the time most biomass and waste-to-energy plants were built&mdash;in the U.S., in the late 1970s and &lsquo;80s&mdash;the basic concept has remained: fuel is combusted in the facility&rsquo;s boilers, and the resulting high-pressure steam drives a turbine to create electricity that powers homes, businesses or is used on-site.&nbsp;
A closer look, however, will reveal technological sophistication that has allowed both aging and new plants to adapt or compete in an evolving energy landscape through increased energy efficiency and plant availability, reduced maintenance costs, improved operator effectiveness, and lower lifecycle costs.
Juha-Pekka Jalkanen, responsible for Valmet Energy&rsquo;s process and marine automation business, has been in the industry long enough to witness the evolution of plant automation technologies. Jalkanen graduated from Helsinki University of Technology in Finland with a master&rsquo;s degree in energy technology, environmental protection technologies and control engineering and has worked in a wide range of disciplines in the power industry. He joined the Valmet team in 2003, he says, and since then has been responsible for advance process control and reporting solutions for power generation controls, including various boiler technologies, steam and gas turbine controls and balance of plant automation. Valmet&rsquo;s DNA system&mdash;a process automation and information management platform&mdash;combines all controls into a single platform and is used widely in power plants, the paper industry and on cruise ships, according to Jalkanen. &ldquo;It&rsquo;s impossible to think about a modern power plant without an automation system,&rdquo; he says.&nbsp; &ldquo;In a nutshell, it&rsquo;s needed to monitor, safely control and report the process.&rdquo;
The automation system, or more precisely, the distributed control system (DCS) is the &ldquo;brain and central nervous system of the plant and ensures reliable and predictable plant operation for maximum performance,&rdquo; says Dieter Fluck, Siemens Energy vice president of global technology and engineering. &ldquo;The DCS is designed to operate processes in a plant without the permanent interaction of people on-site. It collects all relevant data, and monitors and controls the plant.&rdquo;
Beyond the general purposes of an automation system, one is only as good as the programs and logic programmed within it, according to Jalkanen. Basic, Evolving and Crucial Roles Importantly, the automation user interface should be easy to learn, Jalkanen says, as well as intuitive, and it should support efficient trouble shooting in order to quickly address reliability issues in the case of an upset or boiler trip. &ldquo;For biomass plants, modern control tools allow for automatic adjustments not only for load changes, but also fuel quality changes and fuel feed upsets,&rdquo; he says. &ldquo;Operators need timely alarms to indicate abnormal conditions, and good trending functions to ascertain that any given process is operating within acceptable parameters.&rdquo;
From an automation perspective, biomass plants operate with limited personnel, Jalkanen says, and over time, the task of the automation system has evolved from transmitting control and feedback signals between operator and field equipment to intuitive process control, advanced diagnostics, automatic optimization response and enhanced reporting functions.&nbsp; &ldquo;The job of training new operators and ease of use has also evolved, allowing the use of remote monitoring from tablets and cell phone platforms that support staffing requirement changes,&rdquo; he says.
In today&rsquo;s energy landscape, the power generation industry faces challenges, and biomass plants must adapt to remain competitive with other energy sources. &ldquo;There&rsquo;s even more of a need to focus on increasing power plant performance, including maximizing commercial availability of the plants,&rdquo; Fluck says. &ldquo;Solar or wind enforces the need to operate power plants more flexibly for adaptation to volatile market demand, and the DCS should ensure optimal operation of the plant processes.&rdquo;
Due to the volatile market demands, according to Fluck, load changes have become more and more frequent. &ldquo;These frequent load changes can be optimized, and changes can be engineered online with Siemens&rsquo;s SPPA-T3000 control system, in order to ensure flexible adaptions to market needs during operations,&rdquo; he says. &ldquo;For biomass plants, the DCS has to handle strong variations and fluctuations in the fuel&rsquo;s energy content. Stabilizing steam and power production, increasing efficiency and reduction of the manual interventions of the operational staff are crucial tasks to the DCS.&rdquo;
The operator&rsquo;s effectiveness and efficiency are crucial to the performance of the entire plant, Fluck adds. &ldquo;The reliability and predictability of the entire power plant&rsquo;s operation depend heavily on the operator&rsquo;s ability to do the right things right.&nbsp; A control system should be precisely geared to the tasks of control room operators, with a modern and intuitive user interface that provides relevant information and gives direct access to the essential functions.&rdquo;
Reliability aside, the application automation is only as intelligent as the weakest control loop or logic that&rsquo;s been programmed in it, Jalkanen says. &ldquo;Our experience in the most challenging cogeneration environment&mdash;pulp and paper mills&mdash;has greatly influenced our concepts to control boiler load during load demand changes or fuel feed and quality disturbances. We have also found integration of steam turbine controls to the DCS very powerful in biomass combustion. For example, during severe fuel disturbances, we can manage the combination of boiler and turbine as a one functioning unit, creating a disturbance response that saves the entire power plant from a total trip.
Fluck and Jalkanen emphasize the significant automation advancements made over the past 20-plus years. &ldquo;Artificial intelligence tools were available 20 years ago, however, remote work capability and industrial internet is significantly better today,&rdquo; Jalkanen says. Advancements, Trends, Challenges Today, plants are operated with minimum personnel, and whole processes are designed from the start to be operated by single operator, or even remotely, Jalkanen says. &ldquo;Powerful process stations enable more user friendly and intuitive operating interfaces and control solutions that, 10 years ago, needed separate process stations. Control technologies available now wouldn&rsquo;t increase the number of process stations.&rdquo;&nbsp;
In the past, Fluck says, several operators in one control room were required to run a whole plant and its power plant operation. While central control rooms are a solution when there is a lack of experienced personnel or plants running below capacity to the extent that around-the-clock staffing isn&rsquo;t viable, they only make sense if they are more than just multiple control desks for different plants in one single room, according to Fluck. And, operators must be able to control a whole group of different plants with heterogeneous control systems as if they were physically on-site. &ldquo;The whole concept is only economically feasible if the underlying control systems don&rsquo;t need to be modified or replaced, and the existing communication infrastructure can be used,&rdquo; he says.
