2019 November/December Biomass Magazine by BBI International

November/December 2019

TEACHING THE SAFETY

TRADE Preventing, Understanding Dryer Fire Risks PAGE 14

PLUS: Koda Energyâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Combustible Dust Defense PAGE 28

AND: Experts on Spark Detection, Explosion Protection PAGE 22

BiomassMagazine.com

Solid Fuel Combustion

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NOVEMBER/DECEMBER 2019 | VOLUME 13 | ISSUE 6

ON THE COVER

04 EDITOR’S NOTE

Kevin Ericsson, owner of Cariboo Biomass Consulting Services, pauses at one of his client’s facilities where he was hired to perform safety checks on, among other equipment, the company’s dryer system. Ericsson provides training seminars and consulting services and has helped prevent numerous safety-related incidents at a variety of biomass and wood processing facilities.

Accepting, Understanding and Mitigating Risk By Anna Simet

COLUMNS 06 Q&A with Brian Rogers, Future Forests + Jobs By Anna Simet

07 Ask Smart Questions, Devise Smart Solutions By John Ackerly

08 Forest Fire Prevention, Controlling Emissions and Making Money

PHOTO: CARIBOO BIOMASS CONSULTING SERVICES

By Brian O’Connor

10 BUSINESS BRIEFS

¦ADVERTISER INDEX

FEATURES

2020 International Biomass Conference & Expo

AGI Tramco

14 SAFTEY The Complex Web of Dryer Safety

Air Burners, Inc.

Software and safety equipment only go so far when it comes to safeguarding against dryer fires. By Ron Kotrba

22 SPOTLIGHT Dealing with Combustible Dust Flamex and IEP Technologies discuss identifying, understanding and mitigating risks at facilities working with wood dust. By Anna Simet

26 SPOTLIGHT Helping Meet EU Renewable Targets with Wood Chips New England Woodchip Solutions’ new production facility features a state-of-the-art phytosanitary system that will meet the EU import requirements and a densification process to improve stowage conditions for ocean freight. By New England Woodchip Solutions

Airoflex Equipment

Andritz Feed & Biofuel A/S

BRUKS Siwertell

CPM Global Biomass Group

Detroit Stoker Company

FLAMEX Inc.

Hurst Boiler & Welding Co. Inc.

IEP Technologies

18-19, 24

Indeck Power Equipment Co.

KEITH Manufacturing Company

Martin Engineering

ProcessBarron

SWANA Solid Waste Association of North America

Torxx Kinetic Pulverizer

U.S. Composting Council

USA Energy Group

Vermeer Corporation

WELLONS Power Group

CONTRIBUTION 28 DUST CONTROL Combatting Combustible Dust Hazards Much can be done to reduce the property damage and risk to personnel by mitigating many of the hazards that are inherent in the processing of biomass materials. By Stacy Cook

Biomass Magazine: (USPS No. 5336) November/December 2019, Vol. 13, Issue 6. Biomass Magazine is published bi-monthly by BBI International. Principal Office: 308 Second Ave. N., Suite 304, Grand Forks, ND 58203. Periodicals Postage Paid at Grand Forks, North Dakota and additional mailing offices. POSTMASTER: Send address changes to Biomass Magazine/Subscriptions, 308 Second Ave. N., Suite 304, Grand Forks, North Dakota 58203.

BIOMASSMAGAZINE.COM 3

¦EDITOR’S NOTE

Accepting, Understanding and Mitigating Risk

ANNA SIMET EDITOR

asimet@bbiinternational.com

If there is one thing that’s clear after reading the stories in this month’s edition, focused largely on fire protection and dust management, it’s that operator training is just one piece of the very complex safety puzzle of biomass energy facilities. This is an important concept for any industry process with hazardous potential, but crucial for those working with combustible wood dust. So, whose responsibility is it to ensure employees are sufficiently equipped with the knowledge and skills they need to avoid catastrophic events? Plant management? Plant employees? Equipment manufacturers/suppliers? Regulators like OSHA or WorkSafeBC? Opinions on this seem to vary, but there isn’t a simple answer. This is evidenced in Senior Editor Ron Kotrba’s page-14 feature, “The Complex Web of Dryer Safety,” which explores the responsibility chain via numerous interviews with equipment manufacturers, safety experts and regulators. I’ll let you draw your own conclusions from the piece, but one of the biggest problems with operator educating and training, points out Becky Long, an engineer at Thompson Dryers, is turnover. “We can spend time training them, but if they’re there only for a month, then the person replacing them may have no training,” she says, adding that in college, she worked at a nuclear power plant, where operators were required to have two years of training. “Biomass dryer operators require nowhere near what nuclear power plant operators require,” she says. “Society doesn’t view biomass dryers as they do nuclear power plants.” Moving on to our page-28 contribution, “Combatting Combustible Dust Hazards,” Koda Energy Plant Manager Stacy Cook discusses in detail steps the facility took after a 2013 explosion to safeguard as much as possible against another event, as well as detailed options for other facilities seeking to reduce risks and protect employees and equipment. These types of investments, according to Cook, are well worth it. “It may be a cumbersome and expensive process on the frontend to design a system that alleviates the fear of a catastrophic loss, but it is much preferred to picking up the pieces after an event has occurred,” he says. Even more on this topic, on page 22, you’ll find a spotlight feature, “Dealing with Combustible Dust,” for which I interviewed two leading spark detection and fire and explosion protection experts about how their companies can assist, and details for consideration at biomass energy facilities. From their perspective, safety is always two-fold: prevention, as companies handling cellulose dust face inherent risks daily—and mitigation, which means accepting that risk much deeper than its face value. Says Dave Grandaw, IEP Technologies vice president of sales, “Having a comprehensive plan to prevent explosions from happening under normal circumstances, as well as mitigation under upset conditions, is critical.”

4 BIOMASS MAGAZINE | NOVEMBER/DECEMBER 2019

INDUSTRY EVENTS¦

EDITORIAL EDITOR Anna Simet asimet@bbiinternational.com SENIOR EDITOR Ron Kotrba rkotrba@bbiinternational.com ONLINE NEWS EDITOR Erin Voegele evoegele@bbiinternational.com COPY EDITOR Jan Tellmann jtellmann@bbiinternational.com

ART ART DIRECTOR Jaci Satterlund jsatterlund@bbiinternational.com GRAPHIC DESIGNER Raquel Boushee rboushee@bbiinternational.com

PUBLISHING & SALES CEO Joe Bryan jbryan@bbiinternational.com PRESIDENT Tom Bryan tbryan@bbiinternational.com VICE PRESIDENT OF SALES & MARKETING John Nelson jnelson@bbiinternational.com BUSINESS DEVELOPMENT DIRECTOR Howard Brockhouse hbrockhouse@bbiinternational.com

SENIOR ACCOUNT MANAGER Chip Shereck cshereck@bbiinternational.com CIRCULATION MANAGER Jessica Tiller jtiller@bbiinternational.com MARKETING & ADVERTISING MANAGER Marla DeFoe mdefoe@bbiinternational.com

2020 International Biomass Conference & Expo FEBRUARY 3-5, 2020

Gaylord Opryland Resort & Convention Center Nashville, Tennessee Organized by BBI International and produced by Biomass Magazine, this event brings current and future producers of bioenergy and biobased products together with waste generators, energy crop growers, municipal leaders, utility executives, technology providers, equipment manufacturers, project developers, investors and policy makers. It’s a true one-stop shop—the world’s premier educational and networking junction for all biomass industries. (866) 746-8385 www.biomassconference.com

2020 International Fuel Ethanol Workshop & Expo JUNE 15-17, 2020

Minneapolis Convention Center Minneapolis, Minnesota From its inception, the mission of this event has remained constant: The FEW delivers timely presentations with a strong focus on commercial-scale ethanol production—from quality control and yield maximization to regulatory compliance and fiscal management. The FEW is the ethanol industry’s premier forum for unveiling new technologies and research findings. The program is primarily focused on optimizing grain ethanol operations while also covering cellulosic and advanced ethanol technologies. 866.746.8385 www.fuelethanolworkshop.com

