Bioenergy Update

January 2000 Vol. 2, No. 1

UPDATE ON WHOLE TREE ENERGYTM

Whats happening with Whole Tree Energy? Past readers may recall the concepts of Whole Tree Energy, developed and patented by David Ostlie to produce biopower on a large scale. To recap the concept, trees are severed at ground level using a feller-buncher and stacked butt-end forward on truck-trailers with stake-sides. The trucks transport the trees to a specially designed power plant where the trees are unloaded and stored in an air-inflated dome. During the 30 days they are in storage, waste heat from the power plants condensers are used to dry the treesstill in whole tree formfrom 50 percent down to 25 percent moisture content. After drying, batches of trees are lifted onto ratcheted drag conveyors that transport them to the burner where a cut-off saw cuts them into 20-foot-long batches that allows them to be dumped into the combustion chamber. Depending on the load, the furnace is charged every five to twenty minutes by opening a gate allowing a ram to push a batch into the combustion chamber. Inside the furnace, the tree segments burn as very large particles, allowing excellent air flow through the burning material and minimizing the need for excess air. Minimizing excess air in turn minimizes the formation of atmospheric NOx and greatly improves combustion efficiency by reducing stack losses. Ostlie points out that combustion occurs in three stages in his system. In the first stage, the tree segments are supported on a stationary, water-cooled grate that allows the volatiles to be readily released under substoichmetric conditions at approximately 2,000 F. In the second stage these volatiles are mixed with overfire air above the pile and combusted at 2,700 F. In the third and last stage, the char remaining after devolatilization falls through the grate openings and burns below the pile. Heat from the burning char is captured in the water-cooled grate. One obvious advantage of the Whole Tree Energy system is the minimization of field processing and handling and the elimination of the need for chipping. (An EPRI study has shown that eliminating the chipping process can save about 35 percent of the cost of harvesting and handling the fuel before it arrives at the power plant.) Moreover, the method of "large particle" combustion is highly efficient, producing minimal particulates, NOx formation, and sensible heat loss. Tests conducted by Northern States Power Company (NSP) found that uncontrolled emissions from a pilot Whole Tree Energy combustion unit had lower SO2, NOx, and particulate emissions than those resulting from pulverized-coal plants that utilized expensive emissions control systems. Unlike many wood-fired systems, Ostlie believes there is no theoretical maximum plant size for his technology. Ostlie says that small units of 25 to 75 MW may be appropriate for areas with limited wood resources or where a unit operates in conjunction or cooperation with another forest products facility. However, Ostlie also believes that larger units up to 400 MW could compete economically with coal or nuclear plants in areas with large plantings of short rotation woody crops. Ostlie has previously proved the combustion concept by conducting combustion tests on a pilot scale. He has also conducted trucking, stacking, and drying tests by harvesting, transporting, and piling whole trees into a stack 100 feet high, covering the stack with tarps, and drying the trees in 30 days from 44 to 20 percent moisture content. His company has also designed new machines that greatly reduce the costs of planting and harvesting operations. Despite his successes, Ostlie has previously had trouble getting a major utility seriously interested in his technology. However, that situation has changed recently due in part to the Minnesota

Biomass Power Mandate. The Mandate, part of a state government settlement with Northern States Power Company over the disposal of nuclear waste, requires that 125 MW of renewable energy be produced by Minnesota utilities by the year 2002. To meet this Mandate, Northern States Power Company solicited proposals for renewable power plants and in December 1998, Ostlie was awarded a 20-year Power Purchase Agreement (PPA) for a 25 MW Whole Tree Energy plant. The Mandate requires that biomass power plants be fueled with 75 percent farm-grown closed-loop biomass but allows a six-year exemption for closed-loop biomass. (Closed-loop biomass is defined as crops planted and grown specifically for energy production.) In the early project years, the project will re-establish river bottom tree stands and harvest tree stands that are declining due to their maturity. The farm grown closed-loop fuel will include fast growing hybrid poplar and cottonwoods with production targeted for CRP land. Tree farms will consist of 345 total fields of 80-acre average size planted to 1,800 trees per acre. In all, 27,500 total acres will be involved or over 5,500 total acres per year. For a 25 MW plant, approximately 0.5 percent of the land area within a 50-mile radius will be utilized. Ostlie notes the project benefits of economic development, demonstration of an alternative crop (trees), establishment of trees for soil stabilization, and the providing of positive environmental impacts. As a regulated utility, the Whole Tree Energy contract had to be approved by the Minnesota Public Utilities Commission. This approval process included a period for receipt of written comments and a hearing in July 1999. During this time, another PPA for renewable power that NSP had awarded as a result of the Mandate fell through. Therefore NSP asked Ostlie to provide information on increasing his Whole Tree Energy project from 25 MW to 50 or 75 MW. Ostlie received approval from the Minnesota Public Utilities Commission on December 20, 1999, for a 25 MW whole tree energy power plant to be built in St. Peter, Minnesota (approximately 50 miles southwest of Minneapolis). In addition, NSP has the option to expand the project size to 50 or 75 MW within six months. Ostlie expects to complete permitting, engineering/design, fuel supply procurement, and financing within 18 months. During the Spring of 2000 initial field plantings will be conducted, followed by construction and testing over the next 24 months with plant startup and operation occurring by early 2003. For additional information contact David Ostlie at Energy Performance Systems, 4900 N. Highway 169, Suite 303, Minneapolis, Minnesota 55428-4019, USA, phone +1 612 533 0503, fax +1 612 533 1530, or email at davost@aol.com.