FACT SHEET 16
Overview of Wood-Fired Boiler Use in West Virginia
INTRODUCTION
Effective utilization and marketing of wood
residues has been, and continues to be, a
concern for all wood processing industries in
West Virginia. Wood processing facilities
have customarily used wood residues as fuel
for their boilers as an alternative to expensive
fossil fuels. The lack of markets with adequate
and consistent demand to handle the large
amounts generated has also been a factor in the
use of wood residues as a source of on-site
energy. The use of wood residues as fuel has
offered a means to eliminate the potentially
expensive problems associated with disposal of
larger amounts of wood waste.
Two surveys on the use of wood-fired
boilers in West Virginia have been completed.
The first was done in the fall of 1992, and the
second was completed during the summer of
1997. The objective of this fact sheet is to
provide an overview of the amount of wood
residue used for fuel in wood-fired boilers and
of changes in the use of wood residue for
process heat and steam generation between
1992 and 1997. Specifically, it focuses on the
increase in the use of green wood residues
(particularly bark), the new furnaces utilizing
this residue, and the changes that have
occurred to drive this shift.
APRIL 1998
WOOD ENERGY GENERATION SYSTEMS
Wood residue is a valuable, renewable
source of energy that can be burned cleanly
and efficiently, as opposed to merely being
incinerated. Design of an effective
combustion system requires detailed
knowledge of the fuel’s physical and chemical
characteristics, plant heating load profiles,
clean-air laws, and other factors. The
optimum system strikes a balance among such
variables as degree of fuel preparation, capital
and operating costs, energy conversion
efficiency, and particulate carry-over (Elliott
1989).
Heat from the combustion of biomass is
most commonly moved and distributed for use
in the form of steam. Steam has two
advantages over other heat transport fluids: it
uses a common and environmentally benign
transport material (water) and also has one of
the highest specific energy contents of all
transport fluids, meaning that a small amount
of steam can carry a very large amount of
energy. Smaller pipes, valves, and pumps can
be used to transport steam than those required
for oils or liquid water systems.
Oil is also being used to distribute heat
from the combustion of biomass in the
manufacturing processes of a number of
engineered wood products. The oil is heated
and pumped to locations where it is used to
heat press platens in the manufacture of
laminated veneer lumber and oriented strand
board.