SOCIAL MEDIA & MARKETING COORDINATOR Dayna Bastian dbastian@bbiinternational.com

EDITORIAL BOARD MEMBERS Stacy Cook, Koda Energy Justin Price, Evergreen Engineering Tim Portz, Pellet Fuels Institute Adam Sherman, Biomass Energy Resource Center

Please check our website for upcoming webinars

www.biomassmagazine.com/pages/webinar

Please recycle this magazine and remove inserts or samples before recycling

Subscriptions Biomass Magazine is free of charge to everyone with the exception of a shipping and handling charge for anyone outside the United States. To subscribe, visit www.BiomassMagazine.com or you can send your mailing address and payment (checks made out to BBI International) to Biomass Magazine Subscriptions, 308 Second Ave. N., Suite 304, Grand Forks, ND 58203. You can also fax a subscription form to 701-746-5367. Back Issues & Reprints Select back issues are available for $3.95 each, plus shipping. Article reprints are also available for a fee. For more information, contact us at 701-746-8385 or service@ bbiinternational.com. Advertising Biomass Magazine provides a specific topic delivered to a highly targeted audience. We are committed to editorial excellence and high-quality print production. To find out more about Biomass Magazine advertising opportunities, please contact us at 701-746-8385 or service@bbiinternational.com. Letters to the Editor We welcome letters to the editor. Send to Biomass Magazine Letters to the Editor, 308 2nd Ave. N., Suite 304, Grand Forks, ND 58203 or email to asimet@bbiinternational.com. Please include your name, address and phone number. Letters may be edited for clarity and/or space.

BIOMASSMAGAZINE.COM 5

Q&A with Brian Rogers, Future Forests + Jobs BY ANNA SIMET

The recently launched Future Forests + Jobs is an initiative aimed at pushing back against anti-forestry and anti-biomass activists. Why is this effort needed and what are your goals? Thanks for the opportunity to share more about this important initiative. Our goal is to hold anti-forestry and anti-biomass activists accountable with the facts. Over the past several years, these groups have waged what’s amounted to a large-scale misinformation campaign against wood biomass. They’ve rejected the best science from the UN Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, which has repeatedly affirmed an important role for wood biomass in all solutions to the climate crisis. It’s time to set the record straight with a smart, nimble effort—that’s Future Forests + Jobs. You talk about a misinformation campaign from biomass opponents. Who are these activist groups and what are the most egregious examples you’re hoping to push back against? Activist organizations such as the Asheville, North Carolina-based Dogwood Alliance, the Southern Environmental Law Center, and Washington, D.C.-based Environmental Integrity Project have coordinated this misinformation campaign against the entire forest products sector, but they really singled out biomass in particular. They’ve combined forces in many ways to mislead the public about the industry and its necessary role in mitigating global climate change. These groups have been caught doing things like taking photos of forestry harvests and presenting false and distorted stories about what kinds of trees were harvested and where, basically spreading fear and disinformation about the industry’s practices. They regularly publish biased reports and studies arguing that the industry causes deforestation, when public data from the USDA and state forestry agencies regularly show forest area actually expanding in areas in which the wood biomass industry operates. The list goes on. One major point we’ll emphasize is that the practical impact of the policies advanced by these anti-biomass groups would be burning more coal, losing more forests and carbon sink, and killing quality jobs in rural America. That’s exactly the wrong approach we need to fight global climate change today. As you note, the UN Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, generally seen as the gold standard for climate science and research, has recognized biomass as a key tool to mitigate climate change.

6 BIOMASS MAGAZINE | NOVEMBER/DECEMBER 2019

Is it concerning that some activist groups have stopped listening to the UN? Yes. The approach these anti-biomass groups have taken to the IPCC is utterly disingenuous. On the one hand, they regularly cite the IPCC’s grave warnings on the need for immediate action to address the climate crisis. At the same time, they ignore the IPCC’s repeated recommendation that sustainable forestry and wood biomass needs to be part of every pathway to keeping warming under 1.5 degrees Celsius. Our view is simple—let’s actually listen to the IPCC. You can’t cherry-pick the global authority on climate science. If you’re going to cite the IPCC and rely on their expertise, you can’t turn around and ignore their findings and recommendations. Who’s supporting the Future Forests + Jobs effort? Future Forests + Jobs is supported by the U.S. Industrial Pellet Association, which advocates for renewable wood energy as a sustainable, low-carbon power source. Tell us about yourself—what’s your background and how do you think it will help Future Forests + Jobs succeed? I was lucky to work for the late Senator John McCain, R-Arizona, for about a decade, including four years as his communications director in the U.S. Senate. I previously worked for former Vice President Al Gore’s Repower America campaign for comprehensive climate and energy legislation, and prior to that, was involved in several political campaigns around the country. I think my combination of experience in government and public policy will help us advance the important communications mission of Future Forests + Jobs. What are some of the tools and tactics Future Forests + Jobs will use to help set the record straight? Our new website will be a big hub for content at futureforestsandjobs.com—we encourage everyone to come take a look. We’re on social media as well—on Twitter, as @ futureforests, and you can also find us on Facebook. We’ll be regularly engaging with the press and rolling out reports, studies and other activities as we move forward, so we’ll be sure to keep in touch. Contact: Brian Rogers Spokesman, Future Forests + Jobs brogers@futureforestsandjobs.com www.futureforestsandjobs.com

Ask Smart Questions, Devise Smart Solutions BY JOHN ACKERLY

Much like other resources, forests can be sustainable. Solar energy seems limitless, but the panels still need to go somewhere. Roof tops and parking lots make the most sense from a sustainability perspective, but when agricultural or forest land is used, it makes less sense from this same perspective of sustainability. Wind is so important because turbines can be placed in water rather than land. Turbines in the ocean still have some impact on birds and fish, but the environmental impacts are less than many land-based wind farms. Whether we are talking about solid biomass, liquid biofuels, solar, propane or oil, we still need to think about the smartest use of the energy and how can it be most efficiently deployed. Oil and gas have a vital role in our economy, so why use these fuels to heat our homes and run our cars? Let’s use these resources sparingly, so they will be around for many years to come. The reason we are in this climate mess is because it was too easy, convenient and affordable to use fossil fuels at a scale that now threatens our species and so many others. Activists will continue to print bumper stickers saying, “Our forests are not fuel” and “biomass is worse than coal,” but we need to keep framing the debate over the smartest use of precious resources and continue to tout best practices in forestry management to ensure sustainability is at the heart of our industries. And we need to ensure that science, not politics, is driving decisionmaking as to how we decarbonize our economy and stop using fossil fuels at a rapacious and deadly rate. Biomass energy will likely never—and shouldn’t— be scaled to the extent of wind power. Solar is the darling of the renewable energy movement—and for good

reason—but scaling up solar too large is problematic. My wife and I invested in solar panels because we have space on our roof to put them, but we would never cut down trees in the woods behind our house to add more panels. We also heated our house with a wood stove for decades, but would never cut down one of the big trees for fuel. We don’t need to. There is far more natural tree mortality in virtually any suburban neighborhood to heat a bunch of homes. That is a smart way to use rooftops and trees that topple over in our yards and streets. Scale, location, distance—these are all key factors in energy. I’m a big fan of producing and using energy locally. When I went to buy my two tons of pellets yesterday (having switched from a wood to a pellet stove), I bought pellets from Pennsylvania, knowing the company uses mostly sawdust from sawmills—again, a smart use of a precious resource. I can’t wait for our grids to be full of electrons from wind turbines off the coast of Maryland because it’s too inefficient to get wind energy from Texas and Iowa. We can only come up with smart solutions if we ask smart questions. Trees can be a very smart way to reduce fossil fuel use, depending on how it’s done and at what scale. And now, it’s time to put down the laptop, turn on the pellet stove and enjoy a beer—at the proper scale. Author: John Ackerly President, Alliance for Green Heat jackerly@forgreenheat.org www.forgreenheat.com

BIOMASSMAGAZINE.COM 7

Forest Fire Prevention, Controlling Emissions and Making Money BY BRIAN O’CONNOR

Clearing underbrush, vegetation and dead wood from properties is essential in providing fire protection for forests and other wooded areas. Landscaping companies, construction firms and forestry agencies need innovative options for disposing of vegetative biomass in a cost-effective and practical way. Currently, there are technologically advanced solutions for getting rid of wood, plant waste and other vegetation while protecting the environment and providing organizations with added revenue streams. Unlike most other types of vegetation disposal systems, modern air curtain burner systems use clean-burning technologies that offer real benefits to companies and organizations. Air Burners Inc. has developed a line that is designed to accept large pieces of wood and brush without requiring chipping or cutting in advance, increasing speed when disposing of debris and materials while ensuring the safest environment for workers. Air curtain burner systems also produce a valuable material called biochar. This substance consists of charred vegetation and is used in a number of agricultural and landscaping processes. It has also been proposed as a form of biofuel, which could help in managing energy requirements without resorting to fossil fuels. The PGFireBox combines the biomass burning capabilities of air curtain burner systems with the ability to generate power that can be fed back into the electrical grid to generate funding. The electricity generated by the PGFireBox can also be used to power construction sites, recycling centers and landscaping facilities.

