Jakarta Capital Environmental Blog, Crown Eco Management: Biomass Boiler Addresses Alaskans' Environmental, Economic Concerns

1
Jakarta Capital Environmental Blog, Crown Eco
Management

• Biomass Boiler Addresses Alaskans' Environmental,
  Economic Concerns

2

• The heavily forested city of Ketchikan, Alaska,
  is built on rock and surrounded by water. Every
  commodity that comes into Ketchikan must arrive
  by sea or air. The use of fuel oil is problematic
  for both economic and environmental reasons
  because the oil must be obtained and refined
  elsewhere and transported (using additional
  fuel). What's more, fuel oil is subject to price
  instability.
•  
• Southeast Alaska Discovery Center in Ketchikan,
  which provides information to more than a million
  visitors each year, is the site of a pilot
  biomass boiler system now coming to life. Two
  oil-fired boilers serving the 250,000-sq-ft
  center were replaced with a highly efficient
  system fueled by local wood. Manufactured by
  Hurst Boiler Welding Company Inc., the
  hot-water boiler was custom-designed to fit
  within very limited indoor space.
•  
• Under the direction of E. Dane Ash, project
  manager for Tyonek-Alcan Pacific LLC, the biomass
  boiler system was developed with Hurst
  representative Gregory W. Smith of Global Energy
  Solutions Inc. to address environmental concerns,
  as well as issues related to building space, fuel
  costs, comfort, reliability, and simplicity of
  operation.
•  

3

• The new boiler is located on the lower level of
  the Discovery Center, which requires heating for
  a minimum of nine months a year. Local wood
  densified into fuel pucks is delivered to an
  elevated walking-floor storage bin in a vestibule
  area built to protect against excessive moisture.
  (The biomass-fired boiler can burn any wood
  product with up to 50-percent moisture content.)
  An auger moves pucks from the storage area to a
  metering bin and into the boiler. Freezing is not
  an issue because the walking floor easily breaks
  up any frozen contents.
•  
• The boiler system was designed to highlight how
  biomass can reduce or eliminate the use of fossil
  fuels. Visitors can see the boiler operate
  through specially designed windows. In the hall
  just outside of the boiler room, the noise level
  and ambient temperature is consistent with the
  rest of the building.

4

• Savings
•  
• Fuel costs have been cut by two-thirds. The
  densified pucks are used with almost no residual
  ash eventually, however, tree clippings from the
  Ketchikan walking trails will be ground and fed
  into the boiler, eliminating the need for
  transport to a landfill, burning, and other
  methods of disposal.
•  
• The Boiler
•  
• The Hurst S100 Series Fire Tube 27 HP Hydronic
  Water Heating Boiler features a pre-heater to
  optimize combustion and an underfeed stoker with
  dry-ash-removal system.
•  
• Results
•  
• The system easily can be replicated for heat or
  heat/power generation up to 20,000 kw. In June
  2011, Smith served as a keynote speaker for the
  fifth annual Native American Economic Development
  Conference in Anaheim, Calif., where he described
  the initiatives being implemented in Ketchikan
  and shared success stories of biomass-fired
  boiler systems installed on institutional
  campuses and in manufacturing facilities
  throughout the United States, particularly in
  challenging and remote locations. Systems include
  municipal solid waste, as well as woody biomass
  for steam production and steam to power.