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from the editors ■

Sugar, Sugar

You Are My Candy Girl O

nce an industrial wood pellet producing company’s CEO said, “Money grows on trees.” And for the wood-to-energy sector, he was right.

Now, Delta Biofuel, supported by technology supplied

by Player Design, is going to try to do what hasn’t been done on an industrial scale—yet—dry and press sugarcane waste into pellets for energy consumption. We’ve watched a lot of projects over the years come and go; always asking the question, “But will it scale?”

This project, the first of its kind in North America, represents a $100 million investment in south Louisiana: Using bagasse (the dry pulpy fibrous material that remains after crushing sugarcane or sorghum stalks to extract their juice), Delta Biofuel plans to manufacture biomass fuel pellets on a commercial scale, with an estimated annual capacity of 340,000 metric tons. Construction of the facility is underway, and Delta has secured long-term feedstock purchase agreements.

The company even reports multiple long-term contracts with power utility companies located primarily in Europe for the sale of more than 1.8 million tons of pellets over the next several years.

Delta’s capacity is right in line with most industrial wood pellet manufacturers dotting the U.S. South, a few of which are within an easy five hours drive.

Though it has been in development for some time, Delta has remained somewhat tight lipped about the suppliers and contractors involved in the project. One that has been announced is Player Design, selected to provide two PDI 17 ft. x 70 ft. dryers (each with a 100 million BTU/hour furnace); and to serve as the complete engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) provider for the facility. This represents an interesting move by Delta, leaning on a dryer manufacturer with pellet experience in the Northeastern region of the North American market and Asia.

PDI has such confidence in its system, the company has made the decision to guarantee performance and capital cost of the entire facility, not just offering the industry standard guarantee of their specific machines.

Tyler Player, President, Player Design Inc., comments, “With the drying and energy systems being such a cornerstone of a successful pellet operation, the guaranteed performance and capital cost of the facility were already something we provided. Adding the PAL pellet presses and other systems was a logical step to rounding out our complete package. Our process engineering knowledge and global expertise in construction made this an easy transition. Knowing what will work, and making certain to fix any mistakes is critical to the success of Delta Biofuels, and our willingness to share risk and resolve fault has been the basis for all of our success.”

All that is left now is to wait and see if it scales. If it does, well the old hit song by The Archies said it best.

August 2023 / Wood Bioenergy

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■ table of contents

www.woodbioenergymag.com

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20 6 IN THE NEWS Enviva Breaks Ground

20

PRODUCT SPOTLIGHT Focusing On Energy Production

14 MICROCHIP MAKER Logger Fulfills Enviva’s Needs

25

PRODUCT NEWS West Salem Sold

Cover Photography: Lifelong logger Daniel Rhoad diversifies his operation into chipping for pelletizing and energy production in his area. (David Abbott photo)

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table of contents ■

advertising index Advertiser Index is a free service for advertisers and readers.

The publisher assumes no liability for errors or omissions.

Volume 15

Number 4

25 Hatton-Brown Publishers, Inc. Street Address ■ 225 Hanrick Street Montgomery, AL 36104-3317 Mailing Address ■ P.O. Box 2268 Montgomery, AL 36102-2268 Tel: 334.834.1170 ■ Fax: 334.834-4525 Publisher/Adv. Sales Manager ■ David H. Ramsey Chief Operating Officer ■ Dianne C. Sullivan

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Wood Bioenergy (ISSN 1947-5306) is published six times annually (February, April, June, August, October, December) by Hatton-Brown Publishers, Inc., 225 Hanrick St., Montgomery, AL 36104. Wood Bioenergy is free to qualified readers in the United States, including owners, managers, supervisors and other key personnel. All nonqualified U.S. subscriptions are $50 per year, Canadian subscriptions are $60 and foreign subscription are $95 per year (U.S. funds). Subscriber Inquiries and Back Issue Orders—TOLL-FREE: 800.669.5613. Fax 888.611.4525. Subscribe or renew online: www.woodbioenergymagazine.com and click on the “Subscribe” button.

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■ in the news

Enviva Makes It Official At Epes World-leading industrial wood pellet producer Enviva Inc. has formally broke ground on its Epes pellet plant in Sumter County, Ala. Enviva has been active in Sumter County since its initial assessment of the site in 2018. In 2020, Enviva acquired more than 300 acres in the Epes Industrial Park, located next to the Tombigbee River, to build its largest wood pellet production plant. In July 2022, the company began construction of its fully contracted Epes plant, which will have a nameplate capacity of 1.1 million metric tons per year and is expected to be in service by mid2024, with production fully ramped by 2025.

“The fact that the world’s largest wood pellet producer is building its largest production facility to date here, in ‘Sweet Home Alabama,’ is yet another testament to our nation-leading business climate and world-class workforce,” Alabama Governor Kay Ivey says.

“Enviva’s significant commitment at the Port of Epes will undoubtedly breathe life into a community and region eager for new, longterm opportunities.”

When assessing and developing the project, Enviva chose to repurpose a former business site and construct a brand-new, state-ofthe-art manufacturing facility to jumpstart economic growth and bring employment opportunities back to the community. Once operational, the Epes plant is expected to support approximately 100 direct jobs and 250 indirect jobs, including in adjacent industries.

Enviva plans to invest, on average, $375 million for each newly constructed plant going forward, including the Epes plant. The rich fiber basket and supply in Alabama, along with favorable transport logistics and a great local workforce, are some of the key factors which initially made the project sustainable and attractive for Enviva. Enviva will source

fiber at the new plant by following the robust set of practices and principles that are employed successfully at Enviva’s other plants.

The facility will sustainably and responsibly source wood from areas within approximately 75 miles of the plant.

“It is an honor to be here in Sumter County with Governor Ivey and local officials to celebrate this momentous occasion of breaking ground on a fully contracted, state-of-the-art wood pellet production facility in West Alabama,” says Thomas Meth, President and CEO of Enviva. “We have been humbled by the strong support we have received from the local community over the last few years, and we look forward to formally being a part of the community and to being a good neighbor for many years to come.”

