One unique aspect of U.S. Southeast forests that differentiate them from most others is the ownership model. Nearly all&mdash;89 to 90%&mdash;are privately owned and managed. What that means, points out Keith Kline, researcher at the Climate Change Science Institute &amp; Center for Bioenergy Sustainability at Oak Ridge National Laboratory, is that landowners have the choice of keeping it as forests&mdash;or not. At one point, Kline says, much of Southeast forestland was plantation fields. &ldquo;The move back to forests was largely supported by the U.S. government, and a main reason why the Southeast has an incredible timber basket,&rdquo; he says. Today, these forests are managed for a vast number of uses, including, but certainly not limited to, forest products and bioenergy&mdash;i.e., wood pellets. These and other strong, viable markets motivate landowners to best manage their forests to keep them healthy, and harvest, replant (surplus plant, in many cases) and repeat. According to the National Alliance of Forest Owners, private forest owners regenerate an average of 43% more wood than they harvest. That concept is seemingly a difficult one for some to grasp&mdash;the fact landowners don&rsquo;t simply clear-cut forests for money as the end-all, ultimately destroying their livelihoods. In cases of transitions away from forests, Kline emphasizes, it not the industries the land currently serves. Rather, it is the sale of the land for other uses such as urban expansion and development: construction of housing, airports, shopping malls, etcetera. And of course, climate-related threats. &ldquo;We want to look at how biomass can help us achieve climate goals,&rdquo; Kline says. &ldquo;We have threats to forests related to extreme weather events that are increasing in intensity and frequency&mdash;drought, wildfires, diseases, invasive species, saltwater intrusion along the coastlines, and other extreme events like floods and tornados&mdash;that are damaging forests and resulting in lots of biomass being piled and burned, or just left to rot. I drove from Tennessee to D.C. and saw many piles built up to be burned along the highway&mdash;this is a lot of biomass that could be put to better uses. In most cases, that&rsquo;s one of the things we&rsquo;re trying to do&mdash;improve management of forests and ensure biomass is put to the best possible use.&rdquo;&nbsp; Wood pellet production is one of these possible uses, Kline says. The Southeast produces a great deal of sawdust from forest-processing activities, one of the drivers of the robust wood pellet manufacturing and export industry that has seen incremental growth over the past decade-plus. &ldquo;That growth has raised a lot of concern, so there has been much research and study of the supply chain, and the different stakeholders and effects of wood pellet production in the Southeast U.S,&rdquo; he says. In a recent DOE-supported study that Kline coauthored, that supply chain was evaluated&mdash;specifically, who was affected by the pandemic and to what extent. Kline presented the results of the study to the public during a June 3 IEA Bioenergy webinar. Natural Resilience Stakeholders concerned with parts of the wood pellet supply chain that could potentially be affected by the pandemic include: landowners, loggers, sawmills, pulp mills, chippers, truckers, logistic and certification firms, pellet mills and employees, trains and shipping companies, member nations that use bioenergy to displace coal, and other stakeholders.&nbsp; &ldquo;There have been a lot of studies on the wood pellet industry and its impacts, but not much about supply chain resilience to unexpected disturbances,&rdquo; Kline says. &ldquo;There have been some on the bark beetle infestation, but not to the extent of a pandemic or economic destruction, aside from the recession in 2008 and 2009, but that was more focused on the timber and lumber supply chain.&rdquo; In the context of this study, the current supply chain from the Southeast primarily serves Europe and Asia with wood pellets for cofiring, combined heat and power or direct power generation. &ldquo;We looked at economic and unemployment data to identify effects of COVID-19, and to better understand how the supply chain performed during the pandemic,&rdquo; Kline says. &ldquo;As most already knew, the broader economy was severely impacted, not just the U.S., but the world. Many sectors had industries experience huge disruptions in both employment and production, and they&rsquo;re still in different stages of recovery. In the U.S., for example, unemployment jumped by 3.5% to 15% in one month.&rdquo; These particular impacts were felt along the supply chain, Kline says. The places the study found evidence of impact were especially related to skilled workers, such as lumber mill workers being laid off or unavailable due to sickness or mills closing, transportation and trucking, as well as logistics handling&mdash;for example, workers in forestry-skilled areas who operate specialized equipment.&nbsp; &ldquo;They are limited in number, and some were taken out of the workforce, so that did have an impact on the supply chain,&rdquo; he says. &ldquo;But we were surprised to see that while these impacts were apparent in the overall forestry and timber industry for lumber, the pellet supply chain showed minimal impacts.&rdquo; Summarizing the study data, using the timeframe of 2018-&rsquo;20 and comparing it to post-COVID-19 trends from March 2020 to November, pellet industry employees in the Southeast U.S. actually increased by 4%, from 1,357 to 1,407, according to U.S. EIA data. Pellet production increased by 6% (from 606,181 to 643,422 tons), the average price per ton fell by 1% from $167.05 to $165.64, and the average export volume increased by 8%, from 536,147 tons to 576,771. &ldquo;This is actually pretty astounding,&rdquo; Kline says. &ldquo;We were surprised to see these positive apparent effects, but I should mention that the industry had hoped to see even higher numbers in terms of growth, so these numbers were a little below targets. It did have somewhat of an impact, but not nearly the kind of impacts in other sectors.&rdquo; As for factors that increased resilience, they included rapid and large federal and state interventions that facilitated provisions of personal protective equipment, the Paycheck Protection Program, and the designation of an essential industry, meaning exemption from many restrictions. &ldquo;Additionally, the pellet industry was benefitted by automation and mechanization approaches for field operations and logistics,&rdquo; Kline says. &ldquo;Really, not that many people are required to work in close environments. Much of it is open-air work so there is less likelihood of transmission, and this is an industry that, over decades, has by necessity established a culture of safety and safety communications to keep injuries low. Forest work&mdash;especially field work&mdash;is inherently dangerous, so this established culture of safety was easily adapted to best practices and behaviors during the pandemic, and that helped many of the sectors have minimal cases in the workforce.&rdquo; Long-term, fixed contracts to supply industrial wood pellets to the power plants, many of which are take-or-pay terms, contributed to the stability of the industry as well, according to Kline. &ldquo;There is a lot of vertical integration going on and partnerships all along the supply chain in the sector, and these are things we found that also increased resilience,&rdquo; he says. As for recommendations to further increase resilience and help safeguard from future disturbances in the Southeast in particular, it may be done by establishing some trade schools for specialized labor, Kline says. &ldquo;This is one of the things the industry has been asking for, and [stakeholders] feel that the experience with the pandemic underscored the importance of having skilled, specialized labor that is not readily available in the forest industry.&rdquo; In addition, increased local capacities for services in logistics and transportation would prevent reliance on any one external contractor that might suffer a problem or limitation from the pandemic, and in turn impact the supply chain, Kline says. The main finding, he adds, is that bioenergy supply chains throughout the globe showed remarkable variability in terms of resilience to the pandemic. &ldquo;While the Southeast showed little impact, others were severely impacted and basically shut down, whether during the first, second or third wave.&rdquo;&nbsp; As for global impacts on the industrial wood pellet sector, it has had a mix of implications. Early on, a survey by Hawkins Wright indicated that half of respondents were experiencing negative impacts, particularly raw material availability. More than a year later, the issue hasn&rsquo;t gone away, but it has improved, says Rachael Levinson, biomass research manager at Hawkins Wright. Global Perspective While the pandemic affected raw material availability early on, it was not to the extent many feared, and the impact was short-lived, according to Levinson. &ldquo;We heard very few reports of delayed or disrupted contracted pellet deliveries during 2020,&rdquo; she says. In fact, the strong rebound of the U.S. and European lumber markets later in 2020 and early 2021 greatly benefited pellet producers reliant on sawmill residues for feedstock. &ldquo;Plus, an abundance of raw materials in central Europe, largely caused by the bark beetle infestation and damaged wood from storms, helped some European countries post record production levels in 2020,&rdquo; Levinson says. &ldquo;In the U.S. South, a booming lumber market had little impact on stumpage prices and raw material costs have held largely steady.&rdquo; As for production, Levinson says any slowdown was mostly due to the oversupply of pellets. &ldquo;Low industrial spot prices meant most industrial producers in North America and Europe produced pellets only to fulfill existing contracts, leaving very little to sell into the spot market,&rdquo; she says. &ldquo;We are, however, hearing reports that the worsening COVID -19 situation in Vietnam has led to a new government-mandated lockdown that includes furniture manufacturers. Furniture production residue is the primary source of raw material for pellet producers in the region, so we could see the impact of that in the coming weeks. It is a good reminder that the pandemic is not yet over and could still have an impact on the wood pellet market.&rdquo; And unrelated to the pandemic, Levinson adds, the recent wildfires in British Columbia have curtailed sawmill operating rates and are likely to impact future sawmill residue availability to pellet producers in the province. As for project development, travel restrictions held up some new wood pellet mill projects under construction, Levinson says. &ldquo;Equipment providers and specialists were unable to travel to new sites to carry out the necessary work, which delayed new mills starting up. As a result, the startup of new projects in 2020 was skewed toward the end of the year, and some continue to be delayed in 2021. &nbsp;The lack of travel, she adds, meant that some end users, particularly Japanese projects, were unable to travel to visit potential new producers to carry out the usual due diligence checks. &ldquo;We understand that, for some, this delayed the signing of new offtake contracts slowed the progression of planned pellet mill projects in earlier stages of development. On the demand side, the U.K.&rsquo;s new MGT Power biomass-fired power plant faced some construction delays, related in part to the pandemic.&rdquo;&nbsp; As for what the industry or supply chain stakeholders could do to better insulate themselves from a similar event in the future, like Kline, Levinson says it fared relatively well compared to other sectors. &ldquo;As been discussed many times, increased storage of wood pellets could help mitigate against volatility in the spot market or protect against unforeseen events,&rdquo; she adds. &ldquo;But there is always the question of who bears the economic burden&mdash;producers, traders or end users.
 The complete study referenced in the article can be accessed <a href="https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/ffgc.2021.674138/full">here.</a>
Kline KL, Dale VH, Rose E. 2021.&nbsp; Resilience lessons from SE US woody biomass supply chain to the Covid-19 pandemic. Frontiers in Forests and Global Change 4, 11 August 2021
&nbsp;
Author: Anna Simet Editor, Pellet Mill Magazine asimet@bbiinternational.com 701-738-4961

