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■ table of contents

www.woodbioenergymag.com

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FROM THE EDITORS Wood Pellet Export Business Soars

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SAFETY TECHNOLOGIES Making Sure “It” Doesn’t Happen

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IN THE NEWS Denmark Chooses Biomass Over Coal

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PRODUCT NEWS Technologies For Woody Byproducts

14 SUPPLIERS PREVAIL In Logistics Battle With Pandemic 18 BEAR CREEK CHALLENGE Big Chains Take On Big Michael

Cover Photography: Many companies such as Metal Detector Inc. already had remote service and technology capabilities when the virus hit; now they’ve gotten even better at it. (Photo courtesy of MDI)

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Wood Bioenergy / October 2020

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table of contents ■

advertising index Advertiser Index is a free service for advertisers and readers.

The publisher assumes no liability for errors or omissions.

Volume 12

Number 5

24 Hatton-Brown Publishers, Inc. Street Address ■ 225 Hanrick Street Montgomery, AL 36104-3317 Mailing Address ■ P.O. Box 2268 Montgomery, AL 36102-2268 Tel: 334.834.1170 ■ Fax: 334.834-4525 Publisher/Adv. Sales Manager ■ David H. Ramsey Chief Operating Officer ■ Dianne C. Sullivan Editor-in-Chief ■ Rich Donnell Senior Editor ■ Dan Shell Senior Associate Editor ■ David Abbott Senior Associate Editor ■ Jessica Johnson Associate Editor ■ Patrick Dunning Publisher/Editor Emeritus ■ David (DK) Knight Art Director/Production Manager ■ Cindy Segrest Ad Production Coordinator ■ Patti Campbell Circulation Director ■ Rhonda Thomas Online Content/Marketing ■ Jacqlyn Kirkland Advertising Sales North American Sales Representative Susan Windham ■ P.O. Box 2268 Montgomery AL 36102-2268 334.834.1170 ■ Fax: 334.834.4525 E-mail: windham.susan4@gmail.com International Sales Murray Brett ■ 58 Aldea De Las Cuevas, Buzon 60 Benedoleig 03759, (Alicante) Espana +34 96 640 4165 ■ Fax: +34 96 640 4048 E-mail: murray.brett.aba@abasol.net Classified Advertising Sales Bridget DeVane ■ Tel: 334.699.7837 ■ 800.669.5613 E-mail: bdevane7@hotmail.com A Hatton-Brown Publication Other Hatton-Brown Publications:

Timber Processing ■ Southern Loggin' Times ■ Timber Harvesting Panel World ■ Power Equipment Trade

Air Burners

7

772.220.7303

Baker Rullman Manufacturing

29

920.261.8107

Bandit Industries

2

800.952.0178

Biomass Engineering & Equipment

13

317.522.0864

BM&M Screening Solutions

9

800.663.0323

Clarke’s Industrial Sheet Metal

28

541.343.3395

Con-Vey

17

541.672.5506

CW Mill Equipment

27

800.743.3491

Evergreen Engineering

13

888.484.4771

Firefly AB

30

+46 8449 2500

Flamex

3

336.299.2933

Hallco Industries

10

800.542.5526

Metal Detectors

12

541.345.7454

Mid-South Engineering

27

501.321.2276

MoistTech

28

941.727.1800

Peterson Pacific

31

800.269.6520

Polytechnik

11

+43 2672 890 0

Schaeffer Oil

32

800.325.9962

Stela Laxhuber GmbH

22

+49 8724 899 0

Timber Products Inspections

29

770.922.8000

Vecoplan

23

336.793.5143

Wood Bioenergy (ISSN 1947-5306) is published six times annually by Hatton-Brown Publishers, Inc., 225 Hanrick St., Montgomery, AL 36104. Wood Bioenergy is free to qualified readers in the United States, including owners, managers, supervisors and other key personnel. All non-qualified U.S. subscriptions are $50 per year, Canadian subscriptions are $60 and foreign subscription are $95 per year (U.S. funds).

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All advertisements for Wood Bioenergy are accepted and published by Hatton-Brown Publishers, Inc. with the understanding that the advertiser and/or advertising agency are authorized to publish the entire contents and subject matter thereof. The advertiser and/or advertising agency will defend, indemnify and hold any claims or lawsuits for libel violations or right of privacy or publicity, plagiarisms, copyright or trademark infringement and any other claims or lawsuits that may arise out of publication of such advertisement. Hatton-Brown Publishers, Inc. neither endorses nor makes any representation or guarantee as to the quality of goods and services advertised in Wood Bioenergy. Copyright ® 2020. All rights reserved. Reproduction in whole or part without written permission is prohibited. Printed in USA.

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■ from the editors

A Billion Dollar Industry:

Pellet Exports On The Rise T he industrial wood pellet production industry in the U.S. is not a large family, but each of its members sitting at the dinner table continues to be extremely hungry. Here are some recent developments: One of the many interesting stories concerns Highland Pellets. This plant started up in Pine Bluff, Ark. in 2017 and was featured on the cover of our magazine. Its chairman and co-founder, Thomas Reilley, spoke at our Wood Bioenergy Conference & Expo in Atlanta in 2018.

But as the company has reported, issues with the original drying equipment and technology were never overcome enough to reach production expectations. For a while there, at least from the outside, it seemed like Highland might throw in the towel. However, in early 2020 CEO Jeff Vanderpool announced they were investing in new drying technology and hammermills to get the plant up to where it was supposed to be. Elsewhere in this issue is the announcement of Highland placing an order for the new dryers. It’s great to see Highland coming back strong.

Hazlehurst Wood Pellets, a subsidiary of Fram Renewable Fuels, reportedly had a similar experience as Highland with the drying technology for its new facility in Georgia. Actually, Hazlehurst took action some time ago on its dryer replacement program and the new technology is about ready to start up.

Meanwhile, the pandemic may have set back some companies, and then there’s Enviva. What better time to purchase the world’s largest wood pellet mill, which Enviva did this summer when it acquired the Georgia Biomass facility in Waycross, Ga. Meanwhile, Enviva has put into motion the construction of a new pellet facility in Lucedale, Miss., is pretty much done with recent projects to increase production at its Northampton, NC pellet mill, and is beginning such projects to increase output at its Greenwood, SC plant.

We keep referring to the U.S. wood pellet industry

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here, but in reality the likes of Pinnacle Renewable Energy and Drax, with their respective headquarters in Canada and England, but who have made major pellet production inroads into the Southern U.S., truly makes this a global affair.

Pinnacle continues to do a lot of work at the Westervelt pellet mill in Aliceville, Ala. that Pinnacle is now a majority owner of, and it is currently constructing a new pellet mill in Demopolis, Ala., again as majority owner (with Westervelt and Two Rivers Lumber).

Not everybody getting into the industrial wood pellet export action is a large company. Longtime southern yellow pine lumber producer Charles Ingram Lumber plans to build a small wood pellet operation in South Carolina and call it Effingham Pellets. You’ll recall our article last year on Varn Wood Products in Hoboken, Ga., another established SYP lumber producer that built a wood pellet facility nearby.

