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Mid-South Engineering
Five Crucial Considerations for Biomass Material Handling Design Mid-South Engineering’s Vice President Scott Stamey has more than 20 years of experience working with projects in the building products and biomass energy industries. Below, he highlights five critical design components when it comes to designing material handling systems for biomass operations.
1) Material Characteristics. “Understanding the characteristics of the biomass material you’re handling may seem like a no-brainer, but it’s the basis for all the other decisions you have to make with respect to how you’re going to handle the material,” Stamey says. “Moisture content can influence things like whether or not there are explosion or fire risks, and to what degree. Particle size and bulk density are important for deciding not only what type of conveyance you might use, but also in correctly sizing it, in terms volume to be handled and horsepower required.” Material consistency should also be considered, as some pieces of equipment are more tolerant to a wide range, according to
Stamey. “For example, bark—if it is always sized consistently, that makes things easy, but that’s uncommon. Equipment should be planned around that variation or to screen the material out. If there are seasonal differences, like the bark may come off differently in summer vs. winter, you must be able to accommodate both.” Conveying equipment. “For conveying equipment, you will choose mechanical verses pneumatic,” Stamey says. “Mechanical is more common in biomass, as pneumatic does come with some downsides—it means fewer pieces of equipment, but typically it has a higher horsepower demand, as well as potential for safety risks like explosion and fire, and some environmental risks with emission
