8th – 9th March 2011, Southampton (EN)

European Standards for solid biofuels

in Styria

Mag. Thomas Loibnegger Department of Energy and biomass

Slide 2

Increasing prices for energy wood

competition between the material and energetic utilization

valorisation of co-production from the forestry and saw industry (splinter, bark, branches)

Development of a national and European wood fuels market

Increasing customer-awareness for quality wood fuels

Starting situation

Slide 3

What cubic meter wood chips would you buy?

700 kWh / lcm 1,000 kWh / lcm

+ 40 %

Spruce (fast growing), M 35 %, P 16 Spruce (slow growing), M 35 % orMixture Spruce/Beech, M 35 %, P 16

You can not trust the optical distinction!

Slide 4

Wood fuels are extremely diverse and reflect a wide range of characteristics

Wood fuel quality depends on:

Type of wood

Water content

Bark content

Impurities (e.g. sand, earth)

Heat value

Dimension and shape

…

Wood fuel quality

Slide 5

Wood chips (fine)

1 lcm spruce / fir 750 kWh

1 lcm larch 960 kWh

1 lcm pine 879 kWh

1 lcm beech / oak 1,057 kWh

Heat value equivalents (oil – wood)

Energy content of energy wood

1 cm wood 1.75 lcm wood chips

1 cm wood 2.50 lcm wood chips

1 cm wood 1.75 lcm wood chips

1 cm wood 2.50 lcm wood chips

5 – 6 cm hard wood

7 – 8 cm soft wood

13 – 14 lcm for wood chips

5 – 6 cm hard wood

7 – 8 cm soft wood

13 – 14 lcm for wood chips1,000 l Heating Oil

Slide 6

Correlation between heating value and water contentHeating value[kWh/kg]

0,0

1,0

2,0

3,0

4,0

5,0

6,0

0 5 10 15 20 25 30 35 40 45 50 55 60 65 70

watercontent [%]

4.6

4.0

2.2

Pellets Split logs2-3 years stored

Green (fresh)

Slide 7

Dependency in energy content/loose cubic metre from

location, tree species, particle size and water content

Qu

elle

: Löffl

er, G

. (20

07

): Hackg

ut – Ü

bern

ah

me u

nd

Lag

eru

ng

1041

746

607

746811

1035

811

669

811 797 780 759

0

200

400

600

800

1000

1200

Sp

ruce

, slo

w

gro

win

g

Sp

ruce

, me

diu

m

de

nsi

ty

Sp

ruce

, fa

st

gro

win

g

Water content:Particle size:

Sp

ruce

Sp

ruce

/be

ech

Be

ech

M 35P 16

Sp

ruce

/be

ech

Sp

ruce

/be

ech

M 35P 16

M 35P 45

Na

de

l-/L

au

bh

olz

Na

de

l-/L

au

bh

olz

Na

de

l-/L

au

bh

olz

Na

de

l-/L

au

bh

olz

M 35P 16

M 40P 16

M 45P 16

M 50P 16

Growing conditions Type of tree Particle size Water content

He

at

valu

e [

kW

h/l

cm

]

M 35P 16

Slide 8

Individual standards for parts availability

Wood chips (ÖNORM M7133)

Pellets (ÖNORM M7135, DIN 51731, PelletGold,…)

no common European standard

EN 14961 „Solid biofuels — Fuel specifications and classes “

EN 14961-1 General requirements (framework)

prEN 14961-2 Wood pellets for non-industrial use

prEN 14961-3 Wood briquettes for non-industrial use

prEN 14961-4 Wood chips for non-industrial use

prEN 14961-5 Firewood for non-industrial use

prEN 14961-6 Non woody pellets for non-industrial use

Standardization of biogenic fuels

Slide 9

Poor and patchy wood fuel qualities are the most common reason for troubles/disturbances in biomass-heating system

Emission limits are being tightened (e.g. fine dust, carbon monoxide, nitrous gases)

Common framework for quality assurance

Reduction of trade barriers

Internationally comparable wood fuels

Guarantee of quality through inspection / certification

Strengthening of customer confidence

Why we should standardize wood fuels?

Slide 10

Significant differences in quality on the market

Quality differences (e.g. ash-content) are not visible for the laymen

No guaranteed minimum quality standards without product standards

Prices for end customers are hard to compare

Increased risk of disturbances in the heating system (especially small systems)

Difficulty of contracts (e.g. wood chip delivery contract)

Negative effects without normative guidelines

Slide 11

[M] -> Designation for moisture content as received on wet basis, Mar [w-%]

[U] -> Designation for moisture content in dry basis (Ud),[w-%]

Watercontent influences:

Development of mould & Reduction of substance

Combustion

Weight (transport)

Handling

Use the same language – terms and definitions

Slide 12

Log wood – production & storage

Slide 13

Quality firewood

M Designation for moisture content as received on wet basis, Mar [w-%] U Designation for moisture content in dry basis (Ud),[w-%]