These projects, and others not mentioned, will add to the nearly 7 million metric tons of pellets that U.S. operators are already exporting annually, in what is now a billion dollar export business for the U.S.

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■ in the news Ørsted Continues Coal Phase-Out Following more than three years of intensive conversion work, Danish power company Ørsted’s Asnæs Power Station can now supply green district heating to Kalundborg and green process heat to Novo Nordisk and Novozymes. His Royal Highness Frederik Crown Prince of Denmark inaugurated the new wood chip-fired power unit at Kalundborg in August.

“The Crown Prince’s visit marks the completion of an extensive conversion process. Asnæs Power Station has been given a new and greener life, which will benefit Kalundborg residents and businesses and contribute to Denmark’s green transformation,” says Morten Buchgreitz, Executive Vice President and CEO of Markets & Bioenergy, Ørsted.

A joint agreement in 2017 ensured that Asnæs Power Station can now supply green energy to Novo Nordisk, Novozymes, and district heating customers in Kalundborg.

“We will be phasing out coal at all our power stations by 2023, and the decision about Asnæs Power Station, which was made together with our customers, is an important step on the way,” Buchgreitz says.

The 20-year steam and district heating contract involved the construction of a new wood chip-fired plant, which is connected to the

Frederik, Crown Prince of Denmark cuts the ribbon for the official opening of the Asnæs Power Station in Kalundborg.

power station’s existing installations and systems. This will enable Asnæs Power Station to supply steam, district heating, and power produced using sustainable wood chips.

The conversion from coal to wood chips will result in an annual reduction in carbon emissions of around 800,000 tonnes. This corresponds to the annual carbon emissions from more than 400,000 cars and thus contributes significantly to Denmark’s green conversion.

The wood chips will primarily come from thinning wood, and all suppliers must ensure that the wood chips come through sustainable forestry.

The boiler, supplied by Valmet, is a 140 MW HYBEX unit, employing bubbling fluidized bed technology. Valmet’s 80 million

euro scope also included flue gas treatment, baghouse filter, combustion air humidification, flue gas condensing, condensate treatment and stack.

Pellet Mill Planned For South Carolina Effingham Pellets, a subsidiary of Charles Ingram Lumber Co., plans to invest $5.4 million to establish a wood pellet operation in Florence County, SC that will produce and supply wood pellets for export sale to Europe.

“We are excited to begin operations in Florence County, where we will be able to produce power solutions that promote sustainability on an international scale. Effingham Pellets, LLC looks forward to being an important partner to Charles Ingram Lumber Company and the community as a whole,” an Effingham Pellets spokesperson says.

Operations are expected to be on-line by June 2021.

Georgia Power Seeks Biomass Plant Bids

Officials tour the new wood chip-fired power unit.

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Georgia’s Public Service Commission recently voted to allow major utility Georgia Power to solicit bids for a new 50 MW biomass-powered power plant. The move is part of a Georgia Power effort to purchase more energy from a

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in the news ■

variety of sources as the company seeks to retire some of its older power generating facilities.

In addition to biomass, the utility is also looking at streams turbine, battery energy storage and solar sources. The move is also driven by forest economics: Georgia landowners had few places to sell the mountain of timber damaged by Hurricane Michael in 2018, much of it salvageable only as boiler fuel.

Georgia Power now purchases more than 335 MW of energy from 15 biomass producers, with most of the fuel coming from woody biomass. By comparison, Georgia Power is looking to add more than 2,200 MW of solar powered electricity in the near future.

Tokyo Gas Enhances Biomass Portfolio Prominet Power Co., Ltd., a subsidiary of Tokyo Gas Co., Ltd., has acquired two wood pellet fueled biomass power plant projects from an Equis Group investment fund: Fushiki Manyofuto Biomass Power GK and Ichihara Yawatafuto Biomass Power GK. The Fushiki Manyofuto biomass power plant expects to start commercial operation in October 2021 with a generation capacity of 51 MW. Ichihara Yawatafuto is expected to be commissioned in January 2024 with a generation capacity of 75 MW These transactions are expected to increase Tokyo Gas group’s renewable power volume by approximately 126 MW.

Ala. Timber Owners Receive Virus Relief Alabama forest and landowner groups welcomed news of $10 million in state coronavirus relief to help forest owners impacted by the pandemic.

Alabama Farmers Federation President Jimmy Parnell thanked Governor Kay Ivey and State Forester Rick Oates for working to provide relief for landowners who

sold timber at reduced prices due to market disruption.

“COVID-19 has hit Alabama’s forest industry hard,” Parnell says. “Prices have decreased for timber used for lumber as well as pulpwood used to make paper. We appreciate Gov. Ivey recognizing the importance of private forest landowners to our economy and environment. This funding will help lessen the blow for those who sold timber this spring.”

Alabama Forestry Commission (AFC) will administer the Assisting Alabama Timber Owners Impacted by the COVID-19 Pandemic program. It will provide payments to landowners who harvested timber during the months of March through July 2020. The payment rate will be $1 per ton of timber sold. Initial payments will be limited to not more than $10,000 per applicant, pending evaluation of program participation and available funding.

“The Alabama Forestry Commission understands that forest landowners in the state have been negatively impacted by the coronavirus. These assistance payments will not make landowners whole, but they will help,” Oates comments. “An even more important effect of this program will be that this money will not sit in people’s bank accounts. It will help landowners better care for the forest resources with which they are entrusted, and in doing so will be reinvested in the economy and be spent several times.”

Enviva Reports On New Projects Enviva reports that civil work continues at the new wood pellet production plant project in Lucedale, Miss. and at the new deep-water marine terminal in Pascagoula, Miss. Enviva expects the construction of the Lucedale plant and the Pacagoula terminal to be completed during mid-year 2021.

Enviva also reports it expects to make a final decision on developing

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■ in the news

a new wood pellet production plant in Epes, Ala. around the end of this year. The company continues to evaluate additional sites for wood pellet production plants in Alabama and Mississippi, the production of which would be exported through the Pascagoula terminal.

The company’s wood pellet production plant in Hamlet, NC has proven its expected 600,000 MTPY capacity and Enviva expects it to exit 2020 at this run rate.

Enviva has begun commissioning certain fully constructed new process islands as part of its project to increase the production capacity of its wood pellet production plant in Northampton, NC and similarly expects to begin the commissioning process for its project to increase the production capacity of its wood pellet production plant in Southampton, Va. over the next several months. Procurement and detailed engineering activities for the Greenwood, SC expansion are well under way and subject to receiving the necessary permits; the expansion remains on track for completion by year-end 2021 On July 31 Enviva completed the previously announced transaction to purchase the Georgia Biomass pellet plant in Waycross, Ga. and a longterm terminal lease and services agreement at the Port of Savannah for $175 million in cash.

