• BEA - About us

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BEA – About us

BEA offers technical services for production and combustion of

solid biofuels.

Quality control and fuel analysis

Experts with > 20 years experience

Contract with 80+ pellet production plants for ENplus/DINplus

inspection

Accredited laboratory for fuel analysis

Supply of lab equipment

for pellet plants

for fuel laboratories

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MECHANICAL DURABILITY

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1.0 To get started – the most basic production

Control water content of raw material to keep in defined range

QUALITY CONTROL IN PELLET PRODUCTION

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1.0 To get started – the most basic production

• No stable production, very low availability of plant

• No Certification

• High power consumption, high wear

QUALITY CONTROL IN PELLET PRODUCTION

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2.0 simple quality control

Simple instruments to check few product parameters

• Results sometimes very wrong!

• Not suitable to control and stabilize production

• No Certification

QUALITY CONTROL IN PELLET PRODUCTION

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QUALITY CONTROL IN PELLET PRODUCTION

3.0 minimum quality control according

ENplus/DINplus

Product control: Fines, Oversizes, Bulk

density, Water content, Durability

Sampling once per shift

• Sufficient for Certification

• Results sometimes wrong

• Limited suitability for process control

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3.5 quality control exceeding ENplus/DINplus

• Higher sampling and testing frequencies

• Additional parameters like ash content

• Checks along the production process e.g. online moisture control and manual sampling for calibration

• Investment in high quality instruments with improved precision

QUALITY CONTROL IN PELLET PRODUCTION

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Reproducibility of test methods is (often) limited

High influence of staff

on test result

analytical skills and understanding may be limited

mistakes due to „boring“ routine (little validation)

motivation (decreases e.g. night shifts)

may get blamed when quality is out of specification

Limited staff resources

keeping production running first goal;

quality control reduced when plant does not operate well

Non-compliances may be very costly

BUT STILL, CHALLENGES REMAIN

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Automatic analyzers

4.0 online quality control systems

Reduce human influence

May increase repeatability (quality of results)

May be used for plant control

Improved quality of product (incl. reduced losses due to fines)

Reduction of wear and energy consumption

Man-less operation (e.g. night-shift)

Types and principles

Automatic analysis Automatic sampling and analysis (online)

Single parameters Multiple parameters

Physical-mechanical methods Spectroscopy

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System for durability:

Fully automatic sampling

Reproducible accuracy of ± 0.1%

Advantage: fast

Disadvantage: not according

reference method

online, physical-mechanical single parameter

Source: http://www.tekpro.com/nhp300.htm

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online, physical-mechanical some parameters

System for bulk density, moisture,

temperature:

Fully automatic sampling and analysis

Output signals may be integrated in plant

control

Advantage: fast, reliable

Disadvantage: complex system

but still not all required parameters

Source: http://www.uny-konsult.se/Pellmes2.htm

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System for moisture, foreign matter, fuel volume

Real-time using X-ray technology

Designed for power plants, sawmills and bio-refinaries

Fully automatic on-line analysis

Measures whole amount of fuel

Advantage: fast, whole amount of fuel

Disadvantage: complex system but important pellet parameters

missing

online, spectrometry some parameters

Source: www.inray.fi

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online, spectrometry some parameters

High end Real-time NIR - Technology

Highly developed systems from other industries (food, plastics,

board and wood-panels, etc.)

Lab and on-line analysis systems

Many parameters possible: moisture, extractives, proteins, ash

(density, durability, energy content)

Source: www.perten.com

Source: www.buhlergroup.com

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online, spectrometry some parameters

Advantage: fast, broad information

Disadvantage:

• complex system needs high level of method

development and calibration.

• Parameters like durability determined

indirectly – change of e.g. raw material or

process need recalibration

• Parameters missing e.g. length distribution

Source: www.buhlergroup.com

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online, physical-mechanical all parameters

BEA - Development 2013-2016

Developed only for pellet industry

Only system worldwide using ISO methods

First instrument installed December 2016 –

in full commercial operation since start

2 systems are currently installed

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100% automatic, eliminating any staff influence

All ENplus quality requirements:

durability

moisture

bulk density

temperature

optional: length distribution

Documentation

within instrument

exchange with plant control

and remote access

Key data

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r interlab. comp.

STD BEA-PPA

Bulk density 13 kg/m³ 3 kg/m³

Durability 0,17 % < 0,05 %

Moisture 0,20 % < 0,15%

Performance

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