BRAVE NEW WORLD: TURNING TO BIOMASS TO SAFEGUARD THE PLANET — AND HOW TO HANDLE IT

Brave New World

turning to biomass to safeguard the planet — and learning to handle it

Louise Dodds-Ely

HES Humber Bulk Terminal: logistical expert in pellets on the River Humber

Strategically located on the south bank of the River Humber, the UK’s busiest trading estuary, and at the heart of the Humber Freeport, HES Humber Bulk Terminal is an independently owned facility providing dry bulk shippers with import, export and storage solutions — and it boasts considerable expertise in biomass.

The team at New Holland has many years of experience in handling different grades of biomass, including wood pellets for small scale industrial heating and animal bedding, and also biomass from sustainable ‘viable’ crops including olive pellets, sunflower husk pellets and peanut pellets which are used in large scale energy production.

With a draught of up to 6.5m, HES Humber Bulk Terminal can accommodate vessels of up to 6,000dwt, and cargoes of up to 5,000 tonnes. Cargo is discharged efficiently at a rate of around 3,000 tonnes per working day using two highly productive Nelcon rail-mounted slewing cranes, through a hopper onto a fully covered conveyor system which in turn feeds directly into specialized covered warehousing. Alternatively, cargo can be discharged directly into tipper truck for onward movement to the customer or to satellite warehousing.

The terminal has more than 450,000ft2 of high-quality storage and also provides a

range of added value services including screening and bagging, loading material into bulk tipper, silo tanker or onto conventional transport as packaged cargo.

With excellent connectivity to the UK major road network, the New Holland site provides ease of access for collections and deliveries of cargo and is therefore favoured by road transport operators and highly competitive in terms of supply chain costs. With transshipment capabilities and storage facilities, HES Humber Bulk Terminal is well placed to meet today’s customer demands as well as the challenges of the future.

Holding EN-Plus accreditation from the UK Pellet Council, the Terminal is also a member of the United Kingdom Warehousing Association (UKWA). With development land secured and planning approvals in place, the terminal has capacity

to accommodate further expansion and growth opportunities.

HES Humber Bulk Terminal prides itself on delivering exceptional levels of customer service whilst also focusing on the continuous improvement of cargo efficiency and productivity, and the health and safety and environmental compliance of its operations.

Head of Logistics for one of the UK’s main biomass traders and distributors said, “We have imported our cargoes through some of the other Humber ports; however, [we] have found that the professionalism, product knowledge and attention to customer service by the team at HES Humber Bulk Terminal has far exceeded our experiences elsewhere and that’s why the New Holland facility is our dry bulk terminal of choice on the Humber.”

The biomass sector is gaining momentum at HAROPA PORT. A pellet import and packaging unit has just been inaugurated in the port of Rouen by TotalEnergies. Located on the banks of the Seine in Grand-Couronne, the site is the result of a partnership with the port operator Sea Invest. Bulk carriers will unload wood pellets from Northern Europe.

THE BIOMASS SECTOR IS GAINING MOMENTUM AT HAROPA PORT

On Thursday 22 September 2022, TotalEnergies inaugurated a site for loading and bagging the wood pellets that are used for heating. The new facilities are located in Grand-Couronne, south of Rouen, on the site of the port terminals operated by Sea Invest. TotalEnergies’ investment amounts to approximately €1.5 million. The site can process 25,000 tonnes of pellets per year with the aim of reaching 50,000 tonnes within three years. The pellets are intended for private individuals and local authorities within a 200km radius of Rouen.

TotalEnergies’ screening and bagging unit completes the new 9,000m2 H10 warehouse built by Sea Invest on the Quai

de la Papeterie, a terminal that has been entirely renovated by HAROPA PORT| Rouen. The port operator already provides storage for pellets, imported from Northern Europe on board ships of 4,000 deadweight tonnes. Sea Invest has invested €5 million in the construction of the new warehouse. The partnership between Sea Invest and TotalEnergies strengthens Rouen’s biomass industry, which is also represented by the operator DockSeine. Last August, the port of Rouen received for the first time a ship loaded with 20,000 tonnes of pellets for industrial use.

THE FRENCH MARKET IS ALMOST SELFSUFFICIENT Each year, TotalEnergies sells around 200,000 tonnes of pellets in France. This represents a market share of around 10% for pellets. “We are counting on a threefold increase by 2030 to reach 600,000 tonnes, which is equivalent to the consumption of 500,000 households,” says François Boussagol, Commercial Director of TotalEnergies France.