Enviva states its growth continues to be driven by the commitment and significant progress made by regulators, policymakers, utilities and power generators across the globe to phase out coal, limit the impact of climate change, and cut greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions to achieve “net-zero” by 2050. Enviva points to several developments: l In June 2020, the United Kingdom completed a recordbreaking 67-day period without coal-fired power, representing the longest period the country has operated without coal power since the Industrial Revolution. During this period, biomass provided approximately 11% of the UK’s electricity on average and up to 16%

on days when the availability of wind and solar was limited. l In order to end coal-fired power generation, on July 3 Germany passed legislation (the Coal Exit Law) that explicitly recognized the use of sustainable biomass as part of the transition. The Coal Exit Law lays out a rapid timetable to phase out hard coal by 2033 and lignite by 2038, requiring an unprecedented shutdown of 43.9 gigawatts of coal capacity operating on the grid today. Mechanisms are in place to potentially lead to an earlier final phase-out date and to deliver a EUR 40 billion support program to assist coal plant operators with shutting down capacity or converting to non-fossil fuel fired generation alternatives, including biomass. l The Netherlands Environmental Assessment Agency (PBL), after an extensive review process that involved joint fact-finding with 150 non-governmental organizations, research institutes, businesses and other stakeholders, and testing its arguments against more than 400 scientific studies and reports, concluded in a report published in May that the country will not be able to achieve its climate targets without substantially increasing biomass utilization and that a significant role for biomass is a “prerequisite” for a climateneutral circular economy. l In Asia, Japan’s Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry (METI) announced in early July that the Japanese government would set policies aimed at the closure or suspension of low-efficiency coalfired power plants by 2030 following the establishment of a framework expected by the end of 2020.

Japan currently has 152 coal-fired power plants and it is estimated that approximately 100 of them, with total estimated capacity of approximately 23 to 25 GWs, may be targeted for such closure or suspension, creating new potential opportunities for recycling this infrastructure into biomass-fired renewable power generating assets.

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in the news ■ Drax Extends Contract With GB Railfreight GB Railfreight (GBRf) and Drax have agreed to extend their contract for the transportation of sustainable biomass from UK ports to Drax Power Station in North Yorkshire until 2025. GBRf will run all of Drax tonnage from the Ports of Tyne and Liverpool to Drax Power Station.

Teams at GBRf have worked closely with Drax for the past decade to maintain the supplies of sustainable biomass needed for the UK’s largest power station to continue generating the flexible and reliable renewable power for millions of UK homes and businesses.

This deal is critical to Drax’s global biomass supply chain and another step on its journey to negative emissions.

Drax supplies 11% of the UK’s renewable electricity. Using sus-

A GBRf train carrying sustainable biomass arrives at Drax Power Station in Selby, North Yorkshire, England.

tainable biomass instead of coal at Drax Power Station has reduced emissions by more than 80% and helped the UK power system decarbonize faster than any other country in Europe.

The partnership between GBRf

and Drax dates back to 2010 when GBRf began moving biomass by rail from the Port of Tyne. Originally, GBRf used wagons that had been converted from coal hoppers by adding lids and these remain in use under the new contract. As

October 2020 / Wood Bioenergy

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■ in the news

Drax converted more of its coal units at the power station to sustainable biomass, Drax invested in new purpose-built biomass wagons that are larger and therefore more efficient at carrying the pellets.

In the past year, the longstanding relationship between Drax and GBRf has helped overcome challenges such as the local floods in February to the Drax branch line and then the COVID-19 crisis, ensuring continuous flows of biomass that helped keep the power station running and the lights on in Britain.

Pinnacle Projects Moving Forward Pinnacle Renewable Energy reports that its pellet mills at Entwistle, Alberta and Aliceville, Ala. made significant contributions to the company’s production, shipment volumes and financial performance in the second quarter.

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At Entwistle, fiber quality improvements associated with a recent destoner project, along with a number of other initiatives, helped to boost pellet efficiency. Aliceville also performed significantly better as efforts to improve machine center reliability gained traction.

Despite widespread sawmill curtailments in both Western Canada and the U.S. South at the beginning of the quarter, Pinnacle was able to adjust its procurement activities to gain access to the volume and quality of fiber needed to operate without disruption. Sawmill residuals accounted for 74% of the company’s feedstock.

Construction continued on the new 200kMT per year mill at High Level, Alberta, being developed in partnership with Tolko Industries Inc. (Pinnacle will own 50% of the mill). In addition, plans for the associated rail infrastructure at High Level were finalized.

Construction also continued on the 360kMT per year mill in Demopolis, Ala., being developed with The Westervelt Company and Two Rivers Lumber Company, LLC (Pinnacle will own 70% of the mill). The project is scheduled for commissioning in second quarter 2021.

A dryer upgrade project at Williams Lake was successfully completed.

The company also commenced construction on the Phase 2 Project at its mill in Aliceville. This project will add a truck unloading system to the mill’s infrastructure and broaden access to additional supplies of sawmill residuals on a goforward basis.

Completion of the growth-related capital projects will increase Pinnacle’s overall production capacity by almost 20% to 2.9 million MT, Customer demand for wood pel-

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in the news â–

lets remains strong, according to Pinnacle, and its management expects production and shipment volumes to increase as the Entwistle mill operates at capacity, the Williams Lake mill works through its commissioning process, and a series of initiatives designed to boost operating rates at other mills are implemented. Warmer weather is expected to support higher production levels as well. Fiber supply is expected to improve in the next

few months as sawmill operating rates are maintained.

Morbark Announces Boehler As CEO Morbark announced the appointment of Brad Boehler as the successor to current President of Morbark Holdings and Vice President of Alamo Group’s Forestry and Tree Care Business Unit, Dave Herr.

Before joining Alamo Group,

Boehler was president of the Skyjack Group, a Canadian manufacturer of aerial lift equipment, including scissor lifts and telehandlers. Before joining Skyjack he worked for seven years at Tigercat International.

Herr joined Morbark as a board director and became CEO in October 2016. He successfully led the company through a period of acquisitions, and the transfer of ownership to Alamo Group in 2019.

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The Great Adjustment:

Suppliers Respond To Virus

By Patrick Dunning

S

eparated physically, connected digitally. That’s the synopsis for 2020. Traditional business practices have been challenged by the COVID-19 crisis and companies have been forced to find new ways to service their customers. Though it may not be pocket aces, equipment and technology suppliers in the wood energy industry haven’t checked or folded, rather played the cards they’ve been dealt.

When forest industry products and services were deemed essential in early spring, suppliers promptly began reorganizing their in-house activities while enhancing their virtual platforms to sidestep the novel coronavirus.

One of the industry’s leading moisture measurement and control technology producers, MoistTech Corp., continued working at the office and manufacturing facility throughout the pandemic with social distancing in place, but expanded their online customer service interface. “We have implemented more virtual customer service support when it comes to our moisture equipment to ensure all customers continue creating top quality products without downtime,” Marketing Manager Sarah Hammond says. “Any troubleshooting and calibration questions have all been done virutually.”