Pellets produced at the Epes plant will be exported to international markets, mainly in Europe and Asia.

During the ceremony, Enviva also recognized the following organizations for their invaluable

Grounding breaking ceremony included Alabama Gov. Kay Ivey, fifth from left, and Enviva President & CEO Thomas Meth, fourth from left.

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in the news ■

contribution in making the project possible and for in turn bringing economic development to Sumter County: MuniStrategies, LLC, PB Community Impact Fund, LLC, UB Community Development, LLC, National Impact Fund, LLC, Capital One – National Assn., and United Bank.

In addition, the Epes plant has been designed using learnings from the company’s existing 10 plants to deliver an improved and modernized model known as the EVA1100. The patent pending blueprint is being used as the standardized plant design for its future 1.1 million metric ton production capacity plants, including Epes.

Delta Biofuel Plans Bagasse-Pellet Mill Delta Biofuel confirmed a $100 million final investment decision for the construction and startup of

a bagasse-based pellet facility in Iberia Parish, La. The company is expected to create 126 jobs and Louisiana Economic Development estimates the project will result in an additional 149 indirect jobs in the Acadiana region.

“Louisiana has emerged as a leader in renewable energy through continued investment and innovation,” Gov. John Bel Edwards says. “As one of the nation’s top producers of sugarcane, producing more than 2 million tons of raw sugar in 2022, it is only fitting that our state will lead the way in the production and export of this new renewable fuel source. Once again we see how the transition to cleaner energy creates investment, jobs and opportunities across multiple economic sectors and regions of our state.”

The facility will be the first of its kind in North America for its use of bagasse, a byproduct of sug-

arcane production, to manufacture biomass fuel pellets on a commercial scale that offers a lower-cost and stronger greenhouse gas reduction profile versus other biomass fuels, such as wood pellets, according to the participants.

“Delta is thrilled to reach this milestone and begin construction,” Delta Biofuel CEO Phil Keating says. “We look forward to putting waste bagasse to good use, solving a serious problem for the sugar industry and reducing GHG emissions. I’d like to thank Iberia Parish, One Acadiana and LED for helping us get this project off the ground. Of course, we could not have done this without the coordination and support from our sugar mill partners.”

The total capital expenditure is 43% higher than the $70 million investment that was anticipated when the project was first proposed in 2021. The higher level of

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■ in the news

capital expenditure is reflective of increased labor and equipment cost, as well as Delta’s decision to increase the facility’s production capacity.

Delta Biofuel expects to break ground this summer. When completed, the facility will have the ability to produce 340,000 metric tons of pellets annually.

Delta Biofuel reports it has secured exclusive long-term agreements to acquire supplies of feedstock bagasse from five sugar mills in surrounding parishes. The company has long-term contracts primarily with power utility companies across Europe for the sale of more than 1.8 million tons of pellets over the next several years.

To secure the project, the state of Louisiana offered Delta Biofuel a competitive incentive package that includes the comprehensive workforce development solutions of LED FastStart and a $1 million

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performance-based grant for infrastructure improvements. The company has been approved for the state’s Industrial Tax Exemption program and has applied for the Quality Jobs program.

BC Biocarbon Teams With Dunkley Lbr. Jonathan Wilkinson, Minister of Natural Resources, has announced a $10 million contribution to BioLesna Carbon Technologies LP, a joint venture between BC Biocarbon and Dunkley Lumber Ltd., for a new biorefinery in Carrot River, Saskatchewan. The contribution comes through the Investments in Forest Industry Transformation (IFIT) program, which intends to support Canada’s forest sector through targeted investments in advanced technologies and products.

The Carrot River Biorefinery will utilize BC Biocarbon’s proprietary

processes to convert residual biomass from forest operations to produce four initial products: biochar, bio-oil, wood vinegar and pyrolysis gas. These materials can be further refined into value-added products such as soil additives, filtration media, electrodes and specialty chemicals. Based on the project’s ability to substitute products derived from non-renewable sources and the carbon sequestration capacity of the biochar produced, carbon removal credits may also be generated.

BioLesna Carbon Technologies LP will create local employment for the Carrot River community and surrounding areas. The Carrot River Biorefinery will also contribute to increased scale-up production and monetization of lowgrade feedstock, as well as improve the utilization of forestrybased residuals and increase the diversity of forest products.

The IFIT program facilitates the

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adoption of transformative technologies and products by bridging the gap between development and commercialization. IFIT aims to create a more competitive and resilient forest sector with a focus on low-carbon projects that result in new or diversified revenue streams.

“At BC Biocarbon, we are thrilled to have earned the confidence and financial support of NRCan to build this first of its kind facility in Canada using Canadian technology,” comments BC Biocarbon CEO Peter Popplewell. “By supporting BioLesna’s project, NRCan has demonstrated their commitment not only to the continued technological evolution of the Canadian forest industry, but also to the importance of continued Canadian leadership in the development and deployment of leading-edge technologies that perform carbon removal and sequestration on an industrial scale.”

“The conversion of residual biomass into innovative products like biochar is a great step forward in the evolution of Canada’s wood products industry. We’re proud to be part of this Canadian-made solution to a decades old challenge and look forward to seeing many similar installations over the coming years,” adds Kris Hayman, VP Eastern Operations, Dunkley Lumber.

Arizona Project Could Move Forward ‘Slowly’ Apache Sitgreaves Forest Supervisor Rob Lever reports that the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service has released a biological opinion which will let the 92,000-acre Black River thinning project to move forward. But it will likely take months for the Forest Service (FS) to prepare and release the individual sales.

The project is considered critical to improve forest health and maintain habitat for several sensitive species.

FS officials note that thousands of acres in the project area have so much fuel loading that two-thirds of the entire area are likely to carry a high-intensity crown fire.

The project release is good news for the region, but otherwise Arizona’s forest managers and forest industry continue to struggle with lack of markets for the biomass produced by forest health projects as the state has only one major biomass market.

Forest managers are seeking to expedite forest health projects in lieu of finding a single-source contractor for millions of acres under the 4 Forests Restoration Initiative (4FRI), but the lack of markets and now inflationary pressures are biting into contractors’ production and expansion plans.

Lucky Branch Tract Finds Some Luck The Lucky Branch tract, an 80-acre parcel of bottomland hardwood forest situated next to the Little River and Uwharrie National Forest in Montgomery County, North Carolina, has been conserved thanks in part to a grant provided by the Enviva Forest Conservation

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in the news ■

Fund. This grant enabled Three Rivers Land Trust to acquire a conservation easement on the property and safeguard the tract, which is part of a larger 520-acre easement, encompassing a variety of habitats.

“Thanks to funding from the NC Land and Water Fund, the Enviva Forest Conservation Fund, and a generous easement donation by the landowner, these 80 acres on the pristine Little River will remain free from development and maintained as a beautiful hardwood forest for the enjoyment of future generations,” says Crystal Cockman, Associate Director, Three Rivers Land Trust.

Currently the site hosts habitat for two threatened species: the Carolina redhorse, and Villosa delumbis, a mussel species also known as the Eastern Creekshell.

This stretch of the Little River is classified as the Yadkin/Upper Little River Aquatic Habitat natural area with a very high rating as determined by the North Carolina Natural Heritage Program.

Enviva Forest Conservation Fund’s goal is to be a catalyst for investments in forest and habitat conservation in southeast Virginia and North Carolina’s coastal plains. As the fund enters its eighth year of the planned 10-year partnership, 31 projects have been funded with a total commitment of more than $3.8 million.

Partnership Program Assists Firefighters Weyerhaeuser Co. and Firefighter Behavioral Health Alliance announced an expanded partnership on Fighting Fires Together, a campaign that provides support for wildland firefighters and their families. In its second year, the program is designed to provide resources and increase awareness around the importance of mental health assistance for these first responders.

“After launching last year’s inaugural Fighting Fires Together campaign with FBHA, we are proud to continue this effort to support wildland firefighters and their mental health as they risk their lives to protect our communities,” says Bill Frings, Vice President of Western Timberlands for Weyerhaeuser. “Weyerhaeuser’s approach to wildfire preparedness, prevention and mitigation is a year-round strategy, and part of this work includes ensuring wildland firefighters have access to the resources they need to carry out this important work.”

The expanded Fighting Fires Together online resource hub contains content specially designed for wildland firefighters, including new videos on the topics of Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD), depression, anxiety and suicide prevention, along with mental health tips, educational articles and contacts for occupationally aware support groups and counselors located in Oregon, Washington and British Columbia.

Weyerhaeuser and FBHA launched the campaign in May to commemorate Mental Health Awareness Month and Wildfire Awareness Month. This partnership serves as an extension of FBHA’s mission to collaborate, de-

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■ in the news

velop and implement behavioral health awareness, prevention, intervention and post-crisis strategies to provide wildland firefighters with an easily accessible and confidential source of information.

“Through this important partnership with Weyerhaeuser, wildland firefighters can access our workshops designed by first responders for first responders, selfassessments that serve as a suicide screening for firefighters, and a directory of mental health professionals,” says Jeff Dill, founder of FBHA. “Last year’s campaign not only helped wildland firefighters access mental health information, but it also provided a like-minded community for families to find strength and support. We look forward to continuing this partnership to provide specialized education and critical resources for our communities’ heroes.”

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Paper Mill Markets Undergoing Changes Pulp, paper and containerboard producers are undergoing a shift in infrastructure and product focus that’s resulting in big impacts to fiber demand and currently hitting loggers hard in the procurement areas surrounding such wood consuming facilities. The pulp and paper segment is continuing to adjust to declines in demand for publishing paper and other print media as more people work from home.

There’s also been a drop in demand for shipping and packaging paper products, reversing the skyrocketing demand for packaging at the height of the COVID pandemic when traditional retailers were closed, leading to a boom in online shopping.

A comprehensive report in Fastmarkets RISI’s early June North American Woodfiber & Biomass

Markets by Chris Lyddan notes that across 30 pulp-paper industry sites since 2020, outright closures and displacement through expansion that’s utilizing mostly recycled fiber have had a huge impact: “Altogether, an estimated six million tons of finished product, perhaps 20 million tons of chips, has so far shut either permanently or indefinitely across nearly 30 mill sites, large and small, recycled and virgin,” he says.

Closures just announced this year include WestRock at North Charleston, SC; Pactiv Evergreen at Canton, NC; Cascades in Niagra Falls, NY; and Graphic Packaging in Tama, Iowa. And those closures don’t count the unscheduled downtime, reduced operations and indefinite closures such as NP Paper in Rumford and Old Towne, Maine and IP’s three straight quarters marked by unscheduled downtime.

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PCA’s announcement in May it was closing its Wallula, Wash. paper and corrugated packaging plant until later in the year is also a big hit, as the facility is a large destination for many Northwest Intermountain chip producers.

In the Lake States region high inventories and lowered demand have mills taking downtime and cutting back on production, some taking away fuel bonuses as diesel prices have eased. Lyddan cites sources such as a Michigan procurement manager who says they haven’t bought open market wood since March, are currently running at about 50% and taking in less than 25% of what they normally buy. There’s also a Wisconsin logger who believes that after the current downturn, combined with inflation hitting almost all operating costs, the region could see “a different world, with a lot of logging capacity gone.”

and storage infrastructure, and the conversion of coal-fired electric generation plants to BECCS facilities across North America.

Drax’s office in Monroe, La. will remain the headquarters for its North America pellet operations, which also includes regional of-

fices in Vancouver and Prince George, Can.

Asia Global Pellet Share Is Growing While worldwide trade of pel➤ 23 lets remained roughly un-

Drax Taps Houston For BECCS Office Drax announced it will establish its North American headquarters for Bioenergy with Carbon Capture and Storage (BECCS) in Houston, Tex. The new office will serve as the hub for Drax’s team focused on bringing BECCS projects to fruition throughout the U.S. and Canada.

Drax reports that BECCS is the only technology that can deliver reliable, dispatchable renewable power while permanently removing millions of tons of carbon dioxide from the atmosphere.

Two initial sites in the U.S. South for deploying BECCS have been selected and are progressing. Drax continues to evaluate nine further sites in North America, creating a pipeline of development opportunities into the 2030s.

Drax has already started hiring what will eventually amount to more than 100 new jobs in Texas to support the company’s rapid growth strategy, particularly focused on the development of new-build BECCS facilities, associated carbon capture

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■ chipper operator

New To The

Chipping Game

By David Abbott MCBEE, SC ust a few months ago, lifelong logger Daniel Rhoad, 44, decided to add a new facet to his operation: Chipping for the wood pellet market in his region.

His company, Rhoad Timber Co., LLC, started testing out a borrowed 2014 Morbark 30/36 chipper. “The machine is not new, but I am new to the chipping game,” Rhoad says.

With his timber buyer, Timothy Griggs of Carolina Timber Brokers, Rhoad had been talking for a while about giving chipping a shot, especially for tracts full of non-merchantable wood, like the one he was working in early April. Griggs loaned him the chipper until Rhoad could decide if he would keep it on the job more permanently.

Using borrowed chip vans, the crew has been delivering 15-20 chip loads a week for the last six months: Hauling to Enviva Pellets in Hamlet, NC, and Sonoco in Hartsville, which uses wood residuals to generate electricity.

Chipping is not a big focus of Rhoad’s business,

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but it serves a purpose. “When you get on clearcuts like this, the landowner wants it gone anyway, and if you take the time to cut it, you need to merchandize it some kind of way and get paid for it,” he reasons. “A lot of the hardwood tops have so many limbs that it’s not merchantable for pulpwood.

Plus, debris piles are an eyesore and make it hard to replant. So (chipping) is a service to the landowner and is a way to merchandize material that you have to handle anyway.”

By late June, Rhoad was pleased enough with the chipping that he committed to keeping it as part of his operation going forward, currently securing financing to buy the Morbark from Griggs, as well as to acquire some chip vans of his own.

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■ chipper operator

Family/Crew Rhoad’s dad Danny has been in logging since he was in high school in the mid 1960s, and started his own crew in the ’70s. It was always a family business: Back then, Danny worked with his brothers and cousins; some of them had different last names, but they were all members of the Rhoad family.

It was the environment in which the current generation of Rhoads grew up. “When I was young I always came to the woods, and started working on equipment as soon as I was old enough to be able to do it,” Rhoad recalls. As the

only son to Danny and his wife Jenny, Daniel followed his dad’s bootprints into the woods, though one of his two older sisters, Toni Allison, is also heavily involved in the family business as the company secretary/bookkeeper. “If it wasn’t for what she does I couldn’t do what I do,” Toni’s brother acknowledges. She handles about everything in the office, from insurance to payroll. The only paperwork he spends much time on is counting tickets and checking numbers at the end of the week to make sure all tickets match the load sheet. His sister takes care of the rest, sending load counts to the timber buyer so everyone can get paid.

Toni’s sons, Austin, 26, and Jacob, 24, work in the woods with their uncle Daniel and grandfather Danny, who still helps out at 73. Now that he’s the one running things, Rhoad figures his two nephews may be the ones to carry on the family legacy when the time comes. For

Daniel Rhoad, right, with his sister Toni Allison, left

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Rhoad has done more clear-cuts than thinning lately, and chipping has helped him grow.

his part, Rhoad has two daughters: Emily, 14, and Dana, 9. He says he’d be fine with it if they grow up and decide they want to be involved in logging, but he won’t push it on them.

Austin and Jacob both can run every piece of equipment on the crew. Their versatile proficiency and flexibility is critical. “That is what I really strive for is being able to diversify,” Rhoad says. In his opinion, he adds, “If you have someone who can only run one piece of equipment, they are not as valuable to the operation.

They may be the best on that one piece but if they can’t run some of the other stuff they’re not as valuable.

Sometimes you’ll need to run two skidders to keep up, if you’re on a long pull, and the feller-buncher can run at a more relaxed pace. But sometimes it’s the other way around and one skidder can overrun the loader with the cutter man cutting as hard as he can. So you

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need to be able to move a guy from one piece of equipment to another as needed.”

Also working on the crew part-time is cousin Corey Wayne. He’s been learning the ropes. Already good on the skidder, he’s getting to know the loader. And they recently hired another full-time skidder operator, Garrison Horton, who is the son of truck driver Bryan Horton. Bryan worked with RTC previously before leaving for another opportunity, but recently rejoined the RTC family and brought his son with him. Other truck drivers are Carlton Gainey and Gregory Peterson.

Operations The logger aims to haul 40-50 loads of roundwood a week. Unfortunately, for much of the first half of this year and the end of 2022, that hasn’t often been

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■ chipper operator

possible due to mill restrictions and shutdowns, not to mention weather. It had been unusually wet in spots, though other spots of the state were still considered drought conditions earlier this year. In early April the crew was on an especially sandy tract. “It fought us with some wet areas, and not just in the bottoms,” Rhoad says. “Some of the flat areas on top of the hills still have issues with bogging up, like the ground is saturated. I don’t have dual tires on anything so we’re not set up for it.”

For many years Rhoad and crew did almost nothing but first thinning and built his company’s reputation on quality thinning work. He believes, “If you start a tract of wood and thin it right the first time, take out the crooked and diseased trees and leave good quality stuff, the final result of the timber will be way better.

We have a reputation in this area for thinning and have been requested because of the job that we strive to do.”

In more recent years, though, he’s shifted focus to clear-cutting in response to market pressures. “I would rather thin than clear-cut, because that’s what I know how to do best, but the market determines what products you have to haul, what’s in demand.”

In the past they used to cut on a lot of state forest and federal wildlife refuge land, but in the last few years have done more private and corporate work for groups like American Forest Management.

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The cost of fuel has been the biggest problem since last year. “It jumped so high so quick, almost to $6 a gallon for on road fuel in some places,” he says. “In most places it was around $5.69, and now it’s back down around $4. That’s still higher than it was before, but not near as bad as it briefly got. It’s still a problem.” It takes almost $1,000 to fill up one truck, he notes, not to mention off road fuel. All together his crew burns around 1,200 gallons, around $5,000, a week. Some mills offered a slight fuel surcharge last year, he says, but many have since talked about taking it back.

Equipment Rhoad uses a 2022 Weiler S350 skidder, 2020 Weiler B570 cutter, 2015 Cat 529C loader with CSI buck saw and CTR delimber, and a rebuilt 2006 John Deere 648G-III skidder. His main dealer is Blanchard Machinery of Florence. On first thinning jobs they use a Chambers Delimbinator.

He runs Primex 32.5 size tires on skidders and 28s on the cutter, bought from Black's Tire in Monroe, NC. Rhoad owns his own trucks, three Western Stars and a Peterbilt, purchased from Triple T truck center in Florence, pulling Evans plantation trailers. All have GPS and dash cams.

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■ pellet & energy production

EDITOR’S NOTE: The following companies submitted these editorial profiles and images to complement their advertisements placed elsewhere in this issue. All statements and claims are attributable to the companies.

BIOMASS ENGINEERING & EQUIPMENT Biomass Engineering & Equipment (BE&E) continues to improve its lineup of bulk-handling machinery with more innovations, more options, and better service. To that end, we recently added two pieces of equipment: In-line receiving bins for moving-floor trailers and diverter chutes for our twin-chain Smart Conveyors. These machines complement our growing list of systems manufactured in our Indianapolis factories by providing customers with more options for their bulk material handling systems.

And options abound with our equipment. Smart Conveyors are designed modularly in 5-ft. sections, which means they can be extended or reconfigured later as part of a new system. They are also capable of inclines up to 90° from horizontal, giving them unparalleled spacesaving capabilities.

Moreover, Smart Conveyors are available with various bolt-on options to serve our customers’ needs. These add-ons include explosion ventilation, deluge, support brackets, fast-opening flop gates, diverter gates, diverter chutes, plenums, paddle brushes, two paddle styles, paddle alignment monitoring, tapped bearings, chain monitoring, tail scoops, inspection doors, open-floors for distribution, and custom solutions.

With these options, these drag conveyors can serve multiple functions. Customers have used our conveyors for infeed, pellet handling, load-out, and distribution.

BE&E’s in-line trailer receiving bins allow customers to receive biomass without needing to construct a ramp or dig a pit for the outfeed conveyor, as our original bin required. We now have two styles for customers to choose from: A side-discharge model that requires a pit and a rear-discharge model that does not. Having two bins to choose from enables us to adapt to customers’ layout requirements and ensures we cater to their needs.

BE&E supplies complete systems for handling biomass from receiving to load-out. With a dedicated engineering team, we can provide turn-key solutions for many materials and capacities.

BRUNETTE The Brunette SmartVibe is a unique, and simple vibrating conveyor designed for low-cost maintenance and maximum up-time efficiencies. The patented design allows operators to change the conveyor's speed through the use of controls, without costly shutdowns. Speed is varied by using a variable speed drive (VFD) to control the drive motor RPM which affects the conveyor stroke.

The SmartVibe drive is inboard complete with a single electric motor. An eccentric shaft is driven by a belt and a sheave and mounted in roller bearing assemblies. The shaft is connected to the conveyor with custom elastomer elements that provide trouble-free operation in summer and winter. The SmartVibe has no coil springs. It features a springless vibratory mechanism which is fully balanced at each stroke.

Parallel torsional shafts are mounted in a heavy-

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pellet & energy production ■ duty housing, secured in place with B-Loks and connected to the rocker arm. The rocker arm assemblies are mounted on the torque shaft with B-Loks and provide a link between the counterbalance beam and the upper trough.

The counterbalance beam is a unique design feature of the Brunette SmartVibe. Located under the trough for safe operation, it ensures optimal balance, even at different speeds. The counterbalance beam runs the entire conveyor length and can be used as a secondary trough to increase material flow or carry fines when a screen is being used.

This vibrating conveyor can be custom-built to suit your specific needs. The versatility of the Brunette SmartVibe lies in the many options available for varied applications. The conveyor can be constructed in different widths and lengths, with size-specific screening options, rare earth magnets, or a metal detector.

The newest model, the Brunette SmartVibe 5830, is 58 in. wide and 30 ft. long and comes with a fines screen, metal detector or a metal trap. This model provides the cleanest usable material flowing into your grinders or chippers maximizing your product yield while protecting equipment downstream.

This versatile conveyor can bring new efficiencies to many different industries and applications including biomass production and transportation, and pellet manufacturing.

MID-SOUTH ENGINEERING Mid-South Engineering has been integral in the growth of the pellet and biomass production markets through our years of partnerships with industry leaders. Mid-South performs studies, detailed designs, and peer reviews as the lead engineer for most of the biomass production trailblazers.

Our experience extends from conceptual engineering at the inception of the project (mass & energy balances, site selection, and process finalization), to the detailed design and execution of all equipment/process centers of a pellet production facility. Not only are we proud to team with our clients but also, we closely partner with major equipment suppliers to ensure seamless and cohesive project execution.

We have extensive experience in the energy production industry. Our energy projects encompass organic rankine cycle (ORC) power generation, combined heat & power (CHP) systems, boiler conversions (coal to biomass), and numerous energy models and analyses of existing energy systems. Similar to our experience in the pellet industry, our expertise in the energy sector includes all facets of the process, from conceptual design to the final detailed engineering.

Our projects are maintained by five strategically located regional offices that allow us to efficiently provide services to projects located in the South/Southeast, Northeast, Mid-Atlantic, and the Pacific Northwest. This strategy has allowed Mid-South to be an asset to various clients in different industries at the same time.

MOISTTECH MoistTech can immediately increase the quality and consistency of the pelleting process with moisture control. Making pellets is a fairly straightforward process, however a pellet mill is only as efficient as the consistency of the material that is being inputted. Several factors must be considered such as: Wood species, die specifications, grind size, geometry of the grind, conveyance, binder requirements and more. But an often-overlooked aspect of the process is the moisture content of the biomass, usually due to lack of knowledge about its importance in the production process. Slight, intentional moisture changes by as little as 1% makes a noticeable dif-

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■ pellet & energy production ference in the durability quality of the pellet and in the sheen. If the moisture rate varies by 3-5% it is almost impossible to consistently make a durable pellet.

The other factor that moisture directly affects is the amperage of the main drive on the pellet mill. In wood pelleting, if the moisture rate trends upwards, the amperage of the motor swings upwards as well. Likewise, when the moisture rate drops the amperage falls significantly. This bouncing of the amperage rate can have a detrimental effect on the production capacity of the pellet mill. Major decreases in production rates can be seen simply because the in-bound biomass wasn't a consistent moisture, not to mention there is the possibility of plugging the mill.

How is this overcome? Moisture measurement and control directly on the production line with MoistTech’s IR3000 series sensor. With a near-infrared moisture sensor, users can adjust the programming of the dryer system to provide a more consistent biomass moisture rate in real time. This directly correlates to a higher production capacity and a betterquality pellet. MoistTech has been in the moisture control industry for over 40 years with several successful installations in the wood industry, savings users time, money, and energy.

NORDSON MEASUREMENT & CONTROL SOLUTIONS Moisture control is a crucial factor in the pellet production process.

In general, a high-quality pellet with the desired efficient burning characteristics should have less than 10% moisture content. Above this threshold, very high compression pressures are required at the press, leading to high temperatures, lots of steam generation, and clogging of the die. Moreover, the risk of decomposition during storage significantly increases. On the other hand, if the moisture content is too low at the pelletizing stage, the wood will not compress sufficiently preventing pellets from forming properly.

Conventional analytical approaches generally use the loss on the capacitance of the product technique. These off-line methods only provide measurements at snapshot intervals in time and on small sample sizes that are often not representative of the entire batch. Nordson solves this problem with a near-infrared, on-line moisture measurement gauge that delivers value: The NDC PrediktIR II. The NDC PrediktIR II by Nordson generates continuous, highly accurate, and representative measurements of the product: A level of feedback simply not possible with conventional approaches. Thanks to a Nordson non-contact instrument, it is possible to receive biofuel moisture content information in real-time, enabling the operator to adjust the airflow to the furnace to optimize combustion without waiting for lab sample results. This translates into more efficient combustion and a rapid return on investment. To sum up, with the NDC PrediktIR II manufacturers achieve significant benefits, namely: Improved product quality and increased yield; reduced stoppages at the pellet press due to incorrect moisture content, and reduced energy costs with a positive impact on the plant’s carbon footprint.

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in the news ■

13 ➤ changed year-over-year in 2022 from 2021, Asia has increased its global share of wood pellet imports to a record 32%, according to a recent report in WoodMarket Prices at ResourceWise.

The report notes that Asia, represented by Japan and South Korea primarily, has continued to grow import volumes at the expense of European buyers and its share of import volume is up from only 18% five years ago. The upward trend is expected to continue, and the report projects Japan will be the fastest-growing market in the world in the next 5-10 years.

The growth in Asian pellet demand bodes well for Northwest loggers: Increased pellet shipment growth is likely to be supplied by Pacific Northwest and Canadian fiber producers. The report notes that after shipping almost all their collective production to Europe, Southern U.S. pellet producers shipped 10% of their volume to Asia in first quarter 2023.

Active Energy Names Hewetson As CTO Active Energy, an international biomass based renewable energy business, announced the appointment of Barron Hewetson as the company’s Chief Technology Officer to focus on the development of CoalSwitch production in the U.S. Hewetson joins Active Energy from Enviva Biomass Inc., where he had worked since 2016. At Enviva, he served in a number of roles, most recently as the Director of Innovation and Product Management. In a previous role at one of Enviva’s subsidiaries, Sampson Wood Pellets in Faison, NC, Hewetson served as both Operations Manager and Quality Manager.

Hewetson’s industry experience in growing and operating commercial scale biomass energy manufacturing businesses will be crucial as Active Energy scales up operations in North America. The company is already examining expansion opportunities for manufactur-

ing operations throughout North America as it seeks to meet the anticipated demand for its CoalSwitch fuel.

SP Foundation Grants 169 Scholarships Sierra Pacific Foundation is awarding more than $521,000 in scholarships to 169 students as they attend colleges, universities, and trade schools during the 20232024 school year.

“It is both an honor and a privilege for our family to continue to offer this ongoing support for these students,” says Carolyn Emmerson Dietz, Foundation President. “We remain committed to helping and to investing in tomorrow’s leaders and in the generations to come.”

Sierra Pacific Foundation grants scholarships to qualified, dependent children of Sierra Pacific Industries’ employees. Recipients are eligible for the scholarship for four years, with some granted a fifth year based on their school and finalizing their undergraduate degree or trade school program.

Sierra Pacific Foundation is the philanthropic organization founded by the Emmerson family in 1979.

Over those years, it has donated more than $9.3 million in scholarships. In addition to scholarships, the Foundation contributes to youth activities and other organizations in the communities where Sierra Pacific Industries operates. In 2022, the Foundation contributed more than $5 million to organizations in the local communities.

Egger Touts New Recycling Center With its new recycling center fully operational, Egger Wood Products, a leading manufacturer of wood-based materials, is further demonstrating its commitment to producing sustainable materials for interior design and furniture applications. This investment offers architects, designers and millwork-

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■ in the news

Wood Turbines Will Use LVL Swedish wood technology company, Modvion, and the Finnish wood product company, Metsä Wood, have an agreement for Metsä Wood to supply laminated veneer lumber (LVL) for Modvion’s wooden wind turbine towers.

“Building renewable energy with renewable materials can enable netzero energy production from wind,” says Pär Hallgren, Head of Procurement at Modvion. “Metsä Wood is an important partner in our journey to become a leading supplier of the next generation of sustainable wind turbine towers, which will also make us potentially one of the largest buyers of LVL.” The material is essential for the design as its strength-to-weight ratio results in lighter towers with less need for expensive reinforcements.

“Kerto LVL enables high material efficiency thus making it ideal for sustainable construction. Modvion’s design and application is a great example of its versatility,” says Henrik Söderström, SVP, Sales and Marketing at Metsä Wood.

Along with the technical benefits of LVL, it also enables radical reductions in emissions. According to a lifecycle analysis conducted by the Swedish research institute RISE, a wooden wind turbine tower reduces emissions by 90% when compared to a steel tower of the same height and load. Considering that wood is also storing carbon, the tower becomes carbon negative, since it is binding more CO2 than it emits during manufacturing. To ensure maximum carbon storage, Modvion plans to reuse the wood material after the wind turbine tower is decommissioned.

“The volumes of wood needed for a Modvion tower is between 3001,200 cubic meters depending on the height and load. That means an LVL carbon storage capacity between 240- 950 tonnes CO2 per tower,” says Hallgren.

Modvion’s next milestone is building its first commercial wind turbine tower during 2023. The wooden tower will be installed with a 2 MW wind turbine on top and stand at 150 m total height, including the blades.

Metsä Wood is the supplier of the LVL for this project.

Modvion’s wind turbine towers are built with engineered wood products.

Replacing steel and concrete with wood—when possible—is a hyper intelligent way to make wind power almost free from carbon emissions.

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ers an option for U.S.-made thermally fused laminate (TFL) and particleboard made with up to 15% post-consumer recycled wood.

“We are happy to say that most of the wood material in our U.S.produced boards is waste wood from sawmill residues and preconsumer recycled material,” says Markus Frevert, plant manager, at Egger Wood Products. “With the addition of our $41 million recycling center, up to 15 percent of the wood chips used are post-consumer recycled material. Only about 7% comes from harvested timber, sourced from sustainably managed forests.”

In January, Egger Group acquired the business and assets of Novem Industries, located in Charlotte, NC. The acquisition, via Egger wholly-owned subsidiary Timberpak, LLC, serves as a collection and preparation site that accepts construction and demolition waste wood and packaging waste— primarily used and broken pallets.

The wood is ground into pieces about one foot in length before delivery to Egger’s Lexington production plant. The majority of Egger’s post-consumer recycled wood is sourced through Timberpak.

In Lexington, Egger Wood Products LLC’s first production facility in North America, Egger operates a particleboard manufacturing plant, with TFL lamination, which started production in 2020.

March 12-13 Atlanta, GA bioenergyshow.com

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product news ■ Truck Dumpers From B.I.D.

B.I.D. Canada truck dumpers are made to last and designed with durability, safety and dependability in mind. B.I.D. offers complete packages designed and manufactured by our experts. We work to provide a large system or an individual truck dumper to suit your needs.

B.I.D. offers transportable truck dumpers that can be assembled and operational in a couple of days, up to the 85 ft. drivethrough model. An integral component of most truck dumper systems is the receiving hopper, designed and manufactured to meet the capacities and conditions that are required by each of our customers. Taking the full load—no need for pausing in full lift position for partial emptying—they are designed to withstand icy conditions and frozen material impacts without damage.

An optional retractable roof system can be employed to prevent snow and ice build-up when the hopper is not in use, which is especially advantageous for systems not in continuous operation.

Dumpers can come as part of complete systems including the receiving hopper, operator’s cabin, pit bridge, take-away conveyors, metering roll and lump breaker unit. The control panel is easy-to-use and can be installed in an unheated enclosure or in the basic operator’s cabin.

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■ product news

Bruks Siwertell Purchases West Salem Machinery

Peter Jonsson, CEO, Bruks Siwertell Group, and Mark Lyman, CEO, West Salem Machinery (WSM), at the WSM premises in Salem, Ore.

Bruks Siwertell Group has acquired North American heavy machinery specialist, West Salem Machinery (WSM). An Oregon-based engineering and manufacturing company, WSM will continue to operate under its current name as a separate internal division within Bruks Siwertell Group.

“We could not be more delighted to bring WSM under the Bruks Siwertell Group umbrella,” says Peter Jonsson, CEO, Bruks Siwertell Group. “For more than seventy years, WSM has forged its reputation across numerous processing industries including wood prod-

ucts, recycling, soil/mulch, pulp and paper, biofuels, and many more, making it one of the most recognized suppliers of biomass and wood fiber processing machinery in North America.

“For our customers, the acquisition will deliver a broader product range of market-leading technology, uniquely able to match operational needs. Together with our Wood Technology business units in Europe, Middle East and Africa (EMEA) and Asia, it will also ensure our capability to meet customer demands for sustainability and digitalization.”

“We are looking forward to pursuing growth opportunities as part of a larger group with a global footprint,” continues Mark Lyman, CEO, West Salem Machinery. “We will work in close collaboration with all Bruks Siwertell Wood Technology units, complementing, strengthening and expanding our combined product and service portfolios for customers worldwide. WSM’s personnel will be fully retained and welcomed into the Bruks Siwertell Group.”