As for industry trends, the power market has been moving toward smaller power generation units, Fluck says, and for small, distributed and mostly unmanned systems like biomass and bioenergy plants, it&rsquo;s crucial to ensure equipment is running smoothly and can be serviced from a central location, or even operated and monitored remotely. &ldquo;The SPPA-T3000 is a very scalable DCS, not only for large-scale plants with tens of thousands of signals, but it can be scaled down to meet the needs of the different plant sizes, including smaller systems like biomass plants,&rdquo; he says.
Being able to solve problems at any hour of the day is crucial for the availability of bioenergy and multifuel plants, as their energy production is twice as expensive compared to coal fired power plants, Fluck points out. &ldquo;The reliability and predictability of power plant operations greatly depend on the control room operator&rsquo;s ability to take the right action at the right time,&rdquo; he says.
And in the modern day of cyber-attacks, risks of being affected increases each day. &ldquo;This risk is dramatically higher if a system is not protected, or if protection is not updated regularly,&rdquo; Fluck says. &ldquo;Patch management ensures efficient online security patch installation to all the applicable components, which reduces the accidental risk of producing security gaps due to the unpatched system components. &ldquo;The SPPA-T3000&rsquo;s built-in redundancy minimizes the effort for future updates and upgrades, as well as for the deployment of security patches.&rdquo;
Finally, many shutdowns and slow-downs are caused by people, and today&rsquo;s automation technology has significantly reduced humor error. &ldquo;The power plant&rsquo;s output is formed by thousands of sensors and signals, motors and pumps, drives and fans,&rdquo; Fluck says. &ldquo;The daily responsibility of the operator is to monitor and control, readjust, and correct any issues in all of these components. Smooth periods spent working through the various required tasks can suddenly be interrupted by periods of hectic activity to counter disturbances in the plant&rsquo;s operation or failures of the plant equipment. In these situations, operators need to focus on what really matters. They need less raw, unfiltered information. Information floods, unfiltered messages, alerts or inappropriate analysis reporting simply complicate the ability to adequately respond to a plant disturbance.&rdquo;
At biomass and bioenergy plants, typical operator error situations relate to slow or delayed processes, such as managing bed temperature during fuel quality change, Jalkanen says. &ldquo;For one project, the operators tended to push the boiler past operating limits and ended up burning bag filter elements,&rdquo; he says. &ldquo;We solved that with load maximization control guiding the boiler right to the edge, but not over. Many of our solutions eliminate human error by automatically reacting to severe disturbances or limiting controls to design limits&mdash;for example, when an operator wouldn&rsquo;t be fast enough to react to a fuel feed disturbance, but Valmet&rsquo;s load allocation solution would distribute the load request automatically to remaining fuel lines, carefully managing not to exceed maximum amounts these lines could exceed or sustain.&rdquo;&nbsp;
&nbsp;An ideal DCS enables the operator to deal with unexpected challenges, Fluck adds. &ldquo;The operator&rsquo;s ability to function in an appropriate manner is supported by a control system that delivers the right information, in the right manner, at the right time.&rdquo;
&nbsp;
Author: Anna Simet Editor, Biomass Magazine 701-738-4961 asimet@bbiinternational.com
 --------------------- SIDE BAR -------------------------------------------------
Smart Bulk Handling Breakthroughs When Martin Engineering was founded in 1944, it set out to become a global innovator in the bulk material handling industry by developing new solutions to common problems while improving safety and productivity.&nbsp; A quarter of a century later, the company&rsquo;s products, sales, service and training are available through 19 factory-owned facilities worldwide, with 1,000-plus employees and wholly-owned business units in dozens of countries. And, the company&rsquo;s series of Foundations books is an internationally-recognized resource for safety, maintenance and operations training, with more than 20,000 print copies in circulation around the world.&nbsp;
One of Martin Engineering&rsquo;s latest innovations is its Martin N2 Position Indicator, which the company describes as a&nbsp; &ldquo;game-changer in the industry, with a positive impact on productivity, operating costs and safety.&rdquo;
The device, used to measure the wear of a conveyor belt cleaner blade, wirelessly provides information to a plant operator or service technician. &ldquo;Plant personnel no longer need to guess at how long the cleaner blade will last, or to physically visit the cleaner to check blade wear,&rdquo; says Paul Harrison, chief technology officer at Martin Engineering. &ldquo;So, for example, maintenance shutdowns for blade changes can be planned with much greater certainty. Optionally, knowing that a blade may not last until the next planned shutdown, an operator may decide to replace a blade before its useful surface is completely consumed, understanding that he would have had spillage otherwise because the blade would not have lasted until the next planned shutdown.&rdquo;
Knowing when a blade requires changing means one does not have to have as many spares on hand just in case, Harrison says. &ldquo;The potential for reduced carryback&mdash;because blades are tensioned and replaced at the right time&mdash;has significant cost savings attached to it. These productivity gains lead to lowered operating costs.&rdquo;
Eliminating the need for blade inspection reduces the time maintenance staff need to spend near the conveyor.&nbsp; &ldquo;To be hurt by a conveyor, one needs to be near a conveyor," Harrison says. "The only time access is needed is during bladeretensioning or replacement.&rdquo;
&nbsp;In another move toward &ldquo;smarter&rdquo; material handling, Martin has introduced an automated pneumatic tensioning system for belt cleaners. &ldquo;The N2 Twist Tensioner does everything the N2 PI does, but also maintains the tension on the blade, enhancing the game-changer benefits of the N2 PI,&rdquo; Harrison says. &ldquo;The benefit of automated or powered tensioning is increased data output for greater predictability, more precise and consistent tensioning, reduced wear and reduced labor for daily monitoring and periodic adjustment.&rdquo;
Equipped with sensors that confirm the belt is loaded and running, the system automatically backs the blade away during stoppages or when the conveyor is running empty, minimizing unnecessary wear to both the belt and cleaner blade, Harrison adds. &ldquo;The result is consistently correct blade tension with reduced power demand on startup, all managed without operator intervention.&rdquo; 
 --------------------- SIDE BAR -------------------------------------------------