Brunette Machinery Co. specializes in log processing and preparation systems. Cathy Johnston, marketing and media coordinator, says they’ve taken steps to prevent the spread at their offices, including scheduling

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some staff to work from home at the beginning of the pandemic. “We practice physical distancing and wear face coverings when we cannot maintain a safe space of six feet,” she explains. “We even reconfigured our office space to ensure all staff are working within that prescribed distance. We disinfect all major touch points in the office daily and require customers who visit our office to comply with our protocols.”

Joel Dulin, director of digital marketing and sales coordinator, Biomass Engineering & Equipment, says they’re emphasizing the common-sense approach. “If you’re sick, stay home,” he asserts. “We have virus protocol training. The company also provides every employee with two cloth masks and we keep disposable masks stockpiled. Our office personnel are well distanced, as well as manufacturing personnel, so no real changes required in terms of spacing.”

TSI, a manufacturer of dryer island technologies, has its office-based staff working from home. After the virus hit earlier this year, Vice President Andrew Johnson says maintaining sales activity in overseas markets became challenged by travel restrictions. “We subcontract our manufacturing so most of our partners continue to operate pretty normal,” he says. “But our site work installations have seen the biggest impact with strict PPE, physical distancing and other safety protocols.”

Jesse Vigil, president and CEO of Metal Detectors, Inc., says they’re fortunate business remains steady. MDI manufactures industrial conveyer line metal detectors.

Wood Bioenergy / October 2020

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the pandemic ■

Appropriate changes were administered at their plant to flatten the curve per mandates from Oregon Governor Kate Brown. “We are following our state’s directives and have initiated additional health and safety protocols,” Vigil says. “Twenty-five percent of our employees are currently working from home.” MDI Advertising Coordinator Julie Noll-Klarr adds that supplier entry to their building and employee interaction is limited. “We’re keeping departments separate and communicating through telephone, video conference and email.”

A leading manufacturer in size reduction machinery and pelletizing equipment, Schutte Hammermill experienced some ebbs and flows with production early in 2020 but persists their business is widely backlog based.

“From a sales perspective, while we did see some projects slow down in the months of April, May and June, many of those projects that slowed began reviving in July,” Marketing Director Christine Potratz says.

Having manufacturing facilities in three different states (New York, Oklahoma, Florida) complicated Schutte’s initial approach to contest COVID-19. “Some of our locations were required to move to staggered shifts and non-essential employees started working from home.

Now, however, we have issued the highest-level requirements among our facilities, specifically in New York state, and applied them across our facilities in Oklahoma and Florida.”

Remote Work The COVID-19 outbreak has created an opportunity for increased telecommunicating and potentially changed the way business is conducted moving forward. Companies have implemented virtual conferences and sales calls with customers and performed remote startups.

MoistTech is using Microsoft Teams and Team Viewer to access their customers. “When an order is placed we collect information and samples from customers to ensure the equipment is fully operational prior to being shipped from our facilities,” Hammond says. “Even prior to the pandemic, our main focus was to ensure we offer a plug-and-play operation to reduce downtime customers spend incorporating the technology into their systems.” All of MoistTech’s equipment is pre-calibrated for each customer prior to shipment and free virtual customer support is included.

Johnston of Brunette Machinery says they’ve converted to online applications for weekly staff meetings and communicating with clients. “Our weekly staff meetings have been conducted online using Microsoft Teams throughout this situation. We’ve also arranged many sales talks with our customers using Microsoft Teams, Skype and other similar applications,” she states. “We’ve been using Teams to conduct startups, especially for those in the United States due to travel restrictions.” Online training sessions are also assessible for customers in the U.S. or Canada.

(Photo courtesy of BE&E)

As for TSI, “Yes, we are doing lots of virtual conference calls with clients and staff,” Johnson says. Their preferred program is Microsoft Teams but have also participated in other platforms including Zoom. TSI completed a remote startup with a Chinese client that Johnson says went surprisingly well. “If anything, I would say we are actually talking to key clients and remote staff more as everyone gets comfortable with what was unfamiliar technology.” Site-support technicians never stopped traveling and some of TSI’s younger sales staff recently began traveling throughout the U.S. again.

Others haven’t performed any remote startups, but do have personnel traveling for installations and sales visits. “We haven’t performed any startups remotely,” Dulin of Biomass Engineering says. “We have utilized web-based video conferencing tools for calls with clients such as Cisco’s Webex.” Webex is a teleconference application capable of webinars, file sharing and screen sharing.

On-site, in-person services have always been a rare necessity for MDI’s products, and with recent technological advancements, “We can access a metal detector faster than we can fly there,” Noll-Klarr states, emphasizing remote programming and diagnostics. Before the pandemic, MDI developed technology that allows remote access to the metal detector’s programming software. Through two different approaches, the result is the same: accessing the device over an internet connection to customize detection profiles, and view signal data in real-time utilizing in-house proprietary software.

“The first option, we can send a loaner device that will interface with our metal detector through a mobile internet connection. This device has a video camera that allows us to view what is happening in the vicinity of the metal detector, providing further environmental information,” Noll-Klarr explains. “Our second option is

(Opposite page: photo courtesy of Pinnacle)

October 2020 / Wood Bioenergy

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■ the pandemic

(Photo courtesy of MDI)

a remote access module that can be built onto our metal detectors. This method accomplishes the same thing, only without a video camera feature. It requires an ethernet connection to a PC on the customer’s network for MDI’s remote access software to connect to the PC via the internet.”

Custom real-time programming is available to finetune the entire spectrum of electromagnetic signatures, specific to the targets and environment of the customers’ application. “Tuning while the system is actively operating provides a much higher quality of target discrimination and environmental interface mitigation,” Noll-Klarr elaborates. “That’s something that has previously only been possible in person.”

Many of Schutte Hammermill’s sales calls have shifted toward video conferencing tools like Microsoft Teams and Zoom. Potratz points to the success they’ve had using video conferences during startups. “We have managed several equipment startups via video conferences,” she says. “While this is not our preference, a properly executed video conference can result in a highly successful startup with our equipment.”

Essential Travel When online engagements won’t suffice, many onsite technicians are still completing installations and performing startups. Sales visits are also taking place on a limited basis with health codes in mind.

The personnel at MoistTech are happy to travel to job sites for installations and sales visits, and do so with proper PPE. Their moisture measurement sensors don’t rely on Wi-Fi for operation and require a one-time calibration with zero maintenance, limiting repeat interactions. Hammond says they haven’t had any issues delivering equipment. “We normally ship out of the country and have not experienced any distribution issues this year.”

Brunette Machinery’s service technicians are doing

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limited traveling in Canada. “These visits are restricted to essential repairs and services, where our staff must be physically present to undertake the job,” Johnston says. “Safety protocols are followed at the sites and our staff are required to self-isolate before entering the facility and after they return home.” Brunette hasn’t encountered any delivery issues, but has experienced issues with Wi-Fi connectivity in some locations. “Let’s hope Elon Musk can expedite Starlink,” she suggests.

