30 June 2014 back to news
New cogeneration system based on wood chips gasification
It’s came into operation in mid-June, a new wood chips Pezzolato cogeneration system for the production of electrical and thermal energy. The plant, located in the province of Prato, has a nominal electrical power of 50 kW and thermal power of 100 kWth.
The main plant feature is the drying and pretreating module that is essential for continual and reliable operations of the cogeneration systems.
It’s a new system of storage, drying and preparation of woodchips suitable to feed gasification systems that transform biomass into electric energy and heat, systems for the production of thermal energy (wooden chip boilers) and systems that produce pellets.
The woodchips are loaded from the top into a storage silos whose dimensions vary according to the customer’s needs.
The desired chips quantity to be treated is extracted from the silos and flow in the drying by the action of a roller regulator.
The drying process takes place using hot air produced by the exchange of heat between the outside air drawn by a fan and the hot water from the cogeneration engine, in the battery plant.
The degree of moisture which must reach the wood chips is defined by a software on the machine, and this allows the use of the lower thermal energy as possible during the entire drying process.
Next, the dry woodchips moved by a collection screw to a sifter that separates fine particles from excessively large pieces.
The dry woodchips of the right dimensions are then transported by a screw conveyor system to the loading tank of the gasification system. Conversely, the fine sifted particles are optimal for pellet production systems or for feeding woodchip burning boilers for home use.
