FUELS BRIQUETTES
Savoie Pan and Wood Energy: from transformation to development Nathalie André, Savoie Pan S.A.
France and Italy
Savoie Pan S.A. was created with the aim of supplying Italian factories with particleboards from the primary material wood. The company is now active at the heart of the European wood sector through its main activity, wood recovery. In the early 1990s, when the particleboard crisis erupted, the company had to think about diversifying its activities while maintaining its production of particleboards. Since then, several strategic evolutions have taken place in relation to its central activity – i.e. wood and its transformation. Partnerships have begun with paper mills, metal-
SAVOIE PAN
Savoie Pan production site.
The company Savioe Pan supplies wood-energy to France and Northern Italy. Here are some technical details to better understand its aims and choices.
WOOD ENERGY N°2 / 2003
46
lurgical factories and French and Italian co-generation plants. Today, Savoie Pan is important in the wood-energy sector for both the dry, green chip and for the wood pellets. It is with this aim that great technical and logistical efforts have been made over the past two years - the fitting out of an external and internal storage area for the boiler room chip and the setting up of an industrial pelletization unit for the heating season 2003/2004, to meet the constantly evolving and growing European wood-energy demands.
A GRANULATION UNIT: A CHOICE TO GUARANTEE LASTING DEVELOPMENT Considerable quantities of sawdust and wood shavings come onto the Savoie Pan site every day, which has led to the desire to offer this material, considered to be waste, a second life. The primary material used to produce pellets comes from local woodindustry companies and from their own production on the company site. Lasting savings and development are part of the wood pellets production strategy. The sawdust will directly stoke the pelletization unit which is going to be set up in the same hangar. Wood pellets production will be industrial with 30,000 tons per year, i.e. a production of 4.5-5 tonnes/hour which should double within a short space of time.
FUELS PELLETS
CPM
ITEBE
Left: pellet press.
The production unit model is as follows: - V-shaped roll sieve: sieving of the sawdust to obtain a higher quality; homogeneity of the granulometry with w as t e f ro m s i e ve us ed b y another energy sector such as low power boilers; the fact that no crushing is necessary means estimated savings of almost 200 kWh per ton - drying: hot air will dry the sawdust at 400°C suppressing any risk of fire and/or transformation of the wood lignin; air will exit at 90-110°C; specific software will guarantee a constant level of humidity leading to further energy savings - adding of steam to actual pelletization process and compression of sawdust at a high temperature to fluidify the wood lignin and increase the performance of the pelletization,
Right: wood pellets.
optimising the compression of fibres: system innovation; improvement of end product - lifetime of production materials of over 10 years: optimisation of the production system - regular checks of the wood pellets carried out by specialist laboratories to guarantee constant quality over time The product will be put into sacks automatically at the end of the pelletization chain, after a final removal of dust, and the placing onto a palette and packaging will also be automatic. A new packing system makes it possible to stock the palettes of wood pellets outside, in any weather, offering clients a competitive system of logistics and freight, suited to demand, set up by the company Lignatrans, Savoie Pan Group.
The pellets is destined for the European market and mainly for French and Italian markets. In fact, the Italian market is a greater buyer than the French market given it will absorb 70% of Savoie Pan’s production. The origins of the group and its current development makes the Italian market as much a priority as the French market. Savoie Pan has combined its top resources and know-how to create an association between factors of technology-economy and ecology and comfort to offer a quality, competitive product. Like ITEBE and in line with woodenergy development objectives, the Savoie Pan pelletization unit purports to be European from start to finish.
DESCRIPTION OF PELLET PRODUCTION PROCESS AT SAVOIE PAN
Water
Combustion gas
Drying gas
Sawdust
Exchanger
Boiler
Air
Pelletization unit diagram.
Dryer
Pelletization cooling
Steam Sawdust
Ash
chips Pelletization air recycling+cooling
Storing
WOOD ENERGY N°2 / 2003
47