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SOURCE: Kline, et al. Resilience lessons learned from the Southeast U.S. wood pellet biomass suppy chain response to the COVID-19 pandemic. Frontiers in Forests and Global Change (in review). 

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The COVID-19 pandemic exposed vulnerabilities in many global supply chains, but the U.S. Southeast wood pellet industry proved fairly resilient.

The Pandemic and Industrial Pellet Supply Chain 

Although there is plenty of disagreement about the exact timeline, man learned to harness and control fire somewhere in the neighborhood of 1 million years ago. In other words, humans have spent 52 million Saturdays in the backyard trying to control and manipulate fire to best suit their needs&mdash;whether that&rsquo;s keeping the offspring from freezing to death under their mammoth rugs, or preserving and preparing meat for consumption. In 1897, the charcoal briquette was patented, but it took more than 50 years for the kettle grill (classic, black charcoal grill) to come to existence as a portable and manageable means of utilizing charcoal as a backyard cooking solution. Flavor? Some of the best. Convenience? The charcoal kettle grill still operates like the early models did back in the 1950s. Somewhere between the charcoal briquette and the advent of the kettle grill came the patent on the first gas grill&mdash;1930, to be exact&mdash;and husbands have been disappointing their families by drying out chicken ever since. Why are they so popular? It&rsquo;s easy to make a case for convenience: Turn the knob and the cooking grates are sizzling within minutes. Sure, grill designs and burner technology have advanced dramatically, but the gas grill has a fatal flaw that it cannot outrun: chemistry. Propane burns dry, which robs meat of moisture and flavor. In 1985, Joe Traeger invented the pellet grill and locked it up with a patent the following year. While that was 35-plus years ago, it has been in recent years that the BBQ pellet market has really begun to explode. The intense smoke created by BBQ pellets locks in the natural qualities of the meat while adding a controlled, consistent smoke flavor, and those who own a pellet grill often swear they&rsquo;ll never go back to other methods. BBQ pellet manufacturers capitalizing on the boom are a mix of existing industry stakeholders&mdash;many of whom began with fuel pellets or appliance manufacturing and added BBQ pellets to their product lines&mdash;as well as new players. While a seemingly straightforward concept, there are many differences between cooking fuel and heating fuel, from fiber logistics to the manufacturing process, and the list goes on. A Different Animal On paper, a facility already geared for processing wood fuel pellets might appear ripe for a shift into the cooking pellet space, but it isn&rsquo;t so simple. &ldquo;Fiber procurement is so much more so complex with BBQ pellets than fuel pellets,&rdquo; says Jeff Thiessen, president of Dansons. &ldquo;You need a variety; you get it from all over the country. It&rsquo;s just not easy. Input costs are all over the place, and how you handle and store it is all different. It&rsquo;s probably the most difficult aspect of being in this space.&rdquo; Dansons, which owns such brands as Pit Boss, Louisiana Grills and Country Smokers, has been selling BBQ wood pellets since approximately 2002, currently featuring two operating plants with two more scheduled to begin production before the end of 2021. According to Thiessen, Dansons operates the largest dedicated BBQ wood pellet manufacturing capacity in the world. And when it comes to fuel and BBQ pellets, Thiessen is quick to point out that comparing the two, from procurement to production to end use, is like comparing apples and oranges.&nbsp; &ldquo;We are very specific about using only hardwood fiber stock for our cooking pellets,&rdquo; Thiessen says. &ldquo;We don&rsquo;t use any softwoods or oils to flavor our pellets. And due to the fact that we only use hardwood fiber&mdash;and we require several diverse wood species at a time to make our gourmet blends&mdash;the cost of fiber is significantly higher than typical heating pellet feedstocks.&rdquo; Though the profit margins of BBQ pellets can be quite a bit higher than those of fuel pellets, most often, feedstock sourcing goes well beyond the typical fuel pellet radius. &ldquo;It all depends upon the species available to you,&rdquo; says Bruce Lisle, Lignetics Strategic Initiatives. &ldquo;Anyone making BBQ pellets west of the Mississippi will have a difficult time, the reason being distance from the hardwood species used to make them. A West Coast producer won&rsquo;t be able to economically produce BBQ pellets, hauling raw materials across the country. A mill in Indiana or Ohio or Michigan needs to make sure there is a reasonable amount of species around, within a reasonable distance. That&rsquo;s compared to our domestic wood pellet industry, which is really based on residues&mdash;they&rsquo;ve got to find a place that will generate that residue, or they might be chipping and using roundwood.&rdquo; The trickiest part is adaptation to inconsistent cost attributions, from Thiessen&rsquo;s perspective. Input cost variation ranges widely, and it all ties back to the need for multiple types of fiber required to produce actual 100% hardwood pellet blends. In addition to cost, that consistent sourcing of fiber from a wide variety of hardwood species is a challenge. &ldquo;Due to the higher cost of raw materials, we keep our feedstock either covered or constantly rotating in order to avoid material degradation,&rdquo; Thiessen says. &ldquo;Raw stock for cooking pellets simply cannot be handled in the same way as is done for fuel pellets.&rdquo; Feedstock sourcing and handling is the crux of the logistical hurdles, agrees Stephen Faehner, president of American Wood Fibers. &ldquo;It comes down to better control and management of feedstock and raw materials,&rdquo; he says. American Wood Fibers is fortunate in the way our systems were already designed&mdash;we can see and blend several different mixes together, so it&rsquo;s not just making a pile out of ingredients A, B and C. We&rsquo;ve got a fairly robust system to feed in fiber at the right intervals.