What's New
Corn Belt Power Cooperative tests construction waste biomass as fuel
To research options for lowering costs at Wisdom Unit 1, Corn Belt Power Cooperative conducted a test burn July 19 and 20 of open-ended biomass - a wood-chip substance made from new construction scraps and demolition waste - to determine if it is a viable alternative generating fuel when blended with bituminous coal.
Corn Belt Power received permission from the Iowa Department of Natural Resources to burn a mixture of up to 30 percent biomass.
Environmental Reclamation & Recycling delivered 80 tons of the biomass by
truck from Des Moines. Wisdom personnel scooped three parts biomass and six parts coal into the unloading pit for the initial test. After some difficulties getting the biomass to slide down into the unloading pit, crews mixed the biomass and coal on the ground before loading.
The test encountered no problems getting the mixture to travel up the conveyor and through the feeders, according to Mike Thatcher, vice president, generation.
After some struggles to keep the unit at full load with the fuel mixture, it was decided to mix three parts biomass and eight parts coal.
The biomass has a density that is one-fourth that of the bituminous coal, according to Tim Oetting, plant manager. Since the biomass has less than half the BTU content of coal, a higher volume of the biomass is required, which can surpass the limits of the fuel delivery system at the plant.
The alternative fuel, which is called open-ended versus close-ended biomass because it is not produced exclusively for use as an alternative fuel, is processed from sorted construction and demolition waste. After concrete, brick, metal, plastic and garbage are sorted out, the remaining material, 90 percent of which is wood, is sent through a mill to be ground up. To control the size of the particles and make the substance easier to convey, the biomass went through a second milling process before being trucked to Wisdom Station.
A small power plant in Cedar Rapids is the only other unit that has used the biomass as fuel. That plant uses alternative fuel exclusively, leaving Wisdom Station the first unit to test mixing the biomass with coal.
Derek Wachter, plant manager at Environmental Reclamation & Recycling, comments, "Our ownership group is really appreciative of Corn Belt's willingness to work on this project and test the material. We don't know of any other place in the country that is taking demolition waste and trying
to use it as a fuel."
______________________________________________________________
For more information on items in this section, please contact Ann Foster, IAEC director of communications, at 515-727-8945 or afoster@iowarec.org.
Corn Belt Power received permission from the Iowa Department of Natural Resources to burn a mixture of up to 30 percent biomass.
Environmental Reclamation & Recycling delivered 80 tons of the biomass by
truck from Des Moines. Wisdom personnel scooped three parts biomass and six parts coal into the unloading pit for the initial test. After some difficulties getting the biomass to slide down into the unloading pit, crews mixed the biomass and coal on the ground before loading.
The test encountered no problems getting the mixture to travel up the conveyor and through the feeders, according to Mike Thatcher, vice president, generation.
After some struggles to keep the unit at full load with the fuel mixture, it was decided to mix three parts biomass and eight parts coal.
The biomass has a density that is one-fourth that of the bituminous coal, according to Tim Oetting, plant manager. Since the biomass has less than half the BTU content of coal, a higher volume of the biomass is required, which can surpass the limits of the fuel delivery system at the plant.
The alternative fuel, which is called open-ended versus close-ended biomass because it is not produced exclusively for use as an alternative fuel, is processed from sorted construction and demolition waste. After concrete, brick, metal, plastic and garbage are sorted out, the remaining material, 90 percent of which is wood, is sent through a mill to be ground up. To control the size of the particles and make the substance easier to convey, the biomass went through a second milling process before being trucked to Wisdom Station.
A small power plant in Cedar Rapids is the only other unit that has used the biomass as fuel. That plant uses alternative fuel exclusively, leaving Wisdom Station the first unit to test mixing the biomass with coal.
Derek Wachter, plant manager at Environmental Reclamation & Recycling, comments, "Our ownership group is really appreciative of Corn Belt's willingness to work on this project and test the material. We don't know of any other place in the country that is taking demolition waste and trying
to use it as a fuel."
______________________________________________________________
For more information on items in this section, please contact Ann Foster, IAEC director of communications, at 515-727-8945 or afoster@iowarec.org.
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