Boilers
Boiler types are typically characterized by
the method in which the products of
combustion (flue gases) transfer heat. The four
types are: firetube, watertube, thermal oil
transfer, or hybrid (firetube/watertube).
Table 1 shows the types of boilers/furnaces
being utilized in West Virginia in 1992 and
1997.
Table 1.
Number of boilers/furnaces by type in 1992 & 1997
Type 1992 1997
Firetube 16 21
Watertube 15 11
Thermal oil transfer 1 5
Hybrid (firetube/watertube) 1 2
(Anderson, Hassler, and Hutchinson 1998)
Firetube: With a firetube boiler, the flue gases
flow through tubes submersed in boiler water.
The heat from the flue gases is transferred
through the metal tubes to the surrounding
water, generating steam. Firetube boilers are
normally less expensive than a correspondingly
sized watertube boiler and can be more
forgiving in terms of routine maintenance.
Watertube: The watertube type is essentially
the reverse of a firetube boiler. The tubes
contain the water, and the combustion gases
pass over these tubes. As boiling proceeds, a
natural water circulation pattern is established
within the tubes (Dukelow 1981). The steel
watertube boiler is more suited for large
capacities and high pressures due to its smaller
component sizes and ability to accommodate
expansion (Aton, Fisher, Wyvill and Birchfield
1979).
Thermal-oil-transfer: A new type of boiler,
more properly identified as a furnace using a
thermal oil transfer system, has been
employed by several of the current survey
respondents. This system uses heat from the
combustion of biomass to heat oil that, in turn,
can be used to heat water in a separate boiler,
but is more frequently used directly in the
manufacturing process.
Hybrid (firetube/watertube): The hybrid
boilers surveyed utilize a watertube boiler
design for main steam generation but extract
additional energy from the exhaust gases by
running them through a secondary firetube
type boiler.
Combustion Methods
Four basic types of combustion methods
are used for the burning of wood residue.
They are: pile, grate, suspension, and
fluidized bed burners. In any wood energy
application the combustion unit is designed to
make the best use of temperature, turbulence,
and time. All three of these aspects relate
directly to the properties of the wood fuel to
be used (moisture content, particle size, ash
content, and heat value). In order for wood to
combust, it must reach its ignition
temperature.
This requires that energy from the
combustion process be used to evaporate the
moisture from the fuel, which in turn reduces
efficiency. To ensure complete combustion,
turbulence is required to bring air into contact
with all fuel surfaces. The time required for
the complete combustion of wood fuel is
related to both size and moisture content of
the fuel (Progressive Architect/Engineers/
Planners, Inc. 1986).
Pile burner: Boilers incorporating a pile
burning design find applications where the
anticipated wood fuel has a high (up to 65%)
relative moisture content, as is found in whole
green tree chips, bark, and green mill residue.
Grates serve to support the fuel, and underfire
air flowing up through the grates provides
oxygen for combustion, cools the grates,
promotes turbulence in the fuel bed, and dries
the fuel. The most common form of pile
burning is the Dutch oven, which was used
almost exclusively during the early part of the
century (Guinn and Turner 1990).
Wood fuel is fed by gravity through a chute
onto the pile. High temperatures are generated
and the fuel is dried within the refractory-lined
chamber. Underfire air partially burns the fuel
and drives off the volatiles. Burning of these
volatile gases is completed in a secondary
chamber where overfire air is injected (Bulpitt
1984).
Although the Dutch Oven can burn fuel of
different consistencies and high moisture
content, slow response to demand load swings
due to the thermal inertia of the fuel pile can
create problems (Bulpitt 1984).
Grate burner: Grate burners, in combination
with stokers, are the most frequently utilized
wood combustion units. A variety of grates
are used to support the combustible fuel bed in
modern boilers, including reciprocating,
stationary, sloping, and moving grates.
Though each type of grate has different fuel
distribution and dispersion, fuel is fed into the
furnace and onto the grate where combustion
takes place.
Particulate problems associated with
dropping fuel onto the fire are eliminated. The
thin pile allows more uniform air distribution
as compared to a heaped pile, and combustion
rates can be increased more rapidly. Wet fuel
can be used, but more size uniformity is
required than with a gravity-fed Dutch Oven
(Bulpitt 1984, Vasenda and Hassler 1993).
Stokers, in combination with grate burners,
can be classified into four main types based on
the method of introducing fuel to the furnace:
spreader stokers, underfeed stokers, traveling
grate stokers, and sloped grate stokers.
Among the several types of stokers, the
spreader stoker is most often used for wood
firing because it can be used to feed a wide
range of fuel types.
The spreader stoker is relatively
insensitive to load fluctuations since ignition
is almost instantaneous on increase of firing
rate, and the fuel on the grates will burn out
rapidly when the load is reduced (Guinn and
Turner 1990).
Fuel is fed into the furnace either
pneumatically or mechanically. A portion of
the wood fuel burns in suspension; the larger
pieces fall to the grate where they are burned.
The bed of ash on the grates (which protects
against the radiant heat of the furnace) and the
air blowing through the holes in the grate keep
the grates cool.
Suspension burner: In suspension burners,
combustion occurs while the fuel particles are
pneumatically suspended in an airstream.
Most units require wood fuel with a relative
moisture content not greater than 15 percent
and a fuel particle size less than 1/4 inch. To
utilize densified fuels, the fuel must be passed
through a hammer mill to reduce the particle
size. Control of the particle size of the fuel is
critical with a suspension burner. Wood
chips and green mill residue must be dried and
sized accordingly (Progressive
Architect/Engineers/Planners, Inc. 1986).
While most of the fuel burns in
suspension, some larger particles may fall to
the base of the furnace. A typical suspension
burner may have a small refractory or pinhole
grate installed to handle fuel that falls to the
bottom of the unit without burning (Guinn and
Turner 1990).
The thorough mixing of the air and fuel
yields high net efficiencies and low excess
combustion air. Efficiencies as high as 80
percent are typical. Another advantage of
these systems is their responsiveness to load
changes, made possible by the fast heat release
rate of the fuel and air mixture.
Suspension burners suffer the same
problems as the overhead feed pile burners.
Entrainment of particulates in flue gases makes
control of fly ash difficult; and, at high
combustion rates, the residence time of the fuel
may be insufficient for complete combustion
(Bulpitt 1984).
Fluidized bed burner: A fluidized bed burner,
named for the appearance of the bed during
normal operation which resembles vigorously
boiling water, will burn the wettest and dirtiest
of fuels. The bed is comprised of the biomass
fuel and a non-combustible or inert material
such as silica or limestone sand. The hot sand
scrubs past particles of biomass and vice versa,
heating the biomass and creating a great deal of
turbulence.
To force the bed into a fluidized motion,
combustion air is admitted to the furnace under
pressure, which must be greater than the
pressure required to levitate the whole bed. If
combustion temperatures are held relatively
low, nitrogen oxides are prevented from
forming. However, exhaust gases contain
more particulate material, and well-designed
air quality control equipment is required
(Bulpitt 1984, Vasenda and Hassler 1993).
Table 2 shows the methods of combustion
utilized in wood-fired boilers in 1997.
Table 2.
Boiler combustion methods by type 1992 and 19 97
1992 1997
Grate burner 16 24
Dutch oven 6 6
Suspension burner 4 5
grate/suspension burner 7 4
WOOD RESIDUE USE
The data collected in the 1997 survey
indicates that the largest volume of wood
residue burned is bark which has overtaken
sawdust as the major source of wood energy
for wood-fired boilers/furnaces in the state.
The amount of bark burned in 1997 was over
ten times the amount of bark burned in 1992.
The quantity of sawdust increased as well;
but not to the same degree as bark. Total
sawdust reported burned in 1997 was nearly
1800 tons per week which was 80 percent
higher than the 998 tons per week of sawdust
reported burned in 1992. Total amounts of
residue generated, burned, and sold for those
companies reporting in the 1997 survey are
substantially higher than the amounts reported
in the 1992 survey.
Some of the differences can be explained
by the larger number of companies
participating in the 1997 survey; but, the most
significant reason for the higher amounts
reported in 1997 is explained by the type of
wood products produced at the plants not
surveyed in 1992. Three of the five
companies added to the survey in 1997 are
very large engineered wood products
manufacturers who were not yet in full
operation in 1992. Their operations
significantly increased the amount of wood
residue generated and also had a major impact
on the type and amount of wood residue
burned.
Table 3 shows the changes in wood-fired
boiler use of wood residue in the state of West
Virginia from 1992 to 1997 (Anderson,
Hassler, and Hutchinson. 1998).
 Table 3. Total amount of residue generated, burned and sold in 1992 & 1997 Surveys