Biomass Engineering has continued installations and sales visits while being diligent of wearing masks and washing hands. Dulin says they’re sensitive to their customers’ health procedures and haven’t had any problems because installations are mostly outdoors. “We haven’t had any issues delivering our products or completed machines,” he says. “Logistics companies are eager as ever to provide services during this period, and all of our machines are going to clients in North America as of late.”

At TSI, a handful of staff had minor Wi-Fi issues with their initial home setups that Johnson says were quickly ironed out. “Wi-Fi can be a problem when we travel during normal times, but with less travel going on it’s actually less of a problem overall.” TSI’s site-support technicians never stopped traveling and some of their younger sales staff have begun traveling again strictly in the U.S. Johnson says TSI experienced some delays with cross-border shipments to Canada, but they’re managing to get products through.

MDI says they aren’t experiencing any delays in receiving manufacturing materials or difficulties delivering equipment. “All shipping avenues remain open without delays,” Noll-Klarr says. “One of our only issues has been sending equipment and having it arrive at a facility that was unexpectantly closed due to COVID-19.”

Traveling for Schutte employees is limited to avoid quarantine when personnel return home from another state. “With cancelled trade shows and sales calls reformatted into video conferences, overall travel is curtailed as a result,” Potratz says. Some equipment deliveries were delayed in late March and April. Since then, “Our logistics partners have been meeting deadlines and requirements without issue.”

Lessons Learned Technology and equipment suppliers have bent the learning curve in their favor and discovered new methods to stay connected.

Hammond of MoistTech notes that working from home creates a bigger window of opportunity to link digitally. “The new structure of businesses are changing roles of people and new ways to reach them are being explored,” she says. “Without the 35 trade shows a year we have become accustomed to rethinking our avenues to get our message seen.”

The close-knit operation at Brunette Machinery has

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also gotten creative in the way they interact. “Staying in touch with our customers is important during this time,” Johnston says. “Open and effective communication with all stakeholders is one of the major keys to maintaining a healthy business.”

Another testament to the work-from-home business model, TSI’s Johnson says they’re learning to manage the staggered shift template. “Productivity is fairly easy for us to track, especially for our engineering staff who are task driven. We haven’t seen a drop-off in work efficiency,” he says. “We’ve seen a blending of home-andwork activity with more flexibility in hours. Our staff actually seems happier though we do have some people eager to get back to the office because home environments aren’t conducive to work.”

The saying, “don’t put all your eggs in one basket,” rings true for Dulin at Biomass Engineering. He believes the dangers of relying on a single source for essential parts and equipment are obvious. “Our only problems with receiving equipment and supplies were in the early days of COVID-19 when China locked down the province where the outbreak started,” he reflects. “Virtually all the roller chains we use are made in two factories in China, both in the same area of the country, so we were afraid we would run short on chains for our conveyers

and have to halt production.” Fortunately, Biomass Engineering didn’t encounter this problem.

Dulin says the pandemic has allowed them to rethink some marketing strategies. “We likely won’t stop attending trade shows moving forward, having a presence still holds value, but we’ll limit our booth size,” he says. Money intended for trade shows is now going toward sales trips, fabricated models for customers, 3-D printed models, and new analytic tools for their website.

“Not much has changed in regards to providing service to our customers due to the pandemic,” MDI’s NollKlarr says. “Our servicing is supplemented by our free lifetime telephone technical support or email if needed.” Most issues are resolved by reviewing installation photos and walking the customer through any onsite diagnostics. Control blocks can be sent in and reprogrammed if necessary.

Through the course of the pandemic, Schutte Hammermill has shrunk its reliance on outside vendors and began vertically integrating more manufacturing processes. As a result, “We have realized some additional engineering and manufacturing synergies between our facilities, which will shortly result in time-and-cost savings that we can pass off to our customers,” Potratz says.

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By Dan Shell YOUNGSTOWN, Fla. ocated 20 miles north of Mexico Beach, Fla. and just east of Youngstown, the 98,000 acre tract in the Bear Creek watershed had the eye of Category 5 Hurricane Michael rip right up the center of it in October 2018, leaving in its wake a scene of blast-zone devastation that’s hard to describe: In mere hours a thriving, working forest of almost 100,000 acres—growing everything from seedlings to 35-year-old sawtimber—was reduced to an epic disaster of downed and windblown trees, stems and snags, much of it flooded in the storm’s immediate aftermath.

The storm hit on October 10 two years ago, 160 MPH winds raging as Michael made landfall. Barely missing the major Panama City population center that would have made the human toll much worse, Michael churned through north Florida and southwest Georgia for 150 miles before hurricane-force winds dissipated.

Later reports would show 31 direct and 43 indirect

L

deaths from the storm, noted as the fourth-strongest wind speed landfall hurricane in contiguous U.S. history. While much timber was destroyed and damaged in the mostly rural storm path, Michael’s estimated $25 billion in damages included things like $6 billion to replace fighter jets at Tyndall AFB east of Panama City, at least $6.23 billion in insurance claims and almost $4 billion in agricultural damages.

According to a timber damage report by industry analyst Forest2Market, in the most heavily affected areas Michael’s impact was the equivalent of 10-15 years of timber inventory removals—compressed into several hours of timber-destroying fury.

The tract along Bear Creek is a rarity as Southeast investment tracts go: More than 98,000 acres of contiguous timberland that takes 23 miles to drive from one end to the other without getting off the property except for one small stretch. A pension fund owns the tract as a long-term investment, which is managed by Forest Investment Associates (FIA).

A TIMO with $4.7 billion in timberland assets under management in North and South America, FIA has a 33-year track record. The Southeast U.S.

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is FIA’s largest investment area, managing 1.7 million acres in the region—and roughly 37% of those assets are within 60 miles of the Gulf or Atlantic coasts. The company has experienced hurricane impacts over the years, yet the damage to the Bear Creek tract “was unlike anything ever experienced on our properties,” says Mike Clutter, FIA Vice President, Director of U.S. Investments and Operations.

According to Clutter, at Bear Creek 3.4 million merchantable pine tons were removed due to storm damage, and 7,500 acres of pre-merchantable plantations were lost. Overall, he says, about 92% of the tract’s standing inventory was lost to Hurricane Michael.

Aerial reconnaissance right after the storm confirmed the extent of the catastrophe, and it took the better part of a month’s hard work by American Forest Management (FIA’s on-site field service provider) and the Florida Forest Service to reopen the primary woods roads and allow up close inspection. The closer all involved got to the disaster, the bigger the challenge grew.

Once the assessments were made and inspections

completed, the magnitude of the silvicultural demand before them became clear: the complete re-establishment of 55,000-60,000 acres of bedded plantations on low wet ground—as soon as possible.

In spring 2019, the FIA team hoped to get it done in five years.

Region Hammered “The eye of the storm centered (the tract), so you had wind going east to west, then the eye went over and you had wind going west to east,” says Frank Corley, forest engineer, longtime logging industry veteran and owner of Corley, Inc., who was brought in as a consultant for the recovery project.

Corley and Clutter have worked together several times over the course of their careers, including 14 years when both were with Union Camp.

“I had no clue what to do the day I arrived,” Corley continues. “Nothing was obvious. Only some of the youngest stands, about five years and younger, were able to carry forward. The rest of it was gone.

That’s what I found.” ➤ 20

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■ bear creek

Two Cat D8s with the ends of a 450 ft. ship anchor chain attached to each travel parallel about 60-80 ft. apart and sweep the chain over the debris landscape, while a Savannah v-blade runs forward.

19 ➤ Forestry specialists Larson & McGowin used digital modeling software to predict debris loads remaining on the ground, and the Silvics Solutions S2 program identified many areas of older merchantable plantations that had 150-200 green tons of debris per acre that had to be removed, piled or otherwise dealt with before plantations could be re-established and the tract placed back into production.

Increasing the impact of the storm at all levels was the human costs and suffering, property damage and power outages that had to be addressed immediately.

Many loggers had to tend to their own families and their employees’ families and property issues before they could even think of addressing timber damage.

Infrastructure of all types was hammered. Civil authorities said that after power outages, one of the top priorities was reconnecting cell phone service. In just one of thousands of examples, a local CVS in Lynnhaven, Fla. north of Panama City was still filling prescriptions from a house trailer in a parking lot months after the storm had passed.

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It didn’t help that much of the merchantable timber was broken off in snags, jumbled on the ground in pieces, extremely unsafe to log conventionally and virtually unsalvageable. Working with local contractors, AFM was able to harvest a small amount, but with the WestRock paper mill at Panama City down due to storm damage and other wood consumers at greatly reduced capacity if not down, wood prices dropped drastically.

Corley says even if more could have been salvaged, “People don’t realize how the mills were impacted too, so the markets weren’t really there for a while.”

Trying to devise a plan of action, Corley brought in several others to give perspective, among them Mark Sauer, President of reforestation specialist Savannah Global, and Johnny Boyd, District Manager with Tigercat Industries.

It became apparent that the remaining timber and debris, snags and leaners had to be taken to the ground before anything else could happen. And the tremendous amount of debris made windrowing unfeasible because of handling and piling costs and lost planting space.

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Different Approach In this case, disaster was the driver of innovation as the group developed systems to handle the various conditions on the tract and ultimately re-establish plantations in the debris fields: —A modified Tigercat sawhead with bunching arms removed and custom housing with vblade atop the tower was developed to take down much of the smaller pre-merchantable material up to around 10-12 years old. The machine goes down each row, “mowing” as close as possible to the ground and letting the trunks and snag stems just fall away. This leaves the bed in place and makes for quicker replanting.

—A push-bar system—simply a 22 ft. piece of heavy square-tube steel with a slight bow on each end mounted to the front of a D6—used to take down material that’s just at thinning age or a bit below. Some of these stands were the toughest to deal with, Corley says.

“The ones that hadn’t been thinned yet were really ugly, and it was hard to even get into these stands,” he says, adding that some of those areas were sprayed to make the stems lighter and easier to break up. Some of the initial trials included a dozer with straight blade pulling a chopper, then running with only the blade before the team decided a push bar would do the job and also more productively, taking out several rows at a time.

Presenting the biggest overall challenge were the older age stands, some up to 35 years, which had the highest debris loads. Working typhoon recoveries in Australia and reservoir land clear- A 22 ft. piece of square-tube steel with a slight bend on each end knocks ing in Africa among other recent offshore jobs down windblown young stands. and projects in 35 countries, Savannah Global has a reputation as a major mass land-clearing specialprotection packages, custom chain attachments and adist. Sauer advised the group to try chaining: dragging a ditional component protection behind and large Savanlarge ship chain between two D8s to knock the debris nah v-blade and plenty of guarding up front. onto the ground.

“It’s a slow process and can be dangerous,” says Sauer put the group in touch with an Australian conQuint Crager of Quinco Contracting in Chatom, Ala. tractor he had worked with on a chaining job after a ty“Ground conditions are pretty rough, there’s lots of rephoon. “There’s not a lot of places to justify it, but that ally heavy debris in most areas.” is one area you could do it,” Sauer says of the Bear Noting the extra guarding all around the dozer, he Creek tract’s flat and sandy conditions. adds, “A main concern is safety of the guys operating.”

The recovery team settled on a 450 ft. deep sea ship Crager says that as time has progressed, and the timanchor chain pulled between two Cat D8s running parber has deteriorated it’s lighter and can work easier; allel roughly 60-80 ft. apart depending on debris condisome of the wetter areas where fallen material has more tions. “You pull it behind in a u-shape, and the chain green volume continue to be a hard pull and slow sort of sags behind. The chain breaks up the debris and going. Another issue is keeping equipment cooling sysgets it on the ground where you can do something with tems running smoothly in all the debris. it,” Corley says. He bought the massive chain from a “You can’t take just anybody who operates a machine shipyard in Louisiana, and it weighed only a couple and put them in this, but we’ve got some really good hundred pounds short of highway weight limits to get it operators,” Crager says. hauled to Bear Creek.

In the summer of 2020 there were five main contracThe D8s used for the job are fitted with full forestry tors on the site doing chaining, push bar or sawhead

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■ bear creek

Once the standing debris is cleared, a shear v-blade opens up the ground and a bedding plow prepares the row for planting.

work. As each system is applied to the tracts where it works best, the big chunk of remaining work continues to be the areas that need chaining, with its slower operations and larger debris loads.

Wet ground is a big issue year-round for all the crews. Extremely low elevation and flat terrain make any form of precipitation problematic for operations, and some areas are wetter than before the storm because there’s no timber and cover to help absorb groundwater. Taking advantage of any short-term dry conditions, crews try to cover as much of the low ground as possible when possible, but some areas may have to wait for an extended dry spell to be worked.

“This is by far the biggest project we’ve ever taken on,” says Travis Buck of Tree Farm LLC in Fosters, Ala. “Trying not to get stuck—that’s the biggest issue because there’s mud and water everywhere and it’s all flat ground,” he adds.

Once all material is on the ground, there’s at least one pass with a shear v-blade required to open it up, and another pass with a bedding plow to get the row ready for replant. The crews are going with slightly wider row spacing due to the remaining debris, which is several feet high on each side of some planting rows.

Sauer says that while many contractors in the area run a trailing plow, he’s seen good results on the job with a mounted plow and believes they’re more productive in such conditions and turn easier. While disaster is the driver of innovation in this case, he adds that outside the sawhead design and chaining work, much of the work has been done with standard equipment such as beefed up v-plows and trailing and mounted units—although in extreme operating conditions.

The difference is that the overall scale, volume and land mass of the Bear Creek recovery project demanded a different approach than traditional pile and burn. Lots

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Modified sawhead takes down pre-merchantable trees.

of local landowners were raking and windrowing in recovering much smaller tracts after the storm, but that was definitely not an option at Bear Creek.

Looking ahead, there’s plenty of work out in front of the reforestation contractors. Clutter believes there’s four more years of work to completely regenerate the 55,000 acres of plantations that had to be put back into production, and the project is moving along roughly on schedule.

Clutter notes that even with years of hurricane impacts around the Southeast, an event like what hit the Bear Creek tract emphasizes that geographical diversity is important for timberland investors. Strategies like standing timber insurance policies and pursuing shorter rotations to reduce hurricane exposure are other options to consider, he says.

“Very large contiguous holdings close to the coast need to be viewed as more risky than those that are geographically dispersed,” Clutter adds.

These investment, timber and weather factors make up a swirling dynamic as the Southeast feels the hottest part of another hurricane season draw near while the Bear Creek tract recovers thanks to innovation, skill and hard work, with still miles and miles of planting rows to go.

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■ safety technologies Biomass Engineering & Equipment Biomass Engineering & Equipment offers bolt-on deluge systems with spark detection for fire suppression in enclosed, mechanical conveyors. Our system enables manufacturers to comply with NFPA 652 9.8.1.1-2, which states that manufacturers must supply automatic protection against fires where a hazard exists and where manual firefighting poses an unacceptable risk to personnel, isn’t expected to be effective, or is required by local building codes. Deluge systems offer more protection than building sprinklers, which are not effective against fires in enclosed conveyors.

Deluge systems work by flooding the conveyor with water along the entire length of the system. Unlike sprinkler systems, deluge systems are not pressurized. They are dry systems that are only fed water when activated.

BE&E deluge fire protection Our deluge system comes for enclosed conveyors equipped with our standard SMART Conveyor top panels, which manufacturers can cut to fit their existing conveyors. Ports in our system can be spaced every 5 or 10 ft. Nozzles are specifically designed for fire suppression and effectively distribute water. The system works best with a spark detection situated in the infeed and outfeed chutes. This way, the system can detect whether the deluge has extinguished the fire and, if it has not, trigger the suppression system in the next conveyor or process of the system.

A common problem with deluge systems is that they become clogged with debris because maintenance personnel do not clean them. While our nozzles are equipped with integral filters that prevent debris from clogging the nozzle, they still need cleaned. So, to enable maintenance crews to quickly clean or change out dirty nozzles, we designed our deluge nozzles with quick-release latches. This feature saves time and thereby encourages maintenance personnel to complete this necessary procedure.

To install our system, manufacturers will need an existing fire suppression system with automatic solenoid valves.

The system may also stand alone if a fire hose is hooked to the header.

Clarke’s Sheet Metal The PyroGuard System, manufactured by Clarke’s Sheet Metal, Inc., is designed to detect and extinguish sparks in pneumatic conveying and material transfer systems. Infrared radiation is detected by the spark sensors, which in turn activates a solenoid valve to introduce an atomized water spray inside the duct to extinguish the sparks. During a normal activation, production can continue, as only a limited amount of water is introduced into the pneumatic system. The system is typically installed prior to a dust collector and provides protection for plant personnel as well as equipment and assets.

In addition, Clarke’s offers the PyroComm Windows Software package, providing for interaction from the PyroGuard Control Console to a PC unit. This powerful software program enables monitoring of the spark detection and extinguishment system from a remote location.

To supplement the PyroGuard system, Clarke’s manufactures a complete line of safety devices such as HiSpeed abort gates, Clarke’s PyroGuard spark detection and extinguishment technology backdraft dampers, and isolation dampers.

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safety technologies ■ Con-Vey “Throughout the years, as I have visited plants and listened to the stories told by my seasoned co-workers, I have seen a common denominator across almost every plant: They all face cleanup issues around the raw material infeed areas,” explains Con-Vey Bulk Handling Product Manager Camren May. When a slight breeze picks up around these infeed areas, small particulates are blown to the ground or onto the rafters and create issues of dust build up. “That build up is a ticking time bomb for a dust explosion, and material on the ground is a safety issue for personnel,” Camren says.

So how do you solve this widespread issue? Camren shares his simple answer: “Put in a tube belt conveyor.”

Con-Vey’s Tube Belt Conveyor (TBC) is made with structural steel tubing to create an enclosed system that protects your product and does not allow material to be blown Con-Vey Tube Belt Conveyor around the plant. “Since we use structural tubing we can also span further distances between supports—lowering your installation costs,” Camren adds.

This isn’t just experimental engineering in an attempt to win customers. As the original owner of the 1967 patent for the totally enclosed Tube Belt Conveyor, Con-Vey has proven designs and methods for each application and has seen firsthand how these conveyors reduce cleaning time. What’s more, because TBCs are enclosed, Con-Vey can ensure this conveyor meets NFPA requirements with mounting for spark detection and deluge systems as well as pre-installing explosion vents and explosion panels.

Evergreen Engineering Benjamin Franklin’s well-used adage: “Failure to plan is planning to fail,” is almost tailor-made for the wood products industry, especially with regard to safety. The safety culture of mills in North America has come a long way, but perfection is yet to be attained.

Part of a safe facility lies with its inception. If you are planning a project and do not enlist engineering to plan for safety, be it spark detection, dust hazard analysis, fire suppression systems, ducting, venting, monitoring, or alarms, you are planning in vain. A well-engineered system not only takes into consideration the codes to be met, but calculates the safest working conditions to be found as well.

Consider the overall mill structure, the likelihood of thermal event, and the holistic view of the facility being built or modified. Engineering runs the numbers on safety, and the stamp of a licensed professional engineer indicates these factors have been weighed and included in the plan from the start.

Any project budget should include around 10% engineering costs. Some of those costs are hidden in the original planning by the client, others in the cost of the equipment your suppliers provide, and some directly spent on traditional engineered drawings and models…but attempting to remove this cost from the equation will Evergreen fire protection piping really cost you down the road.

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■ safety technologies

An experienced engineering firm will consult with your team, assess your facility, and deliver real-world solutions to protect your asset, your people, and your project from the start. From the civil and structural team designing your building envelope and machine structures, to the electrical group delivering power to the motors, controls, alarms and lighting, to the mechanical engineers developing process, ducting and piping, to the environmental planning, safety is found in running the numbers. Engineering calculations lead to safer installs, safer mills, and safer teams.

Flamex A number of processes employed in the manufacturing of wood pellets present a fire and explosion hazard. Drying and hammermilling of wood material are particularly conducive to the generation of sparks and fire within the pneumatic transport system.

Other processes such as pelletizing, pellet cooling, screening and product load out are also subject to possible ignition from sparks, overheated pellets and mechanical friction sources.

FLAMEX Inc. specializes in the protection of industrial facilities that handle combustible dusts. Capabilities include design, supply, repair and service of complete fire protection systems. To combat the all-too-common problem of dust fires and explosions in woodworking industry, FLAMEX pioneered the use of a new technology in North America by introducing the FLAMEX Spark Detection and Extinguishing System in 1977. It soon became the first system of its type to gain a Factory Mutual Approval. Since that time, thousands of FLAMEX systems have been installed in a variety of inDust explosion caused by sparks dustrial facilities across North America including many medium and large industrial wood pellet plants.