&rdquo; In addition to space requirements for raw material, production timing is another challenge, Faehner says. &ldquo;An operator might say that a plant has a 100,000 tons of capacity, but that is not so if they&rsquo;re running BBQ pellets. Suddenly, a plant that they hoped would make 100,000 in fuel pellets might only make 40,000 or 50,000 tons in grilling pellets. A lot of system time is lost going in and out of production&mdash;that is, if you&rsquo;re doing it properly. We don&rsquo;t have a desire to do it differently; we want to be very quality conscious.&rdquo; Faehner adds that increasing SKU count is another component to juggle. &ldquo;With fuel pellets, you have a 40-lb bag. For BBQ pellets, there are all kinds of different packages&mdash;15-, 20-, 30- and 50-lb bags. That SKU count goes up pretty rapidly; I think we are up to about 50 with BBQ pellets. It&rsquo;s just a different game&mdash;managing inventory and production, fiber shopping, all of it is not as simple as one might think. And some [fuel pellet] producers have decided not to mess with it and instead only focus on fuel pellets&mdash;that&rsquo;s not a terrible strategy.&rdquo; While there are currently no standards for BBQ pellets like there are heating pellets, Lisle says, &ldquo;there are some formal conventions, for lack of a better word, that BBQ pellet producers need to be aware of.&rdquo;&nbsp; Particularly, when it comes to the actual manufacturing process and the equipment and consumables being used. &ldquo;When a pellet is combusted, the products of combustion go into the food,&rdquo; Lisle explains. &ldquo;At all pellet mills, an important component is grease for the pellet mill bearings. Most contain additives and that&rsquo;s fine in heating pellets, but some are carcinogenic when combusted. It&rsquo;s a minute quantity, but it is still there. That&rsquo;s why using the right grease is important. And some use additives as pellet die lubricant&mdash;those also must be looked at. You&rsquo;re not taking it to the extreme of food grade, but really, you are. From a production standpoint, that&rsquo;s probably the most important thing.&rdquo; Circling back to standards, Lisle says it has been an issue of contention among industry stakeholders, but both he and Faehner believe it would help protect consumers. Staunch on Standards &ldquo;In any industry, you have to have some assurance to the consumer that what&rsquo;s on the bag is in the bag,&rdquo; Faehner says. &ldquo;Unfortunately, there is a little bit of a blight on the wood pellet world, because for a long time, we had very generic standards and they were pretty unsophisticated, from a real process quality management standpoints standpoint.&rdquo; That led to some bad consumer experiences and subsequent PR for the industry. Some basic standards for cooking pellets could prevent a similar situation, Faehner says. &ldquo;I don&rsquo;t think it has to get super complicated, but I have run my pellet grill&mdash;which is a great grill&mdash;with some suspect pellets a few times, and then it didn&rsquo;t run well. It clogs up real fast, the burn pot gets jammed, and then we&rsquo;re in the same scenario that the fuel pellet stove folks have struggled with.&rdquo; &ldquo;I 100% agree,&rdquo; Lisle says. &ldquo;We&rsquo;re the only ones who have a viable interest in this, so we should develop some basic standards to protect the consumer from bad product. Nobody wants to go through a standards battle&mdash;it has been very divisive&mdash;but in this case, anyone doing it on a regular basis should already be doing it to a basic standard. What happens is some guys get into the business and put bad stuff out, consumers might see that it&rsquo;s cheaper and then they don&rsquo;t have a good experience.&rdquo; Lisle gives a specific example dating back a couple decades ago, relevant to heating pellets and why a standard was needed. &ldquo;A long story short, a store owner had a customer who couldn&rsquo;t light their pellet fuel,&rdquo; he says. &ldquo;The retailer came to assistance and also couldn&rsquo;t get it to light. They came to find out that in a certain region in Virginia, they had changed the building code. Some fireproof plywood used to build roofs had all been removed&mdash;hundreds of roofs&mdash;because it was causing molding and other issues. A company picked up this waste stream and made heating pellets out of it. That is the Wild West of wood pellets. Not only should plywood not be used because it&rsquo;s not virgin fiber, but it was fireproof.&rdquo; The point is, Lisle adds, is that most of the people in fuel pellets have been doing it for a long time and are committed to the industry, which is attracting a lot of attention. &ldquo;We&rsquo;re getting lots of investor money and it&rsquo;s attracting different kinds of people who want to participate, so we need to ensure that we&rsquo;re producing a quality product,&rdquo; he says. &nbsp;Faehner says a standards component as simple as pellet ash content plays a huge role in how a grill performs. &ldquo;To me, this is one of those situations in which I would rather lead than follow, being proactive vs. reactive,&rdquo; he says. &ldquo;I don&rsquo;t think there is a crisis in quality, but I have burned bags I picked up at retail and they were junk&mdash;but I know where they came from and why they were junk, and so do the manufacturers who put them in the bag. If you have bad actors in the industry, you end up with issues, so we want to try to weed them out with quality.&rdquo; &nbsp; Maintaining Momentum Rather than the desire to diversify producer product lines, it is consumer passion for BBQ pellets that is really driving the market forward. &ldquo;The passion of the grilling industry is truly a blessing, and it&rsquo;s my favorite part of being in this [BBQ pellet production] industry segment,&rdquo; Thiessen says. &ldquo;People love to grill, and they engage in a different level when they are exploring their passions.&rdquo; Right now, the slowing of an industry boom is seemingly nowhere in sight. According to Forbes, the pellet grill industry has enjoyed a 25 to 30% annual growth throughout the latter half of the past decade, and since COVID-19, some reports indicate the past 18 months have produced a 400 to 500% surge in pellet grill demand. &ldquo;It&rsquo;s an exciting market&mdash;it is growing fast, and I don&rsquo;t foresee it slowing down,&rdquo; Faehner adds. &ldquo;I understand pellet grills might be 11 or 12% of the market on a sales basis, and I think the runway is long&mdash;there is pretty steep potential for BBQ pellets.&rdquo; Contact: Anna Simet Editor, Pellet Mill Magazine asimet@bbiinternational.com 701-738-4961

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Ligneticsâ€™ line of Jim Beam cooking pellets are manufactured from barrel staves previously containing bourbon whisky.

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While BBQ pellets seem like a simple addition to fuel pellet operations, it is a fairly complicated coproduct with many variances relevant to fiber logistics and manufacturing. 

Heating Fuel vs. Cooking Fuel

Wood, waste energy account for 22% of US renewables The U.S. consumed a record 12% of renewable energy in 2020, according to data released by the U.S. Energy Information Administration. Wood and waste energy accounted for approximately 22% of renewables. According to the EIA, consumption of renewable energy in the U.S. grew for the fifth consecutive year in 2020, reaching a record high of 11.6 quadrillion British thermal units, or 12% of total U.S. energy consumption. Renewable energy was the only source that increased from 2019 through 2020; fossil fuel and nuclear consumption declined. Wood and waste energy, including wood pellets and biomass waste from landfills, accounted for about 22% of U.S. renewable energy consumption last year. Delta Biofuel proposes Louisiana bagasse pellet plant Louisiana Gov. John Bel Edwards and Delta Biofuel CEO Philip Keating announced the company is evaluating Iberia Parish, Louisiana, for a planned $70 million bagasse-to-wood pellet plant. Delta reported it has secured long-term supplies of feedstock bagasse that will be sourced from four nearby sugar mills in Iberia, St. Mary and St. Martin parishes. The company also said it has engaged European and Asian energy production facilities for multiyear commitments to purchase the fuel pellets. Delta Biofuel plans to locate the greenfield facility on 16 acres near U.S. Highway 90 in Jeanerette, Louisiana, near one of its bagasse suppliers, Enterprise Sugar Mill. Groundwork for the new facility is planned for September, with completion expected in about a year. Canadian wood pellet production to reach 3.8 million metric tons in 2021 Canadian wood pellet production is expected to grow to 3.8 million metric tons (MT) in 2021, according to a report filed with the USDA Foreign Agricultural Service&rsquo;s Global Agricultural Information Network. According to the report, growth in wood pellet production this year is expected to be achieved as plant capacity utilization improves. The report notes that production expansion continues to be primarily driven by growth in exports, particularly to the U.K. and Japan. Domestic use of wood pellets for heat and power generation, however, remains limited. Canadian wood pellet exports are forecast to reach 3.3 million MT this year, up from 2.901 million MT in 2020 and 2.637 million MT in 2019. According to the report, Canada is expected to have 47 wood pellet plants in operation this year with a combined 5.054 million MT of production capacity, up from 46 plants with a combined 4.856 million MT of capacity as of 2020. Capacity use is forecast to reach 75.2 percent this year, up from 72.1 percent in 2020 and 69.1 percent in 2019. Canadian wood pellet production is expected to grow by approximately 300,000 MT this year, reaching 3.8 million MT. Pinnacle donates funds to Canadian wildfire relief Pellet manufacturer Pinnacle, part of Drax Group, donated nearly $40,000 to Canada&rsquo;s Red Cross to support relief efforts for small communities hit by recent wildfires in Canada's western-most province of British Columbia. The funds donated to the British Columbia Fires Appeal will be used for immediate and ongoing relief efforts, long-term recovery, resiliency and preparedness for future events in British Columbia and impacted regions, including consequential events related to the fires. Pinnacle, which was acquired by Drax Group in April, is headquartered in Vancouver and has operations across B.C. and Alberta in Canada, and Alabama in the U.S. The acquisition increased Drax&rsquo;s annual operational capacity from 1.6 million metric tons (MT) of wood pellets to 4.9 million MT by 2022, with 17 plants in locations across western Canada and the U.S. South.

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Business Briefs

Alongside a working group of members, the Pellet Fuels Institute is updating some messaging documents that outline the societal, economic and environmental benefits of wood pellet production and use. This effort has included a thorough vetting of the myriad claims and benefits our organization has championed, trumpeted or touted over the course of the past decade. Those well acquainted with our sector have heard our story of rural jobs, localized energy expenditures and low-carbon heating before, and they are no less relevant today than they were when we started sharing them. Still, over the course of our efforts, our role as fiber takers continues to shine most brightly as an irrefutable, undeniable reality of our contribution to the larger forest products sector. Industry, including wood pellet manufacturing, will always have its detractors. Those detractors work tirelessly to poke holes in the various value propositions industry proponents bring forward, including the arguments proffered by the Pellet Fuels Institute. Fortunately, our annual expenditures and annual volumes of sawmilling and wood product manufacturing residuals are tracked and reported by the U.S. Energy Information Administration, and have been since 2016. The accumulated data tells a compelling story measured in billions of dollars spent on what otherwise might be considered waste. When the EIA launched its Monthly Densified Biomass Fuel Report, it began tracking feedstock purchases by wood pellet manufacturers in four different categories: sawmill residuals, wood product manufacturing residues, other residuals and roundwood/pulpwood. Both tonnage and cost per ton are reported in each category every month. A deep dive into the data makes it clear that wood pellet manufacturing provides not only a home for an incredible volume of material, but also extends the overall value of wood via these ongoing residual purchases. Consider the numbers from 2020 alone. Last year, wood pellet producers purchased 4.1 million tons of sawmill residuals worth $134 million, 4.6 million tons of wood product manufacturing residuals worth $171 million and 5.7 million tons of other residuals worth $172 million. Collectively, that&rsquo;s 14.5 million tons of shavings, chips and sawdust worth nearly $500 million. 14.5 million tons can be difficult to picture. Instead, imagine a convoy of tractor trailers over 7,000 miles long. For reference, Anchorage is about 5,000 road miles from Miami. This imagined convoy, with trucks inching along bumper to bumper would thread all the across Canada and the U.S. and halfway back again. Most importantly, these materials are generated because of the manufacture of other, higher-value products, and they must go somewhere. Waste professionals constantly bemoan the general public&rsquo;s struggle to grasp the concept of waste streams and what happens to them. These professionals often joke about the mythical place called &ldquo;away,&rdquo; where waste ultimately goes. The joke, of course, is that there is no &ldquo;away,&rdquo; and that these materials&mdash;whether they be food waste, standard municipal solid waste (MSW), sawdust or wood chips&mdash;must go somewhere. Typically, disposal of waste streams comes at a cost. For MSW, these costs come in the form of tipping fees. The Environmental Research &amp; Education Foundation tracks the national average for tipping fees, and reported that in 2019, the nationwide average was $55.36 per ton. Imagine, for a moment, that instead of being purchased by wood pellet manufacturers, every ton of these manufacturing residuals had to be landfilled. At $55.36 per ton, the cost to wood product manufacturers would be a staggering $802 million. Because of the demand generated by wood pellet manufacturers, this potential $800 million expense is transformed into a $500 million revenue stream, a swing of over $1.3 billion. As a sector, we need to make more of this compelling reality, and attract more people and more constituents to our various causes. Wood pellet manufacturing is a vital piece of our country&rsquo;s forest product sector. As fiber takers, we allow our upstream partners to focus on the manufacture of high-value forest products with the full confidence that consistent, reliable offtake partners stand ready to convert those materials into a low-carbon, cost-effective home heating solution relied upon by millions of Americans each winter. Author: Tim Portz Executive Director, Pellet Fuels Institute tim@pelletheat.org www.pelletheat.org

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The Fiber Takers

In the midst of a severe drought, I find myself dreaming of winter. Yes, even a Minnesota winter&mdash;bring on the cold and snow. We northerners aren&rsquo;t cut out of the kind of heat we have experienced this year, and I think most would agree we&rsquo;ve had enough (and it&rsquo;s only early August).&nbsp; Right now, pellet producers are hoping customers have started buying the heating fuel they will need this winter. As odd as it seems when it&rsquo;s 90 degrees out, it benefits both the customer and manufacturer (and the retailers). As producers have reiterated time and again, it helps them better gauge demand, ensuring customers have the heating fuel they need, when they need it. Many of them have found their way into adding BBQ pellets to their product lines, and the interesting thing about BBQ pellets is that many consumers continue buy them year-round, rather than just the summer months. Speaking of cooking fuel, be sure to check out &ldquo;Heating Fuel vs. Cooking Fuel&rdquo; on page 10. In it, we discuss some of the logistics of making BBQ pellets, and the fact that, despite the perception that it might be an easy transition from fuel pellets, it is quite a bit different. Moving on to the industrial side of things, I have heard many mentions about some supply chain issues in the domestic industry&mdash;i.e., steel shortages, lack of trucking, employees, etc.&mdash;so I looked in a bit on the export industry, mostly focusing on the Southeast U.S. (but also taking more of a high-level, global view of the market later on in the story). As for the U.S. Southeast, Oakridge National Laboratory conducted a study on the impacts of COVID-19 on the industry, and the results were a little surprising: they were quite minimal. Read &ldquo;The Pandemic and Industrial Pellet Supply Chain&rdquo; on page 16 to find out what the researchers&rsquo; reasons are for that relative resilience. The bonus theme of this issue is lubrication and greases, a very critical but sometimes overlooked issue when it comes to editorial coverage. Well, we didn&rsquo;t skimp on it this time. &ldquo;Quality Grease: Critical at Pellet Mills&rdquo; on page 20, and &ldquo;Putting the Right Grease to Work for Your Mill,&rdquo; on page 24, complement each other nicely, checking all the boxes when it comes to understanding the crucial role of grease and its characteristics, and how to determine what will work best in your facility. Finally, it&rsquo;s nearly time to begin updating our annual North American Fuel Pellet Production Map, so if there has been a change at your facility&mdash;capacity, ownership or operational status&mdash;please reach out to me at asimet@bbiinternational.com. Author: Anna Simet Editor asimet@bbiinternational.com

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Pellet producers are hoping customers have started buying the heating fuel they will need this winter.

A Good Time to Buy Heating Fuel (and More BBQ Pellets)

Contaminants such as dirt, dust particles and moisture make it difficult to keep bearings properly lubricated in pellet mills. Dust particles and debris in the material being pelletized can mix with the grease, causing sticky buildup and restricting grease flow. Water and steam used in the production process can also affect grease performance. Bearings in pellet mills aren&rsquo;t typical applications where the grease stays in one place and is reapplied at set intervals. Rather, grease used in pellet mills is often applied in a constant flow by an auto-lube system to keep relubricating and help cool the system. Dust and debris are constant threats to the grease and bearings. Once those particles make their way to the grease in a hot environment, the wood debris can stick to the rolling elements, harden and cause wear. Using high-quality grease with proper greasing intervals can help combat the effect of debris on the bearings, gears and races. Finding the right grease is crucial when you consider how much grease is consumed by a pellet mill. Too much is affected by grease to simply go with just any grease&mdash;the weight of the loads, the service life of components and profit margins. It&rsquo;s a matter of choosing performance over price, but how do you know the grease will function properly in your mill? The answer will vary by mill, based on what factors are monitored and measured. For example, a pellet mill processing southern wood may monitor regreasing intervals to indicate grease performance. A high-quality grease may allow for a reduction in grease application, which benefits the bottom line. Another pellet mill processing harder wood may base success on the hours on the bearings and how often it&rsquo;s able to reuse them. The right grease may allow for double or triple hours on bearings, which can represent tremendous savings. Factors to Consider To find the right grease for your mill, begin with the materials being pelletized. Is it hardwood or softwood? Knowing the material type determines the load that&rsquo;s going to be carried by the bearings. The goal is to have proper film strength from the grease to keep metal surfaces apart. Grease releases its oil when it&rsquo;s subjected to pressure and heat; the oil is what protects the surfaces from debris, heat and steam. Hardwoods such as oak, cherry and hickory need a grease with a base oil of ISO 680 because the machine uses more force to push the material through for pelletizing. Softwoods like southern yellow pine do better with a grease that has a base oil of 460, which allows the machine to work efficiently and within temperature range. Not only does the base oil viscosity enable the grease to handle the load, but it also helps keep operating temperatures in check. Base oil gives the grease its cooling ability. It&rsquo;s better to use the right viscosity for the application instead of over-greasing the bearings. When grease isn&rsquo;t meeting the demands of the work, you&rsquo;ll see signs of bearing wear and missing metal, and equipment will experience temperature spikes. Not only does this sound the alarms or cause shutdowns, but it can also put the mill at risk for a smoldering event. Sometimes, when temperatures spike, it may not mean more grease is needed. Instead, it could be that the process materials themselves cause the temperature increase. Even when the same material type is being processed, variances in the wood may be present, which can cause the machine to work harder to push the material through. In pellet mills, it&rsquo;s a delicate balance between proper grease intervals and using a grease that withstands the temperatures. Steam percentage is another factor to consider when selecting the right grease. Heat and steam accelerate the aging process of grease. Any time the grease is heated, it will begin to bleed and release its oil, which is how it lubricates. In pellet mills, wood debris creates a unique problem because wood is absorbent, so it will absorb the beneficial oil. This shortens grease life, as the oil contains all the performance additives. Whenever wood dust absorbs the oil, it becomes sticky and acts as a plug around the seals to inhibit proper grease flow. The presence of wood debris can&rsquo;t be avoided, but operators can choose a grease that behaves better when exposed to moisture. The technical data sheet should be checked for the grease&rsquo;s ratings for copper corrosion, as well as water washout and spray off. High ratings and percentages indicate the grease doesn&rsquo;t stand up as well to water. In terms of grease thickeners, aluminum complex and lithium complex have better resistance to water while providing the temperature protection needed for pellet mills. In pellet mills, it&rsquo;s almost a continuous flow of new grease in and out of the bearings. Because of the need for frequent reapplication, auto-lubricators&nbsp; and a centralized grease system are often used. Grease pumpability comes into play, because the grease may be in one part of the plant while the application is further away. In some instances, grease is flowing through 100 feet of grease lines. It must be able to flow properly without needing excessive pressure, which can trigger the grease to bleed. Base oil viscosity, plus using the right NLGI grade, usually #2, contribute to the grease&rsquo;s pumpabilty. Using the right grease for your mill can extend preventative maintenance intervals, increase bearing life and increase the volume of pellets produced between bearing and ring changeouts. When choosing a grease, remember to pay attention to what the OEM recommends based on the materials your mill is pelletizing. Identify the normal temperature ranges for the equipment and what the loads are, and determine what kind of performance you expect from the equipment. This information, plus a good maintenance schedule, will help ensure the grease you use is performing as it should for your mill. Schaeffer Manufacturing Co. is a sixth-generation, family-owned company that sells its products to upward of 40 countries. Its 228HV grease is known to significantly improve one of operating pellet mills&rsquo; most problematic occurrences when it comes to equipment&mdash;bearing failures. Author: Karen Wright and Matt Meyer &nbsp;Schaeffer&rsquo;s Specialized Lubricants www.schaefferoil.com 314-865-4100

Operators should look for signs of missing metal, major spalling and adhesive wear each time bearings and rollers are removed for cleaning (left). Metal damage on the bearing can cause temperatures to rise. Pictured right is a bearing with over 1,000

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Not all greases are the same—selecting the best one for your operation is critical.

Putting the Right Grease to Work for Your Mill

Choosing the right drying system is a significant investment and critical to your process. Therefore, it is essential to understand the variations of different dryer options. One of the major differences is the heat source&mdash;i.e., steam tube drying vs. direct heat drying. &nbsp; Steam Tube Drying &nbsp; Steam tube dryers are essentially rotating tubes with shell heat exchangers. The drum is fitted with a high-pressure chamber that distributes steam into tubes running the length of the drum. Because its applications are for low-temperature processes, the equipment required for thermal destruction is reduced or eliminated. Very efficient, the steam tube dryer has little air being exhausted, significantly reducing stack loss. The air pollution control system is quite small in a steam tube dryer, and since only a minor amount of air is used to sweep out the water vapors, the exhaust volume is a much less than that of a direct heat dryer. Steam tube dryers are one of the easiest dryer types to operate. Once the steam pressure is set, the unit will take what it needs to do the job. Think of it as having a set-it-and-forget-it technology. They are used extensively in processing high-moisture organic materials such as distiller&rsquo;s grain, gluten feed from the wet milling industry, oilseeds and a variety of sludges. As for how industrial steam tube dryers work, material is fed into the drum and tumbles over the outside of the inner tubes. Inside those tubes, steam is collapsing to condensate. The latent heat from the steam&mdash;about 850 British thermal units per pound&mdash;provides the heat energy for drying. The condensate from the steam is removed through a rotary joint and then taken back to the boiler for regeneration. Direct Heat Drying A direct heat rotary dryer uses hot gas that is induced into a rotary drum. Its heat source may be as simple as a steam coil in low-temperature applications, or it can have a burner for higher temperatures. The burner may combust into a chamber, or fire directly into the dryer drum (direct-fired meaning there is no combustion chamber). Direct heat dryers typically work best when the burner system can operate with a minimal amount of excess air, or near stoichiometric balance of the gas and air. This allows the dryer to minimize the air required to carry the thermal energy. Wet material is fed into the same end of the drum (parallel flow) or the opposite end of the drum (counterflow) and is picked up and showered, or veiled, into the hot gas stream. The thermal energy is transferred from the hot gas to the material, which heats the solids and the water, ultimately evaporating the water. The primary heat transfer is by convection. &nbsp;If the product is not affected by the burner flame heat or the products of combustion, then a direct-fired unit will provide an efficient drying solution through the full utilization of all three heat transfer methods: radiation, convection and conduction. Heat-sensitive materials such as biomass and organic products could be processed with either a direct heat dryer (with an air heater to control the temperature) or a steam tube dryer. Choosing a Steam Tube Dryer A steam tube drying system is our recommended choice for drying and processing inorganic and organic chemicals and other bulk solid materials including, but not limited to hemp, DDGs, wet corn, wood chips, soda ash, paper mill sludge, soy meal and many more. The following are some of the benefits of this type of dryer. Cost-effective. Steam tube dryers&nbsp; use steam as the heat source. The exhaust gas from the dryer is about 80% less than what is required for direct heat dryers, which significantly reduces the size and cost of the air pollution control equipment. Quality construction. A steam tube dryer is classified as an ASME vessel. Thus, the requirements for its construction are more stringent than other dryers. Efficient. The steam tube dryer generally operates at a lower temperature than other dryers and rotates at a slower speed. Material tumbles gently around tubes that rotate with the shell, eliminating the friction forces that other types of dryers require. Heat loss through the cylinder wall is minimal since the steam tubes are fully enclosed by the dryer. Environmentally friendly. Steam tube dryers are environmentally friendly. Since they utilize the latent heat of steam to drive the drying process, only a small amount of sweep air is required to remove the water vapor driven off the product during the drying process. Typically, this method uses less than about 30% of the exhaust gas required for a direct heat dryer. The air pollution system is much smaller, and the permitted stack load is less. Safe to operate. Due to a high ratio of water to air, the atmosphere inside the dryer is nearly inert, which greatly reduces the opportunity for fire. In summary, drying systems are a major investment. Choosing the right system is critical to processes, so operators should be sure they are getting the best equipment available. Author: Nolan Johnson Manager, Application Engineering, Louisville Dryer Co., www.louisvilledryer.com

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Drying systems are a major investment and a critical wood pellet process component.

Choosing the Right Dryer for Your Process

Most roller bearing applications use grease lubrication. Grease serves functional properties and is used where oil lubrication is impossible or impractical, reduces wear of moving parts and acts as a sealant and shock absorber. Grease also holds solid lubricants in suspension. Choosing the wrong lubricant accounts for approximately 40% of all machine failures, and most other failures occur due to lack of lubrication. In bearings, some 80% of failures are related to lubrication or contamination. Grease Purposes, Characteristics Grease is a mixture of base oil, thickener and additives. The base oil can be mineral or synthetic. While sensitive industries such as pharma or food, and extreme-temperature applications mostly rely on expensive, synthetic base oils, mineral-based oils suffice for wood pellet applications. The thickener produces the semifluid structure, thus acting as an oil stabilizer, comparable to a sponge holding the oil in place. The majority of thickeners are metallic soaps, including lithium and aluminum. Other common thickeners are polyurea, sodium, clay and calcium. Nowadays, most thickeners consist of metallic soaps combined with complex agents. Very widely used are lithium-complex thickeners, which are a combination of conventional lithium soaps and low-molecular-weight organic acids. Nonsoap thickeners such as bentonite are gaining popularity in high-temperature and special applications, but there limits posed by the base oil oxidization and poor water compatibility of clay thickeners. Additive package components and percentage often define the quality of a grease. Additives enhance desirable properties, suppress existing undesirable properties and add new properties. Most common additives include oxidation and rust inhibitors, extreme pressure (EP) and antiwear or friction-reducing agents. The number of additives defines the grease service life (GSL). The GSL is the time elapsed during use until the lubricating properties have faded and need to be replenished. Operating temperature, load, speed and other environmental conditions affect the GSL. In wood pellet manufacturing, environmental conditions are harsh. High loads, saw dust, moisture and vibration put a lot of stress on the equipment. Greases help main bearings and roller bearings withstand this harsh environment. Besides functional properties, greases have certain physical characteristics that enable them to serve their purpose, such as viscosity. Viscosity defines the thickness of the oil and its resistance to flow and shear. Higher viscosity oils have larger molecules with a high internal friction (Van der Waals forces). The importance of choosing the right viscosity should not be overlooked. A thick initial film might not be dragged through the loaded zone, while a film too thin tears quickly, allowing metal-on-metal-contact. To help withstand operational stress, greases are consistent, meaning they are resisting deformation by an applied force. The measure of consistency is called penetration. Penetration depends on whether the consistency has been modified by handling or working. ASTM D 217 and D 1403 are standard test methods for cone penetration of unworked and worked greases. To measure penetration, a cone of a given weight sinks into a grease for five seconds at a standard temperature of 25 degrees Celsius (77 degrees Fahrenheit). The dropping point of grease is another indicator for choosing the correct grease. It is an indicator for heat resistance&mdash;the temperature at which the grease becomes so fluid that it drips. The dropping point indicates the upper temperature limit at which the grease retains its structure. This is not the maximum temperature at which a grease may be used, however. Furthermore, water resistance characterizes a grease. Water resistance means withstanding the effects of water with no change in lubrication abilities, mainly preventing oxidation (corrosion) and lack of lubrication (wash out). Finally, the pumpability of a grease is important for loss-lubrication applications such as wood pelleting. The grease should withstand temperature differences in storage and be pumpable through long lines of (automated) lubrication systems. Grease Selection for Wood Pellet Production Very simplified, pelletizing wood is the process of pressing shredded woody raw material into cylindrical bits. The process is much more complex than that, however, Pelletizing causes high loads and other stress on equipment such as roller bearings, and with some pellet mills, main bearings also experience a lubrication loss. Low-cost, mineral oil-based lithium complex greases with EP additives are typical for this application. Grease consumption varies widely among pellet mill manufacturers, but high consumption can only grease consumption can only be economical when the lubricants are cheap. A total lubrication cost comparison shows a clear benefit for specialty high-performance greases. The lubrication performance, or total lubrication costs (TLC), consider many factors: price per pound, consumption volume, average equipment lifetime and production loss. Thus, the price for high-quality lubricants is relative. While the price per pound is a knockout criterion for buying centers, it is actually of secondary importance. Considering possible volume savings and longer lifetimes, high-performance greases swiftly become superior in the TLC comparison. A grease that is 15 times more expensive is already a win when the volumes are 20 times lower. With prolonged service life for bearings, this benefit increases. A dramatic improvement comes with lower production loss and higher system availability. Power savings are the cherry on top. Besides financial benefits, quality grease offers superior emergency operating features, protecting equipment. The additive content and fit for heavy-duty application decreases the effects of lubrication failures. Especially in the case of solid lubricants, the coating protects sliding surfaces from wear-and-tear, even for a certain time without relubrication. This is of critical importance when it comes to preventing total equipment losses, fires and other safety-relevant failures. Along with good housekeeping, regular maintenance and staff awareness, greases round up the fundamentals of good practice and stable operation at high output. Author: Holger Streetz COO &amp; Board Member, Bathan AG h.streetz@bathan.ch

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Table 1: Comparison of simple and high-quality greases. The table does not include loss of production as prices vary, and the average time for equipment maintenance is difficult to generalize. 
* Cost per pellet mill assuming 24-hour operation 28 day

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In addition to base oils and thickeners, additives enhance grease functionality, which is critical for operational and financial performance. 

Quality Grease: Critical at  Pellet Mills

COVID-19 makes an easy case for automation, but the benefits extend well beyond mitigating risk during a pandemic. When it comes to bulk procurement of feedstock for pulp and paper mills, ethanol plants and pellet producers, CDCorp&rsquo;s Bulk Procurement and Logistics System, or BPAL, offers a solution that removes risk from the raw material supply chain and creates long-term benefits that extend beyond the present moment. &ldquo;Our original intentions were to build a system that would improve efficiency along the raw material supply chain so that businesses could focus more time and resources on growth development,&rdquo; says Jay Shatilla, president of CDCorp. &ldquo;With the pandemic, we see the added benefit of a contactless interface in reducing risks to human safety and keeping businesses operating efficiently during times of uncertainty.&rdquo; It&rsquo;s no secret that automating manual processes generates cost-saving benefits by reducing human resource allocations, lowering the occurrence of human error and building real-time operational and administrative efficiencies. CDCorp&rsquo;s BPAL System was designed not only to deliver these benefits, but also to address and remove pain points specific to bulk procurement. &ldquo;The BPAL System was born out of a clearly articulated need for increased efficiency across the raw material supply chain,&rdquo; Shatilla says. &ldquo;We&rsquo;ve enhanced and expanded its features over the past 10 years in direct consultation with supply chain managers to understand and improve the day-to-day experience of people operating in this field.&rdquo; BPAL integrates hardware and software systems to reduce manual participation in bulk feedstock delivery while providing real-time remote management and administrative control functions. The system uses barcode readers and activation relays that allow for unmanned access and delivery control stations. Through automated sequencing of entry and exit access control, traffic monitoring, inbound and outbound weigh scale registration, sample control, quality analysis and delivery point control, BPAL reduces the risk of human error and maximizes operational efficiency during delivery. On the administrative side, BPAL&rsquo;s user-friendly interface provides remote access to real-time reporting and information transfer, vendor, payment, contract management and feedstock delivery transaction reporting from all connected devices. CDCorp offers free consultations and on-site installation of its BPAL system.

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DCorp's Bulk Procurement and Logistics System can help pellet producers and others remove risk from the raw material supply chain.

2021 Pellet Mill Magazine Issue 3

Business Briefs

Business Briefs

Columns

The Fiber Takers

A Good Time to Buy Heating Fuel (and More BBQ Pellets)

Featured

The Pandemic and Industrial Pellet Supply Chain

Heating Fuel vs. Cooking Fuel

Contributions

Putting the Right Grease to Work for Your Mill

Choosing the Right Dryer for Your Process

Quality Grease: Critical at Pellet Mills

Bulk Procurement Automation Reduces Risk

2021 Pellet Mill Magazine Issue 3.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

The Fiber Takers

A Good Time to Buy Heating Fuel (and More BBQ Pellets)

Featured

The Pandemic and Industrial Pellet Supply Chain

Heating Fuel vs. Cooking Fuel

Contributions

Putting the Right Grease to Work for Your Mill

Choosing the Right Dryer for Your Process

Quality Grease: Critical at Pellet Mills

Bulk Procurement Automation Reduces Risk

2021 Pellet Mill Magazine Issue 3