Tons per week

Type of Residue Generated Burned Sold

1992 1997 %
* 1992 1997 %
* 1992 1997 %
*

Sawdust 1479 3492 136% 998 1792 80% 531 1700 220%

Bark 969 5892 508% 294 3260 1010% 775 2632 240%

Chips 1411 2090 48% 32 162 406% 1411 1928 37%

Slabs, Edgings, Fines 230 1619 604% 221 1587 620% 7.5 32 327%
& Others

Total 4089 13093 320% 1545 6801 440% 2724.5 6292 231%
* Percent change (%
): [(1997 residue amount -1992 residue amount)/1992 residue amount]
(Anderson, Hassler, and Hutchinson 1998)

DISCUSSION through three defined zones: drying,

Driving the large increase in production of
all categories of wood residue between 1992
and 1997, is the opening of three new
engineered wood product plants in West
Virginia. The plants manufacture a variety of
products, including lamented veneer lumber and
oriented strand board.
Logs are delivered to the plant facilities
where they are debarked. The debarking of the
logs generates the largest amount of residue for
the plants. The three plants’ sole source of
boiler fuel comes from the burning of a
combination of green bark and other dried
residue, primarily in a 60/40 split. These plants
alone represent approximately 3,900 tons of the
6,800 tons, 57 percent, of residue per week that
is utilized as boiler fuel (Table 3).
A reciprocating grate technology is utilized
in two of the plants for its effective combustion
of fuels with low heating value, high moisture
content, and high ash content. The fuel travels
gasification, and combustion. The grate
provides a combustion area four or five times
larger than a pile burner, allowing higher
retention of fuel on the grate (GTS Energy,
Inc.).
The third facility utilizes a rotating
(traveling) grate furnace with an auger gravity
feed and four separate firing cells. In
traveling grate furnaces the fuel entering the
furnace is heated by radiation and is ignited
by particles in the combustion gases. The fuel
bed continues to burn as it moves along and
becomes thinner as combustion continues
(Pulaski, Karmous, Jahn, Wainwright, 1981).
The thermal inertia of the grate burners is
well matched with the relatively constant heat
load required for the manufacturing processes.
The stoker fed grate systems allow for the
most effective use of temperature, turbulence,
and time in the combustion of the type of
wood residues the facilities are utilizing.
 A thermal oil transfer furnace is utilized, in
all three engineered wood products plants, in
order to heat the press platens that are used in
manufacturing. Only a portion of the
combustion gases is used in a thermal oil
transfer exchanger to heat oil. The remaining
portion of the combustion gases is used either
directly, or run through heat exchangers, to
provide heat for process dryers.
The increase in wood residues generated in
West Virginia since 1992 can be directly linked
to economic development in the wood products
industry. The present rate of increase in all
categories of wood residue generation cannot be
expected to continue indefinitely. A more
gradual rate of increase in the generation of
wood residue can be expected in the future.
With increasing competition and the rising cost
of stumpage and logs, the wood products
industry is being forced to examine not only the
product yields (raw material in to product out)
but also how manufacturing activities affect the
generation of residue.
Market forces also require that wood
product manufacturers strive to limit the
generation of dry residues in the production
process due to the high cost of kiln drying. This
could facilitate the use of boilers/furnaces and
combustion technologies that burn green
residues efficiently.
Air quality requirements are also affecting
the use of wood-fired boilers/furnaces in West
Virginia. Since the 1992 survey, one firm has
converted from a wood-fired boiler to natural
gas. The major reason given for the conversion
was difficulties in meeting EPA emission
standards. There was also an indication that a
number of other related facilities might be
converting to gas boilers in the near future in
order to meet increasingly restrictive air
quality requirements.
Often, the decision to utilize wood residue
as a fuel is not based on the economics of the
fuel sources available but rather on regulatory
and pollution requirements. The risk of being
found in noncompliance often weighs heavily
on the decision as to the type of fuel source
that will be used.1
Increased use of wood residues for fuel
and other products, such as mulch, compost,
paper, and engineered wood products is
having an effect on the price, availability, and
quality of wood residues. This trend will
become more pronounced in coming years
and may add to the pressure to convert wood-
fired boilers to natural gas.
With clean, dry residues becoming more
expensive and difficult to obtain, facilities that
can efficiently and environmentally utilize
dirty, high moisture, and high ash content
residues will have an economic advantage.
1
Guide to Regulations and Permits
for the Installation of Wood-Fired
Combustion Systems in West Virginia,
available from the West Virginia
Development Office - Energy Efficiency
Program at (304) 558-0350 or from the
Appalachian Hardwood Center at (304) 293-
7550, discusses the regulations and
requirements relating to the combustion of
wood residue.
 LITERATURE CITED
Anderson, B., C.C. Hassler, and V.R.
Hutchinson. 1998. Wood-fired boiler use in
West Virginia - 1992 to 1997. West Virginia
University, Appalachian Hardwood Center,
Morgantown, WV.
Aton, C.L., L.P.Fisher, J.C. Wyvill and J.L.
Birchfield. 1979. Wood energy potential in
West Virginia. Prepared by the Technology
Applications Laboratory, Georgia Institute of
Technology, Project A-2297.
Bulpitt, W.S., Project Director. 1984. The
Industrial Wood Energy Handbook. Prepared
by Technology Applications Laboratory,
Georgia Institute of Technology. Van
Nostrand Reinhold Company, 240 pp.
Dukelow, S.G. 1981. Improving boiler
efficiency. Cooperative Extension Services,
Kansas State University under contract to
Kansas Energy Office, 3-81-12M, 144 pp.
Elliott, Thomas C. 1989. Standard Handbook
of Powerplant Engineering. McGraw-Hill
Pub. Co., Bloomfield, Roger B. Chapter 3.5,
Wood fuel and wood handling.
Guinn, G.R. and N. Turner. Mar. 31, 1990.
Design Manual for Small Steam Turbines.
Prepared under contract No. TV-76680 for the
U.S. Dept. Of Energy, Regional Biomass
Energy Program, pp. 94-99.
GTS Energy, Inc., http://www.gtsenergy.com.
Energy systems for Board Plants. Marietta,
Georgia.
Progressive Architect/Engineers/Planners,
Inc., June, 1986. Handbook for Conversion to
Wood Energy Systems. Great Lakes Regional
Biomass Energy Program,
Madison, Wisconsin.
Pulaski, E.C., M.K. Karmous, L.G. Jahn , and
P.B. Wainwright. 1981. Wood Energy
Information Guide. Industrial Extension
Service, School of Engineering, North
Carolina State University, Raleigh, North
Carolina.
Vasenda, S. and C.C. Hassler. 1993. Wood-
fired boiler survey, wood fuel promotion, and
small cogeneration system pilot project. West
Virