PELLETS Trucks deliver raw material 6 times per day, during 6 days per week. Moisture measurements are taken every 12 hours. The raw material, is stored in feeding packets after chipping - there are two: one for chips and one for saw dust. First mixed, the raw material is then separated again so the small particles from the sawdust do not reach the dryer and the small particles from wood chips do not reach the grinding process. The operator precisely controls the proportion of mixture, which can also vary depending on the weather condition and season. The German single-path drum dryer made, delivered and installed by Büttner (type: 4.0 x 20R) is fired with flue gas coming from the company’s grate furnace. ploys 26 people and has ensured 24/7 production from 2008. The third of Latgran’s operating plants is located in Kraslava and started operation in November 2011, its production capacity is 170 000 tonnes and all pellets are transported to port by train. The company’s fourth pellet plant, in Gulbene, started operation in September 2014 and has an installed capacity of 160 000 tonnes. Good experience gives fast results Latgran’s team is already well experienced in building and operating pellet plants. They are also able to adjust their production capacity to produce the maximum amount of pellets in the shortest time after commissioning. The plant in Gulbene is the best example of their precision and experience. Martins Zvejnieks, Latgran’s Deputy CEO was the guide to the Nordic Baltic Conference tour to Gulbene. ”We managed to build the plant during 3 months! The project that usually takes one year, and we are very proud of the results”, stated Martins Zvejnieks during the visit. ”We knew exactly which suppliers to choose, what should be used and how, and who will be the contractors”, he continues. In all four Latgran plants the company used the same main equipment suppliers: German company Büttner to deliver drum dryers, Dutch CPM Graanul Invest and Latgran Graanul Invest:is the largest producer of pellets in the Baltic region with 853 000 tonnes of pellet production in 2014. Graanul has four operational plants in Estonia, two in Latvia and one in Lithuania. In addition to utility-grade pellets, Graanul manufactures premium pellets. The company also has exposure to renewable energy through its four biomass CHP plants with a combined capacity of 21 MWe. Latgran: this leading producer of utility grade pellets in Latvia produced 497 000 tonnes of pellets in its four factories in 2014 and generated sales of approximately EUR 73 million. The company expects volumes to grow by approximately 20 percent in 2015 owing to the successful launch of a new pellet factory Bioenergy International No 80, 4-2015 21 in Gulbene. for material grinding and pelletising, Italian ImalPal Srl for screening of material, German B.Maier from Dieffenbacher Group for wet grinding of material, Swedish Saxwerk for material handling and combustion units, and Finnish company Antti for pellet handling. The plant is operating 24/7, there are 28 employees in total and only 3 people operate the plant during a given shift. The raw material is delivered by trucks from around 100 km radius. Gulbene is trying to use only local suppliers including sawdust from 20 large sawmills, and chips, brunches and round wood is supplied by around 100 small individual contractors. There is a special railway infrastructure used for transporting pellets to Riga and Liepaja harbours. A single train can be loaded with a much higher, reducing the transportation cost by half compared to regular truck transportation of the same load and distance, which also significantly reduces emissions. End customers are located in the UK, Denmark and Belgium. Anticipated pellet production for 2015 is 170 000 metric tonnes of high quality pellets. Text: Dorota Natucka Photos: Jeanette Fogelmark BI80/4883/DN
Bioenergy no 4 july 2015
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