Valmet DNA is a distributed control system for process automation applications that combines all process controls into a single platform.

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Siemens describes its SPPA-T3000 as a power plant control system tailored to the operator's tasks and requirements, enabling them to take the right action at the right time.  

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The Martin N2 Position Indicator monitors conveyor belt cleaners, relieving employees of having to physically visit them, and delivers real-time data via cell phone to improve process efficiency and personnel safety.  

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Evolving waste-to-energy and biomass plant technologies are enabling facilities to become more sophisticated, efficient, competitive and safe.

Analyzing Automation

Spring arrives late in Rusk County, Wisconsin. Situated in the northwestern part of the state, Rusk County is rural, heavily wooded and home to Indeck Energy Wood Pellets, an important Upper Midwest producer of home heating, and increasingly, barbeque grilling and smoking pellets. This spring, as temperatures began to rise and the ground thawed, Darren Winchester, plant manager at Indeck Energy Wood Pellets, was optimistic. Typically, March slows operations significantly, as inbound orders wind down and retailers are happy to sell down their pellet inventories as the heating season draws to a close. Additionally, road restrictions significantly limit logging activity, and in years past, it hasn&rsquo;t been uncommon for Indeck Energy Wood Pellets to reduce shifts and slow production in March.
In the earliest days of 2020, Winchester knew this spring would be different for his plant. After years of hard work, his team&rsquo;s effort to establish their plant as not only a reliable contributor to heating pellet inventory in the region, but also as a source for BBQ pellets, had paid off. The lull in inbound orders the plant normally experienced in February and March was instead replaced by strong activity and production, and spring proceeded full-steam ahead.
As Winchester and his team managed a busier spring, the most disruptive public health crisis in a century was building momentum. Wisconsin had its first coronavirus case as early as Feb. 5, when a resident of Dane County became just the country&rsquo;s 12th confirmed case of COVID-19. Positive cases came sparingly in Wisconsin for the rest of February and early March, but the coronavirus had everyone&rsquo;s attention, including Winchester&rsquo;s. &ldquo;In early March, you could see it building,&rdquo; Winchester recalls. He began dialing into informational sessions organized by Wisconsin Manufacturers &amp; Commerce, the state&rsquo;s chamber of commerce, and largest business trade association. &ldquo;The WMC delivered real value as we were trying to understand what the pandemic might mean for our business,&rdquo; Winchester says. The weekly calls became the chief means of communicating with the state&rsquo;s manufacturing sector, attracting thousands of participants every week.&rdquo;
By the middle of March, Winchester and his team had heard enough, deciding to close the plant to outside visitors. &ldquo;We locked the door,&rdquo; Winchester says. Meawhile, production inside at the plant continues without interruption and procedures have been put in place to facilitate contact-free fiber delivery, significantly increase plant cleaning practices and limit the congregation of team members in common areas like the lunch room and control room.
&ldquo;We set up an inexpensive pop-up canopy with a cart underneath it for package delivery,&rdquo; Winchester says. &ldquo;Honestly, the package drop area was as much about making it clear that we weren&rsquo;t allowing nonessential visitors into the building. The only reason anyone would be allowed into our facility is if they were a contractor performing maintenance vital to keeping the plant in operation. Everything else has to wait.&rdquo;
As March progressed, confirmed cases began to accelerate in the state, with Milwaukee emerging as an early cluster of cases in the Upper Midwest. On March 24, after watching confirmed cases double from 206 to 416 in just 72 hours, Wisconsin Gov. Tony Evers issued the state&rsquo;s &ldquo;Safer at Home Order,&rdquo; closing all but essential businesses and the state&rsquo;s schools, and prohibiting social gatherings of any kind. Manufacturers across the state scrambled to better understand where Wisconsin would draw the boundaries of essential versus nonessential businesses. &ldquo;When the governor issued the order, the inbound calls from businesses immediately overwhelmed the state,&rdquo; Winchester says. &ldquo;In a lot of ways, the onus was on businesses to sort out for themselves if they were deemed essential.&rdquo;