Environmental Advantages of Air Curtain Burners

Vegetation and plant debris present real issues after major storms and in areas where fires are a risk to homes, wildlife and people. Finding ways to dispose of this biomass safely and in an environmentally responsible way is essential to clear travel routes, eliminate underbrush that could fuel fires and promote the safest environment for people and animals. The following are some of the most important environmental advantages of air curtain burners for these tasks. • Air Burner’s machines reduce particulate matter, such as black carbon, which can be caused by burning vegetation as a disposal method. This can provide real and immediate benefits for the surrounding environment. By recapturing most of the emissions produced by the burning process, these advanced disposal options reduce the carbon footprint of businesses, agencies and organizations. • The emissions produced by burning biomass such as wood, vegetation and plant materials are different than those created by fossil fuel consumption. Biomass carbon dioxide emissions are classified as biogenic. This means that the

8 BIOMASS MAGAZINE | NOVEMBER/DECEMBER 2019

burning process releases only the amount of carbon dioxide that the plant or tree took in during its lifetime through photosynthesis. This is much less damaging to the environment than the release of fossil fuel emissions. • Another major benefit of air curtain burner systems is their ability to accept wood, brush and other vegetative waste and debris without preprocessing. This eliminates emissions that can result from chippers and grinders that run on diesel fuel and must be transported to the area where disposal of vegetation is required. • As well as delivering practical and easy-to-use disposal options, the PGFireBox system captures heat energy and converts it into electricity. This can assist a location in becoming self-sustainable on its own power and can ensure the most efficient use of available resources when disposing of excess vegetation.

Financial Benefits of Air Curtain Burner Systems

Finding innovative ways to fund forestry, landscaping or land-clearing activities will help these organizations or companies to maintain a solid financial position while carrying out their missions or supporting their projects. The most impactful financial benefits of these advanced biomass disposal methods are as follows. • Production of biochar is an important end product of burning vegetative waste in air curtain burners. Biochar can be sold to landscaping companies, agricultural businesses and other commercial concerns for use in enriching soil and restoring important nutrients to depleted areas. It can also be retained for use in landscaping activities, which will reduce the cost of purchasing fertilizers and other chemical treatments for soil. Biochar production and sales can be an important addition to revenue streams. • By generating power and feeding it back into the local electrical grid, organizations and businesses can receive financial rewards from these utilities. In some cases, the PGFireBox can generate enough electricity to offset use by companies and organizations to a significant degree. This can cut utility costs to promote stronger financial situations for forestry agencies, landscapers and construction firms. By integrating systems such as the PGFireBox into regular workflows and activities, companies and agencies can promote the healthier environments while protecting their financial bottom line. Author: Brian O'Connor President, Air Burners Inc. 561-768-5963 support@airburners.com

Controls Particulate Matter

Produces Electricity and Produces Heat Generate Additional Income With Biochar

RECYCLING NEEDS A REMODEL The PGFireBoxÂŽ quickly, cleanly, and cost-effectively eliminates wood and vegetative waste â&#x20AC;&#x201C; including whole logs and root balls â&#x20AC;&#x201C; while producing electric and thermal energy perfect for heating drying kilns. Does away with hauling

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and grinding and reduces handling; no pre-processing required. The PGFireBox System does not require any permanent structures and is easily relocated if necessary. With the PGFireBox System you can produce BioChar as an additional recycled product and income source.

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Business Briefs PEOPLE, PRODUCTS & PARTNERSHIPS

Midwest Biomass Exchange now online

A new, web-based resource is available to buyers and sellers of biomass. The Midwest Biomass Exchange is a free, user-friendly internet marketplace designed to connect buyers and sellers. Updated from the former Minneapolis Biomass Exchange, the new site focuses more closely on biomass for fuel, serving the Midwest U.S. and Canada. Users can place “for sale” and “wanted” ads for biomass used as fuel for heating and power generation, or as feedstock for other manufacturing processes. The new resource also includes a map showing approximate locations of buyers and sellers, and an email utility for registered users to contact other users. MBIOEX was created and supported by the USDA Forest Service Forest Products Marketing Unit, and partners including Heating the Midwest, the Michigan Department of Natural Resources, the Agricultural Utilization Research Institute, the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources and the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources.

EIA: Densified biomass sales reach 780,000 tons in June

The U.S. Energy Information Administration recently released data showing U.S. manufacturers produced 770,000 tons of densified biomass fuel in June, with sales reaching 780,000 tons. The data was released as part of the September edition of the EIA’s Monthly Densified Biomass Fuel Report, which includes data for June. The EIA collected data from 83 manufacturers producing over 10,000 tons annually, reporting a combined production capacity of 11.87 million tons per year and employing 2,211 full-time employees. In June, respondents purchased 1.39 million tons of raw biomass feedstock, produced 770,000 tons of densified biomass fuel and sold 780,000 tons. Sales included 163,585 tons of heating pellets and 601,666 tons of utility pellets. Domestic sales of densified biomass fuel in June reached 134,415 tons at an average price of $162.83 per ton. Exports reached 648,255 tons at an average price of $180.76 per ton. Inventories of premium/standard wood pellets increased to 234,904 tons in June, up from 185,326 tons in May, with inventories of utility pellets falling to 329,763 tons, down from 418,265 tons.

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BUSINESS BRIEFSÂŚ

Fiber costs fall for US pellet producers, rise for Canadian

Wood fiber costs for U.S. pellet manufacturers fell in Q2 2019, while Canadian pellet producers experienced higher costs due to reduced supply of sawmill residues, reports the North American Wood Fiber Review. Many pellet manufacturers in North America have had to increase the usage of logs for their feedstock in 2019 due to reduced availability of lower-cost sawmill residues. This has resulted in higher total wood fiber costs and increases in the pellet feedstock price indices for both Canada and the U.S. in the first half of 2019, according to NAWFR. In late 2018, higher demand and tighter supply of low-cost sawmill residues pushed wood fiber costs higher for pellet producers in both Canada and the U.S. The price increase in the U.S. was mainly due to the wet logging conditions in the southern states that began in late 2018 and intensified in Q1 2019, which negatively affected harvesting operations and increased costs for roundwood.

Future Forests + Jobs initiative combats biomass misinformation

Future Forests + Jobs has launched in order to advance a factbased conversation around renewable wood energy and hold those who spread misinformation about the industry to account. Future Forests + Jobs will combat misinformation through a new website, FutureForestsAndJobs.com, as well as through media engagement and other grassroots activities. Future Forests + Jobs is supported by the U.S. Industrial Pellet Association, and will be led by Brian Rogers, who served as a senior staffer to Sen. John McCain, R-Arizona, for nearly a decade, and previously worked as research director for former Vice President Al Goreâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Repower America campaign for comprehensive climate and energy legislation.

Brightmark Energy invests in New York dairy biogas project

Brightmark Energy, a San Francisco-based waste-to-energy development company, announced it has partnered with four dairy farms in upstate New York to utilize anaerobic digesters that will convert a total of 225,000 gallons of dairy waste per day from 11,000 cows into biogas and other useful products.

BIOMASSMAGAZINE.COM 11

¦BUSINESS BRIEFS

After the planned installation of gas upgrade equipment is completed at the Swiss Valley, Zuber, Boxler and Lake Shore farms, as well as a fifth farm expected to be finalized in October, the project is anticipated to generate about 260,000 MMBtu of renewable natural gas each year. The gas processed at each farm will be transported to the Zuber farm, where it will be injected into the Empire interstate gas pipeline.

Monarch Bioenergy extends RNG marketing agreement with EMRE

Monarch Bioenergy, a joint venture between Smithfield Foods Inc. and Roeslein Alternative Energy, has awarded Element Markets Renewable Energy a five-year contract extension as the exclusive marketer for the renewable natural gas (RNG) produced at Monarch’s biomethane production facilities in northern Missouri. Monarch converts hog manure collected from Smithfield Hog Production farms in that state into RNG, while simultaneously delivering ecological services and developing wildlife habitat. Through this joint venture, all Smithfield-owned finishing farms in Missouri will have the infrastructure to produce RNG, resulting in approximately 1.3 million dekatherms annually once complete, equivalent to eliminating 130,000 gasoline vehicles from the road.

Komptech introduces compact all-purpose wood chipper

Komptech’s new Axtor 4510 rounds out the proven Axtor series at the bottom end. Like previous models Axtor 6010 and 8012, the new machine can shred as well as chip, and is designed for wood and green cuttings. In shredder mode with free-swinging teeth, it makes composting material. While in chipper mode with fixed blades and lower speed, it makes biomass fuel that is ideal for heating plants. Easy transportation makes it likewise ideal for contract service providers that need to react flexibly in terms of work sites, as well as in their service offerings, from shredding to chipping.

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Â¦SAFETY

Kevin Ericsson, owner of Cariboo Biomass Consulting Services, provides safety training and consulting services for biomass and wood processing facilities, leveraging his decades of experience in these fields. PHOTO: CARIBOO BIOMASS CONSULTING SERVICES

14 BIOMASS MAGAZINE | NOVEMBER/DECEMBER 2019

SAFETY¦

The Complex Web of

Dryer Safety The responsibility chain for dryer safety is a complex web of disconnected factions. BY RON KOTRBA

o one wants a dryer fire, but their occurrence in the wood and biomass industries is often viewed as an unavoidable cost of doing business. “The problem we run into time and time again is companies that have biomass dryers expect fires and explosions, and they treat them like it’s normal—and it shouldn’t be,” says Becky Long, a design engineer with Thompson Dryers. “Someone has done a great job fooling companies into that assumption.” Safety equipment such as spark detectors, sprinklers and additional extinguishment or deluge devices, explosion panels and more play vital roles in containing dangers once they manifest, but whose responsibility is it to ensure these dangers do not materialize in the first place? The responsibility chain for dryer safety is a complex web of disconnected factions that ultimately convolute liability. Dryer manufacturers design and build their equipment with the best intentions, which are then connected through a network of piping and ductwork to biomass or gas boilers to provide heat and steam for drying, and cyclones, baghouses and other emissions abatement equipment. One would be remiss not to mention the obvious infeed and outfeed systems handling the material being dried. Furthermore, sensors and fire safety features and controls add to the complex network of interplay. Plant operators and maintenance personnel are expected to be properly trained by the dryer manufacturers in order to safely operate and upkeep the equipment to know what to watch for and what conditions to avoid in or-

der to circumvent dangerous situations. Their role as the minute-by-minute overseers of the intricate workings of these highly sophisticated yet potentially hazardous systems should not be understated. These gatekeepers to safety are overseen by plant management. Then there are the code setters, organizations such as the National Fire Protection Association, that develop and publish standards on fire safety protocols, after which various regulating authorities adopt and enforce. To be clear, those who establish the standards and those who are expected to enforce them are two separate entities with disparate knowledge of the processes—and dangers—at play. Insurance companies decide who to cover and how expensive premiums will be based on how safe they perceive a plant’s operations and safety procedures to be. They have the power, through refusal to insure or threat of increased premiums, to effect change if they so choose, and if they themselves know what to look for. Third-parties employed as risk assessors or hazard identifiers also provide an important role. But they can shield themselves from liability by the wording of their contracts. Who then is ultimately responsible for ensuring the safety of dryer operations? “That is a very good question,” says Kevin Ericsson, founder of Cariboo Biomass Consulting Services. “It comes up in my seminars, but there is no easy answer. In front of the dryer there’s a boiler that falls under the boiler codes, or a gas burner that falls under the gas safety branch because, technically, the dryer itself is not meant to produce a gas”—even though syngas can build BIOMASSMAGAZINE.COM 15

¦SAFETY up in dryers and pose a major fire and explosion hazard. “There’s no code or regulation protecting against syngas in dryers,” he says. “We’re just not there yet. There has to be an incident where there are multiple fatalities before they incorporate these kinds of standards. When you talk with NFPA, they point to the dryer manufacturers. The dryer manufacturers point to the people who produce the boiler or gas burner, and it goes around and around in circles. At the end of the day, with all of the risks, people need to be asked, ‘Would you allow your son or daughter to operate one of these?’ It’s a long, hard question.”

Dryer Companies

One of the main reasons dryers experience fires and explosions to begin with is that too much oxygen is present in the system, according to Long. “We actually recycle exhaust gases,” Long says. “This provides several benefits. One, it lowers the oxygen content. And two, you don’t have to heat up such a high volume of air from ambient temperatures to fill the system, so there’s an energy savings. Not all biomass dryers recycle exhaust gases, and even if they do, it may not be effective. Some plants with recycle loops may not be set up properly.” Dryer companies have a responsibility to provide adequate training to plant personnel, Ericsson says. “I don’t think all of the dryer manufacturers do this,” he says. “Sometimes it’s just verbal instruction with

no documented training process with safety operating procedures, no documentation of what the operators need to do if there’s an upset condition or power failure.” Upset conditions—those outside of steady-state operations such as power failures, and startup and shutdown situations— are widely viewed as the most dangerous times for dryer operations. Scott Flowers, a professional engineer and a Thompson Dryers electrical and controls engineer, explains what happens during this process. “When a power outage happens, the dryer system turns off,” Flowers says. “If the outage is limited to the motor voltage supply, the PLC will continue to operate, taking any equipment it can still control to a safe state. It will also monitor temperatures and initiate extinguishment functions if conditions require them. However, if the outage takes out all power to the dryer and dryer-related equipment, there is nothing that can be done. Without power, the operator is blind to what is happening inside the dryer system.” Flowers says all Thompson Dryers’ biomass dryers have an extinguishment system. “Water and steam valves are typically provided by the owner to meet our specifications,” he says. “We do not recommend the use of fail open water or steam valves. In a power outage situation, water can completely flood a system and surrounding area before power is restored to turn it off. Likewise, a fail open steam valve can completely drain a boiler system. Both of these circumstances can

16 BIOMASS MAGAZINE | NOVEMBER/DECEMBER 2019

solve some problems but can also create greater ones.” Thompson Dryers can offer a battery back-up option for control panels, Flowers says. “The backup would be only for monitoring and the operation of key safety features such as the PLC, thermocouples, communications, extinguishment, and so forth,” he says. “We do not provide backup for equipment motors.” Flowers says the effectiveness of a control function backup can be limited by other factors. “If the HMI or communications network are not backed up, the PLC will still be able to do certain functions,” he says, “but the operators will be helpless to make changes or see what the existing conditions are.” He adds that, more often than not, plants prefer to incorporate the dryer controls into an existing control panel or integrate them into their DCS. “In these cases,” Flowers says, “the extent of the battery back-up for dryer functions is limited by the plant’s backup plan.” Long says Thompson Dryers remains on-site for a week or two during initial startup of their systems. “We set it up and make sure the control system is doing what we expect,” she says. “During that process, we talk with the operators to make sure they know what is happening. I have a PowerPoint training presentation, which is two to three hours long.” Long says the company does not test operators to ensure they’ve learned the material, but she adds this idea has been discussed internally.

SAFETY¦ Dryer manufacturers should be expected to run calculations based on equipment in front and back of the dryer, such as the boiler and emissions abatement equipment, Ericsson says. “They need to calculate how much wood fiber at maximum capacity in the form of syngas can accumulate in this dryer, and how much creosote can accumulate in the ducting, to figure out how much energy can be in the dryer, ducting and all the vessels attached, and then engineer explosion panels that will vent all energy safely away from people,” he says. “They should also install more safety interlocks on their dryers and install oxygen analyzers on the recirculation duct.” Ericsson says this would be a good indicator of the accumulation of syngas, an overlooked hazard of biomass dryers. “If oxygen gets below a certain level, it can warn operators this needs attention,” Ericsson says. “If the operator misses the alarm, then when it gets to another level within dangerous limits, the dryer goes into an automatic shutdown and deluges the system.” Thompson Dryers’ systems “have far fewer explosions” than its competitors, Long says, “but this doesn’t seem to matter to people buying the equipment.”

Code Setters

NFPA was formed in 1896 at the height of the Industrial Revolution. “The initial impetus was standardization of automatic fire sprinklers,” says Guy Colonna, a chemical

engineer and senior director of engineering at NFPA. He says during the late 1800s, in New England, wood processing was in full swing and fires were rampant. “There were a number of manufacturers and insurers, and none could agree on the technical layout for sprinklers, so this lack of standardization brought everyone together to develop the first standard, NFPA 13, and there was agreement that standardization might be applicable to other things.” Since then, the organization has developed more than 300 documents, all of which adhere to certain foundational principals managed by the American National Standards Institute and many of which have been adopted by federal, state and local jurisdictions. A number of NFPA codes are imperative to the wood and biomass industries, such as 68, 69, 664 and 652, to name a few. “From NFPA’s standpoint, we have some standards that are applicable to some equipment or occupancies, but dryers are not something we have a unique standard directed toward,” Colonna says. He says one source NFPA references is a comprehensive document produced by FM Global, an insurance and engineering company. The document is a data sheet on industrial ovens and dryers, June 2009-6-9. “It discusses fire prevention, temperature controls, specific protections, automatic sprinklers and special precautions,” he says. Code 652 is NFPA’s standards on the fundamentals of combustible dust. One of

the most important additions is that all existing processing facilities that fall under this code will be required to perform a dust hazard analysis (DHA) by Sept. 7, 2020. “I think this will, at least at a minimum, get people talking about it,” Long says of the DHA requirement. Ericsson says the code setters can get more involved in the engineering and commissioning of new dryers. “They could provide checklists and coaching to owners, engineers and project managers, making sure there are engineered explosion panels in cyclones and ducting, and proper safety interlocks are installed and tested,” he says.

Code Enforcers

Not all states adopt NPFA standards, Colonna says. States that don’t, however, must adopt some codes, such as those by the International Code Council or International Building Council. “But within the ICC staff, there is no expertise on the unique hazards of combustible dust,” Colonna says. “They often refer to NFPA documents, so theoretically all states are expected, one way or another, to conform to NFPA standards. The issue then becomes the level of field enforcement.” Colonna says enforcement begins with original plan reviews for new facilities. “Existing facilities may not get inspected as regularly, but this depends on many things,” he says. “Another issue is, some of this stuff is fairly complicated technically. One thing we

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¦SAFETY do in states that adopt NFPA codes is we provide training for enforcement officials. In certain states, I have done combustible dust training. I’ve assisted them in implementing Chapter 7 DHAs to help them know what to look for in explosion venting designs. Not every state adopts these at the highest level, but the codes may get swept in [through ICC or IBC codes]. Those states don’t necessarily invite us in. They may get fire code training, but not in detail on specific pieces of it like the industrial standards. It all varies, and jurisdiction is part of it.” If the presiding state or local fire marshal and responding fire departments can identify any hazards present and work with plants to correct them—such as proper explosion venting—then everyone will benefit, Long says. “The fewer fires and explosions you have,” she says, “the happier everyone will be all around.” She adds that it would be beneficial to know how far from explosion panels is safe so the plant can properly mark “no carry” zones. Ericsson says while fire departments are sometimes invited to the mill and shown the equipment, when the boots hit the ground and an actual fire occurs, many

times “they’re like a deer in the headlights” and look to staff on where the fire is and what to do, he says. “The only thing they often know about the equipment is basically whether the sprinkler systems work properly, and if they have accessible connections to hydrants. Fire departments do not know enough about the specific fire protection equipment.” To improve this, Ericsson says plants should involve them during installation and commissioning, to help educate them. “They are generally unfamiliar with the whole realm,” he says. On preventing fires, Ericsson says the code enforcers need to have educational opportunities put in front of them on how biomass dryer systems work. “That’s not included in any fire department training,” he says. “We need to be educating the fire marshals and chiefs to a level where they can come in and speak with authority on whether the plant or dryer is being commissioned properly.” At a plant where Ericsson was recently providing consulting services, the spark detection on the outlet of the dryer kept tripping, getting second-stage deluge aborts. “I questioned whether the fire protection

system was commissioned properly, and no one was able to produce commissioning records—they just went off of fan curves,” he says. “My question is, if there was a fire or explosion and there was a significant event, the insurance companies would get involved and they will start digging into this. If they can’t produce documentation, the mill owner will be liable. It will come down to that. Fire departments, regulators, project managers—they just don’t know enough about drying equipment. I’ve talked to lots of naysayers who say you don’t need this or that because it costs extra money. But when you’re standing on the end of a fire hose dealing with a dryer fire that could explode any minute, it ramps the game up.”

Plant Personnel

In addition to too much oxygen present in the system, the other main reasons for dryer fires, according to Long, are dirty ductwork and operational problems such as poor shutdown and startup sequences, upset conditions, operator error, and variable moisture content in incoming material to be dried.

SAFETY¦ The fundamental place for operators to start in terms of upset conditions is when the dryer is up and running. “When talking about upset conditions and getting back up and running, they should look at the process the same way,” Colonna says. “It’s overlooked. Everyone is in a hurry to get back to production vs. getting back to the original startup scenario. From what I’ve observed, startup is the place we break down. If the plant has shut down for whatever reason, they take care of what caused it to shut down and then jump back in without doing a good startup assessment—a process safety management (PSM). A number of PSM elements are useful guidance. One element is a pre-startup routine. In my mind, having looked at a number of incidents, people jump ahead and skip safety steps in their startup routine, which becomes a problem. If I have a fire detection and suppression system and I lose power, if I don’t go back and recheck that my pre-deflagration system is still active, then this is where failures can occur.” Proper maintenance, and having qualified personnel performing maintenance, are critical considerations, Colonna says. “It

gets into management of change,” he says. Repurposing equipment made for other industries without performing hazard analyses is also a failure of management of change. “I’ve seen this extensively,” Colonna adds. Dryer manufacturers recommend certain maintenance procedures in various service intervals. “For our systems, we recommend replacing drum seals every one to two years, or as needed,” Long says. “Airlock blades should be replaced or refurbished every couple of years too. From an equipment longevity perspective, having smooth rolling surfaces on the dryer tire and trunnion wheels improve how long the dryer lasts. And from a fire and explosion perspective, the airlocks under cyclones—if those are letting air through and you’re getting dust carryover, then any dust carryover has the potential to be hazardous in the right concentrations. Also, flanges in duct work seals should be siliconed or welded. We typically tell installers to run silicone between, but if they’re never removed, then they could be welded. Doors on cyclones get opened a lot too, but we recommend never opening them during operation. Some plants don’t see this as a risk. But it lets a lot of oxygen

in. They also need a gasket or silicone put back on every time they’re opened. If nothing else, it is reducing cyclone efficiency. Any oxygen in the system, however, is increasing the risk of fires and explosions.” Long adds that plant personnel should be checking the moisture of the inlet feed and temperature of the outcoming dried product. “If it’s getting hotter coming out, this may indicate something is wrong,” she says. Plant personnel need to understand what hazards might be present in their process associated with their equipment, and the material running through their equipment, Colonna says. “This starts with a hazards assessment or analysis,” he says. “Secondly, they need to continue to look for solutions that drive them toward mitigating the hazards initially and embed this in their process and procedures, whether this is a new type of dryer or whatever—be open to looking at that kind of change in technology that brings greater safety to this industry.” In addition to proper training, Ericsson says plant management needs to raise the bar on operator qualifications and commitment to public safety. “On maintenance

The impact can be devastating and long lasting, including physical injury to workers and destruction of process equipment resulting in loss of productivity, fines, higher insurance rates and negative publicity. We can assist you in developing a comprehensive protection solution to keep your operation in compliance with OSHA as well as state regulations. IEP Technologies is the most experienced explosion protection company in the world. Our engineers start by understanding your process, reviewing your DHA and testing process materials if necessary. Then we apply the right solution to meet your unique requirements including a combination of suppression, isolation and venting systems. Count on IEP Technologies to protect your process against explosions and keep your plant in compliance… and on-line.

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PROTECTING THE WORLD’S PROCESSES AGAINST EXPLOSION

Damage to this ductwork was caused by high-temperature fire. The different colors of the metal signify different temperatures. The yellowish color indicates temperatures in excess of 450 degrees Fahrenheit and the dark bluish color indicates temperatures of more than 700 degrees F. PHOTO: THOMPSON DRYERS

days in many of these plants, the control room fills with people who stand around and talk,” he says. “The professionalism that’s needed is not always there in dryer operations yet. They are operating equipment that can—and will—kill someone if they’re not careful.” “The biggest problem we’ve found is operator turnover,” Long says. “We can spend time training them, but if they’re there only for a month, then the person replacing them may have no training.” Long says in college she worked at a nuclear power plant, where operators were required to have two years of training. “Biomass dryer operators require nowhere near what nuclear power plant operators require,” she says. “Society doesn’t view biomass dryers as they do nuclear power plants.” Many times, fire incidents are kept under the radar, according to Ericsson. “If a fire or dust explosion occurs, and it’s enough to pop an explosion panel, sometimes they’ll just put the panel back on, button it up and it doesn’t get reported,” he says. In British Columbia, any open flame that occurs in a mill must be reported to WorkSafeBC. “Still,” Ericsson says, “there is room for improvement on this requirement.”

Third Parties

Whether it’s insurance companies, risk assessors or consultants, third parties play an important role in fire safety. Long says it’s entirely possible that, with the DHA requirement in NFPA 652, insurance companies may start dictating how facilities are operating their dryers. “I’m speculating, but with insurance companies it’s a numbers issue,” she says. “If the DHA shows they have to replace a cyclone and it’s below the cost of the deductible, they may not worry about it. But if they have to replace their entire system, the insurance companies might have something to say about that or spike their rates. The DHA is going to be a fairly big deal as of next September.”

20 BIOMASS MAGAZINE | NOVEMBER/DECEMBER 2019

SAFETY¦ Insurance companies should be more involved, according to Ericsson. “Today, they mostly deal with sprinkler systems and those kinds of regulations that have to be followed—testing the system, checking fire hydrants, fire extinguisher checks, all that,” he says. “Insurers want to see work orders and check sheets to make sure proper maintenance is being done. What I’ve noticed is they don’t know enough about [spark detection and suppression devices] or their required maintenance. In my course, I get into the meat and potatoes of all this. Insurance companies don’t know enough about dryer fire protection. It’s easy enough for some people to pull the wool over their eyes.” Insurance companies such as FM Global have field engineers. “If they’re going to insure your facility, they come in and assist you with performing a DHA or help you review it if you’ve already conducted one,” Colonna says. “They help you be aware of the consensus standards. FM Global sits on committees. They’ll encourage people to make sure they follow the relevant standards. They’ll say, ‘If you want me to insure you and sweeten the insurance premium, then it is requested that you comply. If not, we won’t insure you, or we’ll charge you higher premiums.’” Thompson Dryers employs BakerRisk. “That’s been our way to ensure we’ve done our homework,” Long says. With inspections, however, come liability. “If I make the recommendations and then there’s a fire, the first thing they will look at is recommendations made,” Ericsson says. “So, what some consultants can do is word their contract by saying these ‘recommendations’ are a draft only and can only be implemented by mill staff, and the mill staff must decide whether to implement them.” Ultimately, there is a fine balance between producing and the cost of money and time to install, maintain and test equipment. “Time is of the essence,” Ericsson says. “If the press is not going up and down, then they’re losing thousands of dollars a minute. Maintenance days have to be precisely managed. When you talk with plants about spending money on fire protection, if there’s a lot of hidden costs in the maintenance of those systems, then the people who run the budgets for those plants say they want them to be safe but, at the end of the day, they have to produce.” Ericsson emphasizes the importance of educating people. “The heightened sense of education is just not there yet,” he says. “I feel strongly that, as the biomass industry grows, we will see more and more explosions. The imperative won’t be there until there are numerous fatalities, unfortunately.” Author: Ron Kotrba Senior Editor, Biomass Magazine 218-745-8347 rkotrba@bbiinternational.com

BIOMASSMAGAZINE.COM 21

DEALING WITH COMBUSTIBLE DUST Flamex and IEP Technologies equip customers with the knowhow and tools they need to protect assets and employees. BY ANNA SIMET

22 BIOMASS MAGAZINE | NOVEMBER/DECEMBER 2019

SPOTLIGHT » Spark Detection Pioneer

To combat the common problem of dust collector fires and explosions often experienced in the woodworking industry, Flamex pioneered utilization of a new technology in North America by introducing its spark detection and extinguishing system in 1977, and it became the first of its kind to become FM Approved. Since that time, thousands of Flamex Systems have been installed in woodworking facilities across North America and beyond. When the wood pellet industry entered a period of rapid growth over a decade ago, it was a natural fit for the company. “We specialize in industries that handle combustible dust, so we’re germane to the wood pellet industry—there are many fire hazards associated with the processes,” says Allen Wagoner, Flamex president. Today, Flamex has thousands of installations in applications of all kinds across North America, belonging to global fire protection industry company Minimax-Viking. “We have systems in wood shavings plants and smaller-sized pellet manufacturing operations, but we’re also supporting large-scale pellet producers—we have some unique features and capabilities, and that’s appealing to them.”

One example is Flamex’s recently introduced YMX 5000 Detector series, which represents a unique and technologically advanced generation of infrared spark and flame sensors for industrial applications. An industry-exclusive self-monitoring optics feature provides through-the-lens testing for each detector in real time to immediately alert the user of a reduction of detector capability caused by damage or lens contamination. While Flamex is working with new-build pellet plants, much of its current work is helping existing plants protect assets and correct problems. “Some have gotten by for a while, but realized they have a problem—or could have a problem—and need to seek a solution.” Wagoner emphasizes that it isn’t uncommon for local jurisdictions—whether it be fire marshals or insurance companies—to be inconsistent or unaware of hazards specific to wood pellet manufacturing, so onboarding a company to assist in identifying and correcting risks will allow for facilities not only to meet local codes and regulations but, meet or exceed industry safety standards. “A lot of what we do is educate people about the hazards under which they operate,” he says. “The wood pellet industry brings

special hazards from drying to hammermilling, size reduction and other downstream aspects, and what’s done in one part of the mill is different than another. In an industrial-sized pellet mill for example, we can supply multiple systems and tie them all together to be monitored from one control room, and one computer using our Inveron HMI system. The controller at the computer can see exactly where the problem is, and what’s going on.” Wagoner emphasizes the importance of across-the-board operator training. “At some facilities—not specific to the wood pellet industry—some customers put the system in and don’t want to touch it, but they need to be able to maintain and operate it on a day-to-day basis,” he says. “They often assign one person to take care of it, and when they leave the company, nobody knows anything about it. We provide that training to operate and maintain systems. We’ll perform inspections and maintenance as needed, but on a day-to-day basis, they should understand and maintain the system. It will function a lot better if operators stay on top of preventative maintenance so that down the road, it’s reliable.”

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« SPOTLIGHT Saving Lives, Protecting Assets

IEP Technologies formed from four leading explosion protection companies in the U.S., United Kingdom, Germany and Switzerland. Part of the Hoerbiger Safety Solutions Network, IEP’s mission, according to David Grandaw, vice president of sales, is to save lives and protect assets by assisting customers in devising customized explosion protection solutions. “Companies handling cellulose dust, including wood pellet plants, face the risk of dust explosions daily,” Grandaw says. “Sometimes, these explosions are confined to the original process vessel, but often, there are secondary explosions with devastating results. Having a comprehensive plan to prevent explosions from happening under normal circumstances, as well as mitigation under upset conditions, is critical.” In wood processing plants, equipment most typically associated with dust explosions include dust collectors, cyclones, storage hoppers or silos, mechanical and pneumatic conveying, milling systems, pellet coolers and bucket elevators, according to Grandaw. “All of these vessels can have suspended wood dust, and all it takes is an ignition source to initiate deflagration. Deflagration pressure travels at the speed of sound, while the growing fireball inside the

process vessel propagates at a much slower speed. When the shock wave from the ruptured vessel liberates and suspends process area dust that has accumulated on horizontal surfaces, the dust is ignited by the escaping fireball, causing a secondary explosion that can destroy the building,” Grandaw says. Installing ignition prevention and control measures such as spark detection and suppression, static control and magnetic separators should be considered to minimize explosion risks under normal operating conditions. And because abnormal and upset conditions can happen, Grandaw says, both passive and active explosion protection should be considered. One explosion protection option is relief venting, which requires one or more vents installed on a process vessel wall. “During a dust explosion’s incipient stage, the vent ruptures and directs the explosion’s overpressure, flame, and burnt and unburnt material away from the vessel to a safe location,” Grandaw explains. “The explosion relief vent is designed to ensure the explosion's pressure rise doesn't exceed the vessel's pressure shock resistance.” Flameless venting protects indoor equipment by combining an explosion relief venting principle with a metal ribbon or mesh trap that arrests flame and retains particles. Like an ex-

plosion relief vent, Grandaw says, the flameless vent opens to relieve pressure during a deflagration. “But unlike with a rupture-style vent, the EVN valve from IEP Technologies utilizes a reusable, spring-loaded plate to relieve the pressure through a flame arresting material, which prevents a flame from ejecting into the surrounding area.” Another protection alternative is explosion suppression systems, often installed in applications where it isn’t possible to safely vent an explosion away from process equipment, Grandaw continues. Explosion isolation devices prevent deflagration from propagating through a connection such as a duct, chute or conveyor to other equipment, causing subsequent explosions. There is much to seriously consider when working with combustible dust, and IEP’s experience in understanding and addressing deflagration risks is some of the most extensive in the explosion protection industry. “The risk of a combustible dust explosion is an ever-present threat at any facility that processes or handles combustible particulate solids or vapors,” Grandaw adds. “Assessing these risks and implementing proper explosion prevention and protection is a must for these facilities.”

PROTECTING THE WORLD’S PROCESSES AGAINST EXPLOSION

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Thompson Dryers, which has been in industrial drying for 75 years, is installing its Thompson Phytosanitary System at New England Woodchip Solutions LLC, colocated at the site of Orrington, Maine-based Penobscot Energy Recovery Co.

HELPING MEET EU RENEWABLE TARGETS

WITH WOOD CHIPS BY NEW ENGLAND WOODCHIP SOLUTIONS

he European Union has adopted a revised directive establishing a new renewable energy target for 2032 that requires at least 32 percent of its generated energy to be derived from renewable sources. Biofuels, including wood chips, will be instrumental in helping the EU meet the new standard. Focused on opportunity, several U.S. companies and a port in Maine are poised to not only take advantage, but also demonstrate a technological advancement in wood chip processing and supply.

New England is home to an enormous wood basket. Maine alone is 90 percent forested and can sustainably supply more than 2 million tons of low-cost residual wood fiber annually. The challenge, however, is processing the wood into chips that meet EU standards, and then economically delivering them to European markets. Thatâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s where a new partnership comes in into play, which will take advantage of existing infrastructure, innovative technology and an abundant, sustainable resource.

26 BIOMASS MAGAZINE | NOVEMBER/DECEMBER 2019

Penobscot Energy Recovery Company is a waste-energy-facility in Orrington, Maine, near Bangor. PERC has been operating successfully since 1988, repurposing municipal and commercial waste into electricity, as well as steam for use in commercial ventures. Recent system upgrades and process streamlining has opened 30,000 square feet of space at PERC for other commercial opportunities. The newly established New England Woodchip Solutions LLC will be utilizing that space for a wood chip process-

SPOTLIGHT¦

ing facility, which will house a state-of-theart phytosanitary system that will meet EU import requirements and include a process to densify wood chips for improved ocean freight stowage. Thompson Dryers, a 75-year-old company internationally known for its industrial drying systems, will install its Thompson Phytosanitary System at the facility. The Thompson system, which has been approved by the USDA and is recognized as the most cost-effective sanitizing method available today, will heat wood chips for the required amount of time to kill pathogens without the use of chemicals. With easy access to rail transportation and Maine’s wood fiber resource, the Port of Searsport, Maine's second-largest deepwater port, will play an important role in the venture. Located on Penobscot Bay less than 25 miles from the NEWS facility, the port can easily load the packaged wood chips onto ocean-going cargo ships for transport to the EU.

Collectively, this approach to provide wood chips to the EU is straightforward. Raw wood fiber is collected from the forests of Maine and delivered to a centralized woodlot adjacent to the Port of Searsport. Here, the raw wood fiber is sorted and classified by species and quality, air dried, then chipped to standard EU woodchip specifications. After chipping, the wood chips are delivered to the NEWS facility, where they are phytosanitized using the Thompson system. After the wood chips are phytosanitized, they are packaged and transported back to the central woodlot at Searsport for storage and shipping. The packaging protects the wood chips, which extends their useful life significantly, and also allows them to be easily loaded into cargo ships. Once delivered in the EU, the sanitized wood chips can be efficiently added to the current fuel supply at the power facilities that receive them.

The process that has been developed by NEWS and its partners has many benefits. Wood chips require 50 percent less raw wood fiber than wood pellets, and the cost to produce the chips is lower, as the steam and electricity needed for the phytosanitization process is being provided by PERC— therefore, there is no need to invest millions of dollars in building a new power facility. And because PERC is considered a renewable energy facility, the carbon footprint is significantly lower compared to other competing systems. The EU is leading the world in finding ways to effectively use renewable energy to transition away from fossil fuels. NEWS, Thompson Dryers, and PERC are working to help reach its ambitious goals. Contact: New England Woodchip Solutions www.newoodchipsolutions.com 612-284-3380 rknudsen@usaegroup.com

BIOMASSMAGAZINE.COM 27

Deflagration venting on a dust collector PHOTO: STACY COOK

Combatting Combustible

Dust Hazards BY STACY COOK

CONTRIBUTION: The claims and statements made in this article belong exclusively to the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the views of Biomass Magazine or its advertisers. All questions pertaining to this article should be directed to the author(s).

28 BIOMASS MAGAZINE | NOVEMBER/DECEMBER 2019

DUST CONTROLÂ¦

ne of the problematic aspects of handling biomass in a power generating or fuel production process is the amount of combustible dust that is often present in the material. The challenges posed by combustible dust are not unique to facilities like Koda Energy, but are also present in grain elevators, flour mills and many other processes that create or release dust from plant matter. Over the years, the frequency of fires and dust explosions in all these types of operations have been reduced, but not eliminated. Much more can be done to reduce the property damage and risk to personnel by mitigating many of the hazards that are inherent in the processing of biomass materials. In April 2013, Koda Energyâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s 23.4MW biomass cogeneration plant in Shakopee, Minnesota, experienced a fire and explosion in its fuel receiving and storage system that caused significant property damage. We were extremely fortunate that nobody was hurt. An exhaustive investigation of the eventâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s causes was undertaken, during which we needed to look very closely at all aspects of the fuel handling operation relative to airborne dust creation and hazard mitigation. Ultimately, the decision was made to perform a total redesign of the fuel receiving and storage system, incorporating new systems and strategies to improve the safety and durability in the new design. A dust explosion requires five ingredients to occurâ&#x20AC;&#x201D;fuel, oxygen, a combustible atmosphere (suspended dust or vapors), an ignition source and containment. We focused on removing as many of these ingredients as feasible from each part of the new system, and have had no further incidents since the new system came online in January 2014. Some of the elements that we incorporated in the new design are as follows, along with additional items for consideration by other facilities.