Wood fuel must be dried in as short a time as possible

Deciduous or coniferous wood -> to be stated

Slide 14

Improving the storage capability

Increasing the energy density

Decrease of the transport weight

Reduction of the ash content and of emissions

Improving of the plant effiency

Reduction of transport costs - logistic

Positive effects of the log wood drying

Slide 15

Providing the costumer with information

… about the proper way to handle fuel wood is crucial – in the wrong hands, even split logs of the highest quality cannot realise their full energy potential

Slide 16

Five good reasons for drying split logs

475 ml of water needs to be extracted from a regular-sized split log with a 50% initial moisture content before it can be considered to be air-dried (source: http://ibt-kraemer.de)

(1) Dry wood has a higher calorific value

(2) No sooting of stove and chimney

(3) Longer furnace life-cycle

(4) Less smoke and other harmful emissions

(5) Long storage without mould and decay

Slide 17

Production – Log wood

Slide 18

FprEN 14961-5:2010 – Firewood for non- industrial use

Slide 19

Quality wood chips

Slide 20

ÖNROM M 7133: Wood chips

Slide 21

FprEN 14961-4:2010 – Wood chips for non- industrial use (not complete)

Slide 22

Quality management – wrong storage place

Slide 23

Quality management – stones, metals,

Slide 24

Quality management – problematic raw materials

barkwood from bank of a street

Slide 25

(1) by volume

(2) by weight and water content

(3) by amout of energy generated (kWh)

Delivery method for wood chips

Slide 26

Delivery methods in Styria

0

45

30

13

24

60

39

47

13

35

12

1818

27

47

0

10

20

30

40

50

60

70

80

90

100

KWK (n:15) >1MW (n:64) 401kW - 1MW (n:72) bis 400kW (n:148)

pre

cen

tag

e [%

]

weight and water content (atro t) water and volume (Srm)

volume (Srm) amount of energy generated (Mwh)

Slide 27

Advantages

Volume is easily determined

Possibility of accounting for part quantities by individual suppliers

Disadvantages

Large degree of uncertainty regarding the energy content supplied

No incentive for optimising the energy content of the delivery

Numerous conflicts due to different delivered qualities

By volume (LCM)

Slide 28

Advantages

Not dependent on weight and type of wood

Not dependent on water content

Cost-effective

Disadvantages

Dependent on efficiency and thus the level of maintenance of the plant

Differentiated accounting of different suppliers is difficult

By amount of energy generated (€/kWh)

Slide 29

Advantages

Not dependent on type of wood and bulk density

High degree of accuracy in terms of energy content

Fewer conflicts due to fair accounting for delivered quality

Disadvantages

Measurement of weight and water content technically complex

Relatively high time and cost expenditure

Necessity of calculating the dry weight

By weight and water content

Slide 30

Wood chip supply by heat value (kWh)

Energy price 2 Cent/kWh (pine)

Rohenergiegehalt (kWh) = 5 - 0,06 x Wassergehalt (%)

Water content M [%]

Heat value [kWh]

Cent per kg € per lcm

10 4,7 9,4 20,07

15 4,4 8,8 19,33

20 4,1 8,2 18,57

25 3,8 7,6 16,03

30 3,5 7,0 17,80

35 3,2 6,4 17,54

Slide 31

EN-standard 14961-1:2010 was established as an ÖNROM in April 2010, but is not wide-spread in Austria so far

EN-standard 14961-1:2010 (general part) is good framework but too complex for the practical usage-> make it more simple for producers and customers (operators of heating systems)

The European product standards for wood chips and wood logs for non industrial are unpublished -> usage of the Austrian standards

Customers and producers are not informed about EN-standards

High costs for implementing norms (certification process) -> find new solutions for farmers and forest owners (Biomass trade centres)

EN-standards and certification for wood pellets will be established in spring (EN PLUS -> quality management along the whole value-added chain)

Establish a practical certification process also for wood chips and firewood

European standards for wood fuels in Austria

Slide 32

Quality management of wood chips along the

added value chain

Quality assurance of wood fuels -> STANDARDS

Slide 33

An active quality management system for fulfilling quality standards ensures:

the low-cost production of high-quality fuels,

plants and systems that can be operated without problems in the same way as fossil fuel technologies (e.g. gas/oil),

the reduction of harmful emissions (e.g. dust pollution) to a minimum, and

the gaining of consumer trust in this environmentally-friendly fuel

Quality management

Slide 34

What cubic meter wood chips would you buy?

€ 17 / lcm € 25 / lcm

+ € 8

Slide 35

Thanks for interest!

Contact

Thomas Loibnegger

Energie und BiomasseT: +43 316 8050 1407thomas.loibnegger@lk-stmk.at

Chamber of Agriculture and Forestry StyriaHamerlinggasse 38010 Graz Austria www.lk-stmk.at