The FLAMEX system offers a number of unique advantages to the users of these systems which enhance their reliability, effectiveness and ease of maintenance. Automatic detector self- testing function, inline flow monitoring, field removable IR filter lenses and a self- closing stainless steel nozzle that emits a 180 degree curtain of water are a few of the features which provide practical benefits in the daily operation and maintenance of these systems. The wide range of detection and suppression offerings allow selection of the proper components for the application instead of a “one size fits all” approach. “Hot particle” detectors are often used in downstream applications where the ignition of dust layers from heated pellets are a concern.

Deluge valve assemblies can be supplied for automatic suppression in bins, collectors and silos which may be activated by thermal, gas or optical detection.

Advanced remote system supervision capabilities include a web module for monitoring the status of the system via the internet and the INVERON HMI software which can allow multiple systems to be networked, supervised and operated by a single or multiple computers in a control room setting.

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product news ■

Bandit Reveals New Stump Grinder

makes this stumper so popular is an industry-leading 80 in. swing and 2 ft. cutting depth reducing the need to reposition the stumper, giving the operator more time to grind the stump.

The new Bandit SG-75 stump grinder has the power and speed to quickly dispose of large and small stumps in a backyard setting or in a land clearing application. Power begins with a 74 HP Kohler diesel engine that transfers power through an efficient gearbox drive system to a choice of 27 in. diameter grinding wheels.

The expandable/retractable rubber track undercarriage allows you to slide through a 36 in. gate and then expand to a 55 in. wide base, providing stability for working on slopes and uneven terrain.

Another feature that Bandit SG-75 is built with power.

This stumper has by far the best chip containment. The wide wingspan chip curtains provide a 54 cubic foot chip collection chamber.

Bandit’s unique “Super Sweep” feature takes much of the guesswork out of grinding. It will efficiently move the wheel through the stump without overloading the engine and drive train, maximizing production.

The standard userfriendly remote allows the operator to set swing speed, drop distance, and tracking speed. It also allows the operator to position himself in the best vantage point for grinding the stump

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■ product news

while maintaining a safe distance.

An optional grading blade is available for cleaning up after the grind.

Pre-Crusher Takes Out Bottleneck Bulky wood waste such as crates, pallets and cable reels can now be efficiently preprocessed with Vecoplan’s VPC Pre-Crusher machine. The VPC is designed to be paired with any Vecoplan shredder to increase output by 50– 200%. Outfitted with two rotors that will crush Vecoplan VPC Pre-Crusher wood within seconds, the VPC eliminates the bottleneck in your grinding operation that large items can cause.

As with many Vecoplan machines, lots of power in a small footprint delivers. The VPC features: —two conventional geared motored drives with frequency converters —two 15 HP drive motors —two independent, reversible rotors, each with 16 crusher arms —two 8 counter breakers —a footprint of 75 in. L x 123 in. W x 32 in. H.

Highland Pellets Tries To ‘Right’ The Ship

Siempelkamp subsidiary Büttner received the order to manufacture and deliver four drum dryers to the Highland Pellets LLC wood pellet operation in Pine Bluff, Ark. Highland Pellets has been operating a plant for the production of wood pellets mainly supplied to the European market since 2017. The mill started up with a predryer-dryer configura-

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product news ■

tion (four of each) supplied by another manufacturer that Highland says did not achieve planned capacity.

“The new high-performance drying technology will significantly improve production volumes, quality, reliability and ensure we remain in full compliance with our air permit obligations,” says Jeff Vanderpool, CEO of Highland Pellets LLC. “We are pleased that Highland Pellets has chosen us as a new partner and is convinced of our expertise,” adds Andreas Klug, Managing Director, Büttner Energieund Trocknungstechnik GmbH.

loader, make and model. Hydraulic hoses with standard fittings are included in the package as delivered from the factory.

The M450s gets its enormous power from a 107cc Rexroth hy-

draulic motor with high-pressure variable displacement. A new cogged belt drive transfers the power to the rotor.

The rotor combines the BCS (Bite Control System) with two

Mulching Head Offers Diversity

Prinoth is well known for its crawler carriers but also manufactures a wide range of mulching equipment, including the latest updates of the well-known mulching head M450s.

After the successful introduction of the 74.8 in. wide M450s-1900 in the North American market, the head is now available in a smaller working width of 63 in. (M450s1600) and a larger one with 86 in.

(M450s-2200) to ensure every customer’s needs are met.

Developed for a range of carrier vehicles from 80-150 HP and a hydraulic oil flow between 26.4-52.8 gpm, the M450s is a compact and powerful head for a variety of mulching applications.

With the feature “Plug & Mulch,” the M450s is ready for simple setup on any skid steer

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types of cutting tools. Whether steel knives or carbide teeth, the BCS-Rotor is perfectly balanced for less wear on bearings and high speed, meaning high productivity and a perfect finish.

MDI View-Link Remote Interface

Technological advancements in today’s mills are causing increasing environmental interference due to electrical noise such as radios, CBs, VFDs, and EMFs; which is why MDI continuously strives to develop metal detector systems that can operate at maximum sensitivity in even the harshest of environments.

MDI’s newest innovation is the

View-Link Remote Diagnostic Module—a network interface that provides “live” real-time information from your MDI metal detector directly to the MDI facility in Eugene, Ore. This enables MDI technicians to monitor the metal detector and its environment to make custom adjustments and tweaks to the system’s software remotely. Combined with the significant advancements MDI has made to its premier TWA-2000-HD metal detector search coil (its most advanced metal detector search coil to date), the MDI View-Link will further slash downtime and increase profitability. Leading North American mills call the View-Link a “game changer”!

The following are a few examples of problems that MDI ViewLink has been able to solve for customers: —Unknown false tripping caused by a broken weld in a nearby catwalk —Detecting and then ignoring minerals and saps found in specific wood species —Monitoring during weather

extremes in order to find a nearby motor that, as the weather becomes hotter, will creep into the same frequency as the metal detector causing false tripping —Adjusting the systems programming to ignore various nuisance targets that do not pose a threat to the customer’s processing equipment and machinery The View-Link will give MDI the ability to make on demand software upgrades, customizing the system’s programming to the specific needs of your application, in order to more fully optimize the performance and capability of your metal detector system. It’s like having an MDI service technician right there in your mill Visit mdiblue.com

Rotochopper Receives State Recognition Rotochopper, Inc. is honored to be recognized as the Central Minnesota Manufacturers Assn.

(CMMA) 2019 Manufacturer of the Year. This award recognizes and appreciates member excellence and extraordinary investments, services and contributions offered to the thriving group.

Rotochopper has provided guidance and servant leadership to CMMA through serving multiple terms on the Board of Directors. Rotochopper has worked upstream to engage young people and to invigorate and inspire them to consider careers in manufacturing by partnering with schools, students and parents to create new vision, new pathways and a new workforce.

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■ employment opportunities

Top Wood Jobs Recruiting and Staffing George Meek geo@TopWoodJobs.com www.TopWoodJobs.com (360) 263-3371

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