Fortunately, the federal government had established something of a precedent just days earlier. On May 19, the Department of Homeland Security issued the &ldquo;Memorandum On Identification Of Essential Critical Infrastructure Workers During Covid-19 Response,&rdquo; outlining in broad strokes the industries that should be allowed to remain in operation, regardless of what individual states chose to do in regard to shutdown provisions. This included &ldquo;workers who support the manufacture and distribution of forest products, including, but not limited to timber, paper and other wood products.&rdquo; Forest product manufacturers across Wisconsin lobbied the governor&rsquo;s office to align its policies with those outlined by Homeland Security.
&nbsp;&ldquo;We actually printed up essential worker letters for all of our employees,&rdquo; Winchester says. &ldquo;Maybe that was an overreaction, but I wanted to assure everyone working here that they weren&rsquo;t doing anything unlawful simply by coming to work.&rdquo;
Immediately, sanitizing protocols were increased at the plant, with cleaning crews giving the plant a thorough wipe down daily. Forklift and frontend loader operators folded machine wipe-downs into their normal shift-start procedures, and office staff added doorknob wipe-downs into their normal routine. &ldquo;Before COVID-19, our control room wasn&rsquo;t an area of our plant that our cleaning contractor was expected to clean,&rdquo; Winchester says. &ldquo;Now, it gets daily attention, and I don&rsquo;t get any complaints about how clean it is.&rdquo;
For Winchester, the challenge has been finding the right balance between an abundance of caution and overreaction. &ldquo;We&rsquo;ve drawn the line at taking temperatures at the plant,&rdquo; he says. &ldquo;Some manufacturing sites in the state have done that, but I feel like there&rsquo;s a bit of a line there. Also, with small crews, we couldn&rsquo;t arrive at a commonsense approach to getting that accomplished&mdash;getting someone&rsquo;s temperature taken at seven in the morning or seven at night.&rdquo;
To a first-time visitor, the changes deployed at Indeck Energy Wood Pellets might be difficult to notice. Winchester recognizes that apart from a package delivery kiosk next to a locked front door, things at the plant appear to be normal. &ldquo;It&rsquo;s difficult to see,&rdquo; he says. &ldquo;But really, it&rsquo;s the interpersonal interactions that are different. Some of these delivery folks have been coming here for years, and its just natural for our team to want to open the door for them and welcome them in. That&rsquo;s been one of the bigger challenges, honestly.&rdquo;
Additionally, the plant&rsquo;s weekly tradition of pellet grilling has been paused. &ldquo;That&rsquo;s been another challenge,&rdquo; Winchester says. &ldquo;Grilling served as a nice way to mark the end of the week and celebrate with our team.&rdquo; Grilling has been replaced with takeout, and Winchester feels good about supporting the restaurants in town.
Now, Winchester and his team look to preserving morale and maintaining vigilance. Like other rural places, COVID-19 was late to show up in Rusk County. It took months for the county to record its first positive test, and as of mid-August, the county has only had 21 positive cases and one death. &ldquo;We&rsquo;re a small team, maybe 30 or so people who are here on a regular basis,&rdquo; Winchester says. &ldquo;But we don&rsquo;t know where all of those people have been or who they might have come into contact with outside of work, and it only takes one interaction to have a real problem at the plant.&rdquo;
As summer grinds on, Winchester&rsquo;s team is doing what it can to preserve normalcy and capture the opportunity in front of them. Winchester describes the business at Indeck Energy Wood Pellets as &ldquo;unprecedented,&rdquo; and is hopeful that 2020 will see the plant achieve near-record production levels. &ldquo;All of this is about preserving our livelihood,&rdquo; he says. &ldquo;This is how we make our living, and if all of this is what it takes to protect that, then that&rsquo;s what we&rsquo;ll have to do.&rdquo; Author: Tim Portz Executive Director, Pellet Fuels Institute tim@pelletheat.org www.pelletheat.org