The acquisition of WSM will immediately expand Bruks’ presence in the U.S., and extend its global product and service offering, with an even more favorable mix of products, systems and services. Bruks Siwertell is a leading supplier of woodyard systems in the U.S., and by combining its industry presence and WSM’s, the new entity can better reach both local and national U.S. industries, and beyond into international markets.

Founded in the Pacific Northwest, WSM started operations by supplying machinery to sawmills in the region and expanded into the recycling industry. Today, WSM employs 70 with products that include grinders, shredders, hogs, hammermills and screens, delivering single machine installations to full-scale production lines.

Following the acquisition, the Bruks Siwertell Group now has close to 500 personnel.

BID Group Plans Major Investment BID Group has announced a capital investment of $4.7 million toward the modernization of its equipment to increase production capacity in its Saint-Georges and Saint-Éphrem-de-Beauce facilities in Quebec.

In Saint-Georges, preparations are underway to introduce state-ofthe-art equipment, including a new large band saw, a plasma cutting table, two CNC machine tools and

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product news ■

a CNC multi-task “Mazak Integrex” to increase its machining capacity. These changes represent a cumulative investment of $2.4 million.

Similarly, BID’s Saint-Éphrem-de-Beauce facility is actively being prepared to accommodate new equipment, namely an automated part storage system, a CNC boring machine and a grinder with a robotic feeding system to increase production for Comact BLADE cutting tools. The collective investment for this equipment amounts to $2.3 million.

Through the incorporation of this new equipment, BID Group aims to increase its ability to deliver an extensive range of innovative technologies to its highly valued customers while enhancing operational efficiency.

Startup and installation of the new equipment began in April 2023 and will be carried out until June 2024.

The equipment modernization initiative will result in the creation of multiple new jobs, primarily for industrial mechanics and machinists. Applications for these positions may be sent to jobs@bidgroup.ca.

Air Burner Reveals Mobile CharBoss CharBoss, the world’s first mobile onsite biochar production system, has arrived. Air Burners partnered with the USDA Forest Service to boost the environmentally-friendly

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■ product news

technology while adding power and speed to the new self-contained CharBoss. The fully assembled above-ground air curtain burner system is an advanced pollution-control device scientifically proven to eliminate wood waste 40x faster than open burning and significantly reduces particulate matter, like black carbon smoke, to help mitigate climate change.

CharBoss accepts whole trees, logs, root balls, slash piles, invasive shrubs, and other unwanted biomass debris. It burns 1 ton per hour, leaving behind 20% biochar, a valuable carbon-rich residual to sell or return to the soil. The towable CharBoss is ideal for hard-toreach remote areas, like forest thinnings, land clearing, and disaster cleanup (recovery). Orchard growers and farmers turn to the CharBoss to maneuver in and out

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product news ■

of tight spaces without damaging crops or equipment.

After a successful debut at the University of Idaho Experimental Forest in January 2023 and a biochar production demonstration in Harrisonburg, Va., the world’s first mobile onsite biochar production system is ready tackle even the most challenging, most demanding jobs with no grinding, hauling, or permanent facilities. Visit airburners.com.

Envimat Receives Sennebogen Honor

Left to right: Constantino Lannes, Vinicius Casselli, Erich Sennebogen, Arnaldo Casselli, Alexandre Moura, Carlos Oliveira, Colleen Miller

When Vinicius Casselli first planned to become a Sennebogen dealer in Brazil, he knew that there were many opportunities for Sennebogen mainly in the forestry sector.

What he didn’t know was that once the word got out that Envimat was going to be the Sennebogen dealer in Brazil and that they were going to serve the industries properly, that it would grow to more than 80% of their business—in three short years.

At the recent ISRI show, Sennebogen named Envimat as the top Sennebogen dealer in the Sennebogen America family. In the top three were also Alta Equipment and Tractor Equipment Co. Envimat’s name embodies its main areas of interest—the envi-

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■ product news

ronment and material handling.

Starting with their strength in the forestry sector, they quickly got positive feedback from some of the largest pulp and paper mills in the country. As Caselli explains it, many in the industry were not familiar with the capabilities of Sennebogen material handlers. They kept trying to order machines that were too big for the job, adding unnecessary operating and maintenance costs while reducing their bottom line.

He recalls a case where he met with a prospective client and he felt that a Sennebogen was the machine that was needed for the job.

The client was apprehensive but after some review, felt that perhaps a Sennebogen would be the right machine and ordered six.

“After a few months, when it

was time to acquire machines for a new project, they contacted me and placed the order for nine Sennebogen machines!” They quickly realized the value that Envimat, with its knowledge and experience related to lifting capacities, would make their operation more cost efficient as well as more environmentally friendly. They knew that if one liter of diesel burned created 2.6 kg of CO2 then, every liter of diesel “not” burned not only saves them money but reduces their carbon footprint—a win-win for all parties.

Caribou Purchases StumpGeek Software Caribou Software, a forestry software company that services more than 300 timber companies

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Top Wood Jobs Recruiting and Staffing George Meek geo@TopWoodJobs.com www.TopWoodJobs.com (360) 263-3371

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across North America, announced its acquisition of the StumpGeek forestry software system to extend its product offering to smaller logging contractors and sawmills.

Teresa Hannah, President and Co-Founder of Caribou, says, “StumpGeek allows us to assist those smaller, simpler companies at a price point that works for their budget.”

The StumpGeek product was designed by Wesley Bushor, a logging contractor in Wisconsin, who wanted a better system than the interlinked spreadsheet he had developed over his 30 years of harvesting timber to keep up with his own logging business. He partnered with a professional software developer, and the two of them first launched StumpGeek into the market in 2015.

StumpGeek’s existing client base is mostly centered in the Midwest, but it also encompasses companies in Arkansas, Maine, New Hampshire, Oregon, West Virginia and Mississippi.

In addition to tracking production volumes, revenue and payments associated with load tickets, StumpGeek also has a “Work Log” for tracking things like truck mileage, fuel costs, road-building hours, and other types of non-loadbased work.

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