Archive for the ‘Bulk pellet distribution’ Category

Pellet opportunities

Wednesday, November 23rd, 2011

The industry is growing. To take full advantage of the opportunities that are, and will be, available, consumers have to learn a bit about pellet central heating technologies and pellets. This letter was recently sent to some Maine Energy Systems institutional and commercial pellet boiler owners.

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November 17, 2011

Dear MESys boiler owner:

Pellet-fired central heating systems are becoming much more common in our region. This is good news for system owners and for the regional economy and environment.

New opportunities to buy pellets are following this growth. That, too, is good news for everyone. Competition will ensure that prices you pay are fair and that a reliable distribution network will grow to serve the increasing demand.

Maine Energy Systems provides bulk pellets delivered for residential, institutional, and business systems throughout the southern half of Maine. The price is $239/ton for all customers receiving loads smaller than 9 tons at one location. These prices are guaranteed through June 30, 2014, for new boiler owners who use the delivery service continually through the period.

Pellet fuel is inexpensive, reliable fuel if it is delivered to you intact. It is our hope that this information will help ensure that your ÖkoFEN boiler systems perform with the efficiency and reliability that is designed into them.

Sincerely,

“Dutch” Dresser, Director, Maine Energy Systems

Basic pellet and delivery information

• Different pellets burn differently in boiler systems. Those which are best produce very little ash and ash which doesn’t melt to form clinkers or slag.

• Pellets can be easily damaged during delivery. The dust that results from significant damage can accumulate and cause system outages. Several factors lead to excessive damage.
o Pellet manufacturing that results in pellets too soft for bulk delivery
o Pellet loading that doesn’t pre-screen pellets as they enter the delivery truck
o Pellet delivery from trucks designed for the delivery of agricultural products like grain and animal feed

• The dust from pellet loads accumulates in storage units as it flows differently from pellets. Accumulated dust can cause system outages when it flows in sudden slugs.

• Pellets are sold by weight. Upon delivery, your fuel provider should be able to present you a delivery weight slip from certified scales on the truck, just as oil delivery trucks provide a certified tally of gallons delivered.

Frequently Asked Questions
1. Does the vendor have pellet source redundancy, or is the vendor a sole source provider?
a. Pellet source redundancy assures best available pellets continually
b. Pellet source redundancy assures continuous availability despite mill shutdowns
Maine Energy Systems represents up to six mills in Maine, New Hampshire, and southern Quebec Province.
2. Does the vendor have certified delivery scales for accurately reporting delivered quantities?
a. Certified delivery scales provide printed receipts for actual weight delivered
b. Certified delivery scales are type evaluated (NTEP) by the National Conference on Weights and Measures.
Maine Energy Systems’ delivery trucks have on-board scales that are NTEP certified.
3. Does the vendor test each batch of pellets by burning before delivery? Pellet quality is best confirmed by burning
a. Pellets that produce unacceptable by-products are eliminated through burn testing
Maine Energy Systems tests every load of pellets as it comes from the mill before putting them in storage for redistribution. Occasionally, loads that don’t meet our standards are returned to the mill.
4. Does the vendor remove dust from the pellets before delivery?
a. Dust in large quantities can choke fuel delivery systems
b. Pellets from mill runs typically contain a significant amount of dust which must be removed before the pellets are delivered
Maine Energy Systems “shakes” its pellets to remove dust as they’re loaded into the delivery truck.
5. Does the vendor deliver the pellets relatively dust-free using fully pneumatic equipment?
a. Pellets can be broken. Fully pneumatic equipment is easiest on pellets
b. Mechanical/pneumatic systems can cause substantial pellet breakage and dust
Maine Energy Systems has a fully pneumatic delivery truck with the latest in delivery system technology ensuring that the pellets are delivered with very low levels of dust.
6. Does the vendor stand behind the suitability of the fuel for trouble-free operation of the boiler system over time?
a. Systems choked with dust must have their storage units emptied and cleaned
b. Delivering pellet vendors are responsible for the delivered quality of their product
Maine Energy Systems stands behind the suitability of its pellets for the purposes for which they are delivered.
7. Does the vendor routinely deliver pellets in the quantities you will need?
Maine Energy Systems delivers more pellets to residential and small commercial pellet central heating systems than anyone else in the region.

Posted in Bulk pellet distribution, Fuel consumption, Pellet fuel, Wood pellet boiler | Comments Off

Summer Pellets/Storage Emptying

Thursday, June 30th, 2011

My large, New England farmhouse-style home has served as a lab of sorts for our heating products and practices since we began installing wood pellet central heating systems more than two years ago.  Because I have received more than two years’ worth of pneumatic deliveries of pellets of various types into the chromatiq pellet storage bag in my typically damp Maine basement, I recently decided to empty my storage bag to see what two years of deliveries and several seasons of high humidity had left for residue in the bottom of the bag.  Dust does not move as quickly down a storage unit as pellets do, so it can accumulate over time.  To my delight, the bag emptied fully, including whatever dust may have been in the bottom through my auger system.  Everything burned leaving no residue for cleaning.

My boiler is now in “summer mode.”  In this mode, the burner starts only when my domestic hot water tank demands heat.  The pellet boiler runs once, or twice, a day depending upon water usage in the house.  My summer pellet consumption will be very small, indeed.

Following the bag emptying, I filled the storage unit with pellets for my summer and fall use.  I received 2.5 tons for $587.50 ($235/ton).  That quantity of pellets has the energy of 300 gallons of #2 heating oil for which I would have paid $1,170.00 on the market here in Maine today ($3.899/gallon).  This load of pellets will last me deep into the fall when I will top off for the serious heating months.  I will use about 10 tons of pellets during the coming calendar year.

With Maine Energy Systems pellet prices guaranteed (for new boiler customers) at not more than $239/ton through June of 2014, customers like me can be assured of savings of 50%, or more, over #2 heating oil in Maine over the next three years.  For me that will represent a savings of approximately $7,050 over the next three calendar years, assuming oil does not exceed its current retail price.

Add to this the fact that virtually all of the $2,350/year I spend to heat my house and hot water will remain in the regional economy, and I’m feeling quite good about the heating solution I have chosen and the one I help make available to the Northeastern United States.

Posted in Bulk pellet distribution, Fuel consumption, Pellet burners, Pellet fuel, Small boiler experiment, Uncategorized, Wood pellet boiler | Comments Off

Wood Pellet Quality Standards

Thursday, April 28th, 2011

I had the great pleasure of moderating an expert panel at the Heating the Northeast Conference in Manchester, NH, on April 14. The presentation was entitled “Pellet Fuel Standards: The Key to Successful Pellet Heating.” The topic of discussion was the most recent set of pellet quality standards adopted by the Pellet Fuels Institute under strong recommendation from the United States Environmental Protection Agency.

Chris Wiberg, Chief Operating Officer of Twin Port Testing in Superior, Wisconsin, discussed the new pellet quality standards, the enforcement protocols associated with them, and the processes used to create them.  The standards are a rather simple evolution of the PFI’s recent voluntary standards focusing largely on physical properties of the pellets.  Chlorine content is a new, significant measure added to the protocol.  Likely the most substantive standards change is the enforceability of the standards when pellet producers use terms like “premium” in describing their product.  This enforceability stems from the EPA’s need for a “standard fuel” to use in describing test methods for emissions from pellet-fired appliances.

Three expert panelists responded to Wiberg’s explanations.  Herbert Ortner, founder and CEO of OkoFEN Pelletsheizung, Niederkappel, Austria, Steven Walker, President and CEO of New England Wood Pellet, Jaffrey, NH, and Robert Rice, Professor of Wood Science, School of Forest Resources, University of Maine, Orono, Maine, each offered thoughts about the standards from their own perspectives.

Ortner reflected on the importance of standards to reliable performance and widespread adoption of pellet-fired equipment. He noted the continuous, ongoing evolution of pellet fuel standards in European countries and the European Union.  Wiberg said that the PFI Committee had followed the European work and used it as a basis for its own standards.

Walker applauded the standardization efforts as important for the health of the pellet fuels industry.  His remarks drew on years of experience in the pellet production business and recognized the importance of protecting industry image by ensuring quality products from all manufacturers.

Rice discussed pellet attributes beyond those currently measured that are important to successful pellet performance.  He based his presentation on his long history of wood properties measurement and his extension recent work analyzing regionally produced wood pellets.

Audience participation in the question and answer people was lively and educated.  Lisa Rector of NESCAUM noted that her lab had found evidence of foreign substances, probably from construction debris, in many pellet bags it tested.  She suggested that a test to ensure that wood pellets include no such contaminants is important.  A test for lead as an indicator was suggested.

The absence of ash fusion temperature as a required parameter in the test was discussed.  Low ash fusion temperatures indicate the likelihood of clinker or slag formation during combustion.

There was a discussion of whether or not the current durability test, derived from the poultry feed industry, is the most effective test to predict the pellets’ ability to survive handling in bulk distribution practices.  The Holmen Test used in the EU and a strength test used by Bob Rice may provide better information about pellets’ performance in pnuematic handling systems than the conventional shaker test.  As bulk handling moves from mechanical handling common to the animal feed industry to the more effective pnuematic handling common for pellet handling in more experienced countries, protocols for durability/strength tests should probably be reconsidered.

I left the session impressed with the good work of many in the pellet production/testing industry and with the abundance of expertise on pellet attributes and performance available to that industry.  I also left convinced that the committees and panels that work on the ongoing development of pellet standards should include representatives from related industries and agencies. Good questions about the standards and their use in ensuring reliable system performance were raised by members of the environmental community and members of the bulk distribution community.

I extend sincere apprecation to all who took part in this discussion, both those on the panel and those in the audience.

Dutch Dresser

Posted in Bulk pellet distribution, Environmental issues, Pellet fuel, Pellet Fuel Promotiion | 2 Comments »

Three year heating fuel price freeze!

Thursday, February 24th, 2011

$100+/BARREL OIL? WOOD PELLET HEATING COMPANY GUARANTEES THREE-YEAR FUEL DELIVERY AT EQUIVALENT OF $1.99/GALLON

BETHEL, Me. (Feb. 24, 2011) – Global energy demand, instability in the Middle East and concerns over the strength of the U.S. dollar are combining to send oil prices in one direction: up. Some oil analysts believe home heating oil prices could reach $4.00 or more per gallon in the near future.

Fortunately, Maine and New Hampshire residents and business owners within a 150 road miles of Bethel, in Maine’s Western Mountains, or within 60 road miles of Ashland, Maine, have an alternative: wood pellet fuel, providing heat at a price that’s equivalent to $1.99 per gallon of fuel oil, guaranteed for three years.
That offer is made by Bethel-based Maine Energy Systems, which distributes pellet-fired boilers for homes and commercial spaces. Its new “Northeast Affordable Heat” program, using pellets from four Maine manufacturers (Corinth Wood Pellets, Geneva Wood Fuels, Maine Woods Pellets, and Northeast Pellets), is available to the first 1000 customers who install Maine Energy Systems boilers under the program.

“Pellet heat will be a strong player in Maine’s future,” said Harry “Dutch” Dresser, Managing Director of Maine Energy Systems. “Pellet central heating is as easy and dependable as traditional heating systems, and it uses renewable resources that are plentiful right here in Maine.”

Northeast Affordable Heat guarantees that customers will pay no more than $239 per ton for bulk-delivered pellets through June 30, 2014. There are minimum bulk delivery quantity requirements, and the fuel price guarantee is offered only for use in new installations of Maine Energy Systems equipment. Some other restrictions, which can be found on the Maine Energy Systems website, apply.
“When most people think of pellet heat, they think of stoves and bags of pellets,” said Dresser. “Maine Energy Systems pellet boilers replace oil or gas-fired boilers and tie in with existing forced hot water systems, with significantly lower fuel costs. “

With pellet boiler systems, the fuel is delivered in bulk and feeds into the boiler automatically, just as with an oil-fired system. Maine Energy Systems currently has boiler systems installed in homes, schools, municipal buildings, and substantial commercial buildings.
In addition to reduced fuel costs for consumers, the engineering, fuel production and distribution networks – and the jobs they create – are all located in Maine.

Maine Energy Systems was founded in early 2008 by Les Otten, Dresser and William Strauss.

-maineenergysystems.com-

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Posted in Bulk pellet distribution, Commercial pellet boilers, Fuel consumption, Pellet burners, Pellet fuel, Wood pellet boiler | Comments Off

Breakthrough in U.S. Bulk Pellet Distribution

Saturday, December 4th, 2010
MESys fully pnuematic bulk pellet delivery truck, 9 tons

MESys fully pnuematic bulk pellet delivery truck, 9 tons

Maine Energy Systems has worked with Trans Tech body manufacturers of Brewer, Maine, and Tropper Maschinen Und Anlagen of Upper Austria to manufacture the first fully pnuematic bulk pellet delivery truck in the U.S.  This truck will efficiently deliver densified wood pellets in bulk to homes, business, and institutions.

Based on the successful Tropper aeration beds, this pressurized body delivers pellets into pellet storage bins, storage rooms and silos at high rates of speed with minimal damage to the fuel.  This truck in its initial delivery tests is moving a ton of pellets in under 4 minutes, a marked improvement on earlier mechanical/airlock designs.

This is an important milestone along the way to a robust renewable biomass distribution infrastructure in the northeastern U.S.  The Northeast has good access to fully automatic, highly reliable pellet boiler systems, which can be efficiently served by this developing infrastructure. The U.S. Northeast burns more than 80% of the #2 heating oil consumed in the country each year.  With sustainably harvested biomass as a renewable replacement for some of that consumption, we can reduce our dependency on foreign oil, bolster the regional economy, and greater reduce our carbon footprint.

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Posted in Bulk pellet distribution, Pellet fuel | Comments Off