The plant control room at Indeck Energy Wood Pellets was one of a handful of natural gathering places in the facility that needed to be more closely controlled to prevent staff contact. It became closed to more than two staff members at a time and wa

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The control room at Indeck Energy Wood Pellets receives daily attention from plant cleaning crews and is wiped down thoroughly between shifts. Prior to COVID-19, plant control rooms were notoriously dusty places, but precaution dictates a higher leve

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Indeck Energy Wood Pellet Plant Manager Darren Winchester stands next to the inbound/outbound delivery cart outside the plantâ€™s main office door. The cart sends a clear message and reminder that the office is closed to visitors.

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Even before the state of Wisconsin issued its â€œSafer at Homeâ€� protocol in late March, the team at Indeck Energy Wood Pellets moved to contact-free wood deliveries. Drivers now call the office and await instructions from the office

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A Wisconsin wood pellet producer takes precautions against COVID-19 to protect its team and the opportunity for a strong year. 

September/October 2020

Business Briefs

Business Briefs

Columns

Timing Key to Resurgence in Black Pellet Market

Three Ways Boilers and Burners Can Affect Bottom Lines

How Biomass Works, Even During a Pandemic

Continuity Amidst Uncertainty

Featured

Connecting Fiber Makers and Fiber Takers

Analyzing Automation

Business as Unusual

Contributions

Spotlight - Electronic Eyes, Nose, for Early Fire and Explosion Prevention

Spotlight - Value-Added O&M

Spotlight - Custom Fire and Explosion Protection

Ensuring Plant O&M Expense Matches its Market Mission

RNG's Growing Role in Decarbonization Strategies

Preventing Dust Explosions in Pellet Production

Forisk Wood Fiber Review: Eastern Canada Fiber Prices in Q2 2020

September/October 2020.css-7jxktu{position:absolute;bottom:0px;left:0px;right:0px;height:3px;border-radius:3px;background-color:var(--chakra-colors-brandBlack);}

Business Briefs

Business Briefs

Columns

Timing Key to Resurgence in Black Pellet Market

Three Ways Boilers and Burners Can Affect Bottom Lines

How Biomass Works, Even During a Pandemic

Continuity Amidst Uncertainty

Featured

Connecting Fiber Makers and Fiber Takers

Analyzing Automation

Business as Unusual

Contributions

Spotlight - Electronic Eyes, Nose, for Early Fire and Explosion Prevention

Spotlight - Value-Added O&M

Spotlight - Custom Fire and Explosion Protection

Ensuring Plant O&M Expense Matches its Market Mission

RNG's Growing Role in Decarbonization Strategies

Preventing Dust Explosions in Pellet Production

Forisk Wood Fiber Review: Eastern Canada Fiber Prices in Q2 2020

September/October 2020