Converting Waste Agricultural Biomass into a Resource - UNEP

Supplier
R.D. Associates, Ltd.
Fuel Delivery and Storage
Fuel is either supplied by an external contractor or as a self-supply operation,
for example a farm or estate with its own wood harvesting operation. There
are a number of mechanisms to deliver the fuel to the bunker. The simplest
option is to tip the chips or pellets directly from a tipper truck or trailer into a
subterranean bunker. Other options include dump bag systems, front-end
loaders; purpose built containers, or pneumatic delivery. The options for fuel
delivery and storage are mostly determined by the position of the boiler and
the access to the premises being heated. The fuel delivery and storage
system can account for a large proportion of the overall cost of installing
biomass-heating systems. In new building applications, consideration to the
location and operation of a biomass boiler and store should be undertaken as
early as possible to avoid additional costs in the future.
Figure 2: Fuel Delivery
(tanker picture kindly supplied by The Energy Crops Company Ltd.)
Fuel feed systems
Biomass fuels such as woodchip and oilseed cake are not free flowing
materials and have a tendency to bridge, and so storage bunkers, or silos, are
fitted with some type of agitator system. Small systems use rotating sweeper
arm devices that drag the material over an auger as shown below.
Figure 3: Typical Sweeping Floor System
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