Eighty-five per cent of the pellets are sourced in France, making the national market virtually self-sufficient. France consumes about 2.5mt (million tonnes) of

pellets per year for a production of 2mt. Some 500,000 tonnes are therefore imported mainly from Finland, Sweden, Lithuania and Latvia. “The imported pellets come from sustainably managed forests,” says François Boussagol. Pellets emit 15 times less CO2 than domestic fuel oil and make it possible to use waste from sawmills.

The inauguration of the new facilities comes against a backdrop of strong tensions in the supply chains and a doubling of the price of pellets in one year. With international energy prices rising and fears of shortages, wood pellets have become scarce and prices have soared.

Demand is up to six times higher than last year, according to Propellet, the national association for wood pellet heating. For fear of running out, the French have built up large stocks, creating tension on the market.

This phenomenon is due to “the craze for this form of energy but also to the crisis in Ukraine which destabilizes the usual producers such as Belarus, Ukraine and Russia,” concludes Boussagol.

Biomass is a general term used to describe a variety of materials including wood chips, pellets, saw dust, milled switch grass, corn stover, etc., writes Dr. Jayant Khambekar, Senior Consultant, Jenike & Johanson. From a material storage and handling perspective, these materials can exhibit various handling challenges. Materials such as milled corn stover are very light and often exhibit nesting tendencies that result in discharge issues from hoppers and silos, whereas materials such as woodchips exhibit strong interlocking tendencies. Pellets may undergo attrition and generate dust, which can pose an explosion hazard. Municipal Solids Waste (MSW) is a feedstock which has flow characteristics that are similar to biomass materials. As such, MSW feedstocks also experience similar flow issues during handling. Whether it is gravity-reclaim stockpiles, silos or feed hoppers, or feed-systems to pressurized reactors, unless properly designed, they can experience flow problems such as flow stoppages, limited live storage capacity, feed rate limitation, etc. Similarly, if the feeder and transfer chutes are not designed properly, they can result in flow problems.

Figures 1 and 2 above show examples of biomass flow issues. In general, when flow problems like those described above occur, valuable generation capacity and production time are lost, excessive maintenance and housekeeping costs are incurred, and health and safety issues arise. These problems in the feedstock receiving area can be avoided by properly designing or retrofitting the storage and handling systems.

FLOW PATTERNS Flow problems and their solutions can be best understood by first learning how bulk solids flow. As bulk solids discharge by gravity from a storage system, two types of flow patterns can develop: funnel flow and mass flow. Figure 3 shows a schematic of these two flow patterns.

In funnel flow, only a portion of the material is in motion during discharge, which flows towards the outlet through a channel that forms within the stagnant material. Funnel flow occurs when a hopper is not sufficiently steep and smooth to ensure flow along the walls and/or when the hopper outlet is not fully activated.

In mass flow, all of the material is in motion whenever any is discharged; there is no stagnant material. Mass flow occurs when the hopper is sufficiently steep and smooth to ensure flow along the hopper walls. Shallow valleys (at the intersection of adjacent hopper sidewalls) cannot be present, and the outlet must be fully active.

As we shall see in the following section, the flow pattern in which a bulk solid discharges from a storage system strongly influences the flow problems that may occur.

CRITICAL PROPERTIES DESCRIBING FLOW BEHAVIOUR For the reliable storage and feeding of biomass, the type of handling system used, including its geometry and materials of construction, must be designed to suit the flowability of the material. Whether it is mechanical-reclaim or gravity-reclaim, characterization of flow behaviour is necessary in order to design features of the system. This section lists various tests that can be performed to determine flowability. Flowability is influenced by moisture

content, fines content and storage time at rest, among other things. Hence, flow property tests must be run at representative handling conditions. Some of the most important properties associated with biomass flow behaviour are described below.

Cohesive strength of a bulk solid is used to calculate opening sizes to avoid flow stoppages due to cohesive arching and ratholing. It is measured as a function of consolidating pressure in accordance with ASTM Standard D6128.

Interlocking strength of a bulk solid is used to calculate opening sizes to avoid flow stoppages due to mechanical interlocking of its particles. It is characterized by particle size, particle shape and elasticity behaviours.

Wall friction between a bulk solid and the wall surface of equipment is critical in determining the flow pattern as well as consolidation pressures acting on a feeder or reclaimer. It is measured as a function of consolidating pressure in accordance with ASTM Standard D 6128. Information obtained from this test is used to determine critical hopper angles for achieving mass flow. The wall material of construction and surface finish must match what will be used for design or analysis purposes.

