Wood-Chip Heating Systems - Biomass Energy Resource Center

WOOD CHIP HEATING SYSTEMS
50
Tractor-Based Storage and Handling
System. The photo at right shows
loading the storage building at
Hollewand Farm, Pereau, Nova
Scotia. This pig farm has a 1 MMBH
system by Dumont Stoker.
be able to help you identify good
people to talk with and good sites
to visit.
System manufacturers
are a very valuable source of
technical information. Their job
is to produce and install systems that work reliably.
Manufacturers with signifi cant numbers of projects to
their credit, installed over a number of years, can offer
insight into which approaches work and which ones
don’t. To gain a broad technical view, it is important
to get information from more than one manufacturer,
since the competing fi rms have different strengths and
weaknesses for different applications.
Project Management for Installing a
Biomass System
Once the decision has been made to install a woodfi
red system, someone has to do the nuts-and-bolts
tasks associated with identifying the system characteristics
required, writing the specifi cations, selecting
a manufacturer or installer whose system meets those
characteristics, writing a contract for the supply and
installation, and overseeing the installation to make
sure the contract terms are met. This person serves as
the owner’s project manager. The project manager may
also play an important role in arranging fi nancing,
coordinating the overall scope of work, and overseeing
communication between the owner and other parties.
The project manager for the biomass installation
can be the person or entity that is the owner’s
designated technical resource on biomass, as discussed
above. Or the owner may engage an architect, engineer,
or professional project manager, particularly if the
installation of the biomass system is a part of a larger
project. A biomass project usually involves construction
of a storage bin and possibly a new boiler room; it may
also be part of the expansion of a building or of the
construction of a new facility. If the project manager
does not have technical background in biomass
systems, it is important that the owner’s technical
resource person on biomass continue to have a role in
project management.
In-House and Volunteer Assistance
Facility owners and decision-makers may be able
to reduce project costs and build project support
by relying heavily on in-house staff or, in the case
of public institutions, on volunteer assistance.
Volunteers may, for instance, be willing to spend many
hours researching and learning about an interesting
technology such as wood-chip burning. Volunteers
who are technically inclined may be able to go into
greater depth and achieve a broader understanding
than might hired engineers working under budgetary
constraints.
Communication between in-house staff resources,
or volunteers, and the owners or decision-makers is
very important. These designated human resources
should fi ll the role of collecting information, clarifying
and condensing it, and presenting it to those who are
responsible for making decisions.
In project management it is important not to have
too many players, and to maintain a clear chain of
command from the project manager to the decisionmakers.
Project management should be done by
technically qualifi ed, experienced persons. All input
from volunteer and in-house resource people should
be channeled through the project manager. Using a
volunteer committee to provide project management
can lead to fragmented decision-making and unclear
directions to the contractor.