Deflagration venting on a fuel bin PHOTO: STACY COOK

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¦DUST CONTROL

• Prevention of excessive friction heating in rotating equipment (bearing temperature monitoring can alert you to a dangerous condition developing). At our facility, we oversized screw and drag conveyances, so they run slower and have less potential to create excess friction heating. This costs a little more, but creates additional capacity (and equipment will not need to run as hard).

Preventing Combustible Atmospheres from Developing.

Koda Energy's dust collection system PHOTO: STACY COOK

Eliminating/Limiting Potential Sources of Ignition.

• An ignition control program that includes no smoking areas and signage anywhere combustibles are stored or handled, a hot work permit system with procedures that identify when and where it is safe to cut, grind and weld. • Equipment must be grounded, with grounding straps between each piece of

equipment to prevent static electricity buildup and discharge that can ignite fuel or dust. • A minimum of Class II division II electric motors. We use Class II division I wherever combustible dust may be present in the fuel system at Koda Energy. • Procedures to prevent exposure to external hazards delivered into your system, i.e., a hot load.

• To limit dust particle size segregation, reduce the distance the material is in free fall. In our system, we shortened the uncontrolled vertical drop height of the fuel. If the dust isn’t airborne, the atmosphere will not become combustible. The initial drop from the back of the trailer is roughly three feet, with extendable and retractable chutes with integrated dust collection in some areas. Vertical chute transitions between pieces of equipment were kept short. • Remove dust as it becomes airborne. Koda Energy installed extensive dust collection systems—per minute, our fuel receiving bay has 60,000 cubic feet of fresh

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air entering the space from gravity louvers as the dusty air is removed from the building, and point collection on each retractable chute and at the base of product bin piles to remove any dust motes created. • A documented housekeeping plan will keep you on track to keep potential airborne dust layering at a minimum when it is thick enough to obscure the color of the substrate material. Excessive dust layering can get blown into the air and cause a secondary deflagration event. Limit the number of horizontal surfaces in your system, and prevent excessive dust layers from accumulating on ledges and equipment. Allow pressure to be released to prevent containment. In dust deflagration, the expanding gases can cause a vessel or building to burst or explode and create airborne projectiles. This pressure needs to be released safely. • Pressure release panels/deflagration venting should be installed in a manner that doesn’t direct the blast toward other buildings or areas containing combustible dust, but to areas not populated by people. The panels should be firmly tethered to the structure, so they don’t become airborne projectiles themselves.

Spark detection zones PHOTO: STACY COOK

• A weak point can be designed into the enclosure whether it be a tank, silo or building, so that this part fails while leaving the main structure intact. Some silos are designed with a roof that will let go and release the pressure, so that the remainder of the silo is unharmed in the event of a deflagration. • Flame arrestors can be installed in conjunction with the deflagration panels,

so that open flames are not released when the panels pop open. • Koda Energy uses open-top designs on several of the new bins so that pressure can’t be contained. The more of the system that can be observed, the less potential for a hidden hazard condition. If these three elements can’t be eliminated entirely (ignition sources, combustible atmospheres and pressure contain-

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¦DUST CONTROL

An operator's view of thermal imaging PHOTO: STACY COOK

ment), a system should be designed to be much less likely to experience an incident than many that currently exist in the biomass world. But what about when the unforeseen happens, and an event occurs that creates a fire or beginning stages of a deflagration? When possible, it should be prevented from growing or causing a chain reaction event that will spread through the facility. There are some additional mea-

sures that can be deployed to control these situations as well.

Spark and Fire Detection and Arresting Systems.

• In areas where dust is traveling through a duct—perhaps in a dust-collecting or transport system—you may be able to utilize detectors to “see” an ember and a fine-mist water spray system to extinguish

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the ember while in transit. Our facility uses GreCon detectors in all of our dust ducts, with fine water droplet extinguishment nozzles for sparks. These have been quite effective, especially downstream of our hammermills. The volume of water utilized is enough to put out the ember without clogging up our systems. • In transition areas where fuel is dropping from one point to the next but not moving as rapidly, Koda Energy also uses spark detection. These detectors have been tied into our process control program to automatically shut down equipment and give alarm to our operations personnel. This stops the fuel from moving and spreading fire, providing an opportunity to activate deluge nozzles to extinguish an ongoing combustion event. The extinguishment can be set to automatic, or activated by remote and local activation, depending on site requirements. • For feeding storage and metering bins, Koda Energy also has detectors installed, with fine water droplet deluge nozzles for extinguishment. When using a dusty fuel, operators should be careful to not hit the fuel pile with a direct, high-

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pressure stream of water to prevent the dust from billowing into the air and creating a combustible atmosphere. A gentle application of water is desiredâ&#x20AC;&#x201D;cool and soak, rather than blast. â&#x20AC;˘ Gas monitoring can be used to measure combustion products such as carbon monoxide. At Koda Energy, we use handheld devices once an alarm has been tripped, but active gas monitoring can be installed if desired, and the budget allows. â&#x20AC;˘ At our facility, we use both permanently mounted and handheld thermal imaging cameras to detect heat signatures in bins and equipment where there isnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t a line of sight visual on possible combustion events. This is a good way to monitor critical parts of the process without having people in harmâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s way. â&#x20AC;˘ If fuel bins and tanks are relatively small, some type of oxygen displacement to extinguish a fire may be used, though Koda Energy does not, as itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s impractical due to the size and nature of the plantâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s equipment. In the right situation, however, steam, CO2, or nitrogen â&#x20AC;&#x153;snuffingâ&#x20AC;? systems may be able to be used to displace the O2 and create a relatively inert atmosphere. Chain reactions in a combustion event can rapidly spread a fire. This means far beyond the area where it initiated, damaging equipment and buildings throughout the facility. Operators may isolate one system or area from another to prevent this from happening. Koda Energy uses both chemical and mechanical isolation devices in its system, depending on whatâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s possible in each type of situation. â&#x20AC;˘ For chemical isolation, we use sodium bicarbonate cannons in the very large dust ducts where mechanical isolations would be too slow to react, or not feasible due to size. These atomize a large volume of sodium bicarbonate

into the duct as the airflow is being automatically interrupted by the control system (ours are fired when the deflagration vents open). Sodium bicarbonate will help smother the fire, creating water when heated to provide an evaporative cooling effect. â&#x20AC;˘ Mechanical isolation can be created through use of rotary airlocks, double dump valves, backflow preventers, etc. In many parts of our system, whether moving biomass fuel or dust, we use properly designed rotary airlocks as positive isolation devices. The above strategies are not an exhaustive list of considerations for prevention of another event at Koda Energy, and they are not meant to be all-encompassing. To protect assets and people, operators should use the tools appropriate for their situationâ&#x20AC;&#x201D;as a plant manager, these are options that I would personally consider when designing a system to minimize risk. The NFPA, FM Global standards, local fire marshals, the state electrical code and insurance companies are good sources of guidance and information when making these decisions, among many other sources. It may be a cumbersome and expensive process on the frontend to design a system that alleviates the fear of a catastrophic loss, but it is much preferred to picking up the pieces after an event has occurred. This article is based on opinion and point-of-view. The author and his employer accept no responsibility for the installations of others.

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Author: Stacy Cook President, Koda Energy LLC scook@kodaenergy.com www.kodaenergy.com ( :DEDVK $YH &UDZIRUGVYLOOH Î&#x2013;1

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