Compressibility of a bulk solid measures the change in its bulk density as a function of consolidating pressure. It is used to determine storage capacity of equipment and to calculate material induced loads. It is measured in accordance with ASTM

Standard D 6683.

ACHIEVING RELIABLE MATERIAL FLOW

Using the flow behaviour test results, a biomass handling system can be designed to achieve reliable flow. The storage system should be designed so as to minimize the consolidation pressures acting on the feeder or reclaimer. The compressibility and wall friction information obtained from flow properties testing can be used in this regard. Additionally, for gravity discharge systems where mass flow is required, the hopper angles must be steep enough to promote flow along the walls.

Material handling is a key component to successful biomass handling. Technology is available for analysing storage and handling systems to eliminate or minimize flow problems in existing facilities, as well as for designing new installations to avoid such problems in the first place. Conducting testing to understand flow behaviour is a key step in this process, to ensure that reliable storage and flow of biomass materials can occur.

Fig 1: Biomass material arching.

Fig 3: Funnel flow (left), mass flow (right). Fig 2: Biomass material arching and ratholing. ENGINEERING & EQUIPMENT

PSB Inspection was founded by Peter Bagchus as a 100% private enterprise in 2016, and has been fully operational since 1 February 2017. The company’s headquarters are based in the Rotterdam Port area, in the Netherlands. A team of 12 employees follows the slogan; “Giving up is not an option, we are always available for both our customers and any future customers!”

The team consists of highly experienced surveyors, offering high quality services in the field of inspection, sampling, sample preparation and analytical services. PSB Inspection employees have a broad spectrum of experience in the field of; weight determination of inland vessels, draught surveys of seagoing vessels, gauging, stockpile inspections of coal, gas/toxid measurements, temperature controls of stockpiles and coal, biomass, alternative fuels, metal and mineral loads and wide inspections of seagoing vessels and inland vessels.

PSB Inspection is well-known and accepted by international producers/ consumers, international trading companies and industrial users of solid fuels. All activities are performed in accordance with the most recent International Standards ISO and/or ASTM standard and internal quality procedures. The company operates in Europe, Turkey, USA, South Africa (and is expanding on that continent to other countries), Latin America and the UK.

BIOMASS Those at PSB Inspection are convinced it is important to follow the market and consequently to continuously diversify its product flows and expand its service portfolio in line with the requirements of its customer base.

Currently, the uncertain situation worldwide requires creative solutions regarding the extraction, transport, and use of fuels. Where the largest market seen so far has been in coal, it is becoming increasingly important as a customer to become less dependent on the global raw material flow and supply, but to look for fuel production closer to home. Currently, the uncertain situation not only in the energy market but worldwide requires creative solutions regarding diversification in the use of (solid) fuels and transporting same. Coal is and will remain until further

notice the largest energy source, but it becomes more and more important that the world is getting less dependent, i.e. we need alternative energy sources coming from alternative supplying countries not only coming from the far end of the world but also closer to home.

A good example of this is the increasing worldwide demand for biomass. Despite the fact that there are question marks raised on biomass as a fuel, it contributes to the energy mix. This is important due to the globally growing energy demand — and it is also increasingly important to safeguard the planet to mitigate against climate change.

It goes without saying that the transport of biomass is also subject to the same sustainability criteria as other cargoes; rules are becoming more stringent, and climate change issues are ever more pressing. Basically, this strategy comes down to decreasing the emission of CO2 — it should be said that the raw (woody) materials which are used are residues of the forestry/timber industry, and these cause the emission of methane gas if they are left on the ground unused. This methane gas is 21 times worse than the emission of CO2, which obviously does not serve climate goals at all, proving the added value of biomass, to a certain extent. This all is concluded and recorded in various European Climate Agreements which are actively promoted and safeguarded. In the longer term, the aim is to use sustainable biomass and/or liquid biofuels for high-value applications in economic sectors, where there are few alternatives — for example, as a raw material in industry and as a fuel in heavy vehicles, aviation, and shipping. It should be noted that the latter is already happening but on a smaller scale than in the electricity producing sector. To ensure that biomass becomes the most sustainable possible, several

European climate agreements have been made about the raw materials to be used, production processes and use of these products, as mentioned above. In this way, the sustainability of imported biomass in the countries of origin is actively promoted and secured, i.e., it requires e.g., SBP or

FSC certification gu aranteeing it complies with the regulations set and concluded in the existing agreements, not only in the EU but globally. Only then can we say that biomass is not only contributing to the current energy mix, but also helping to address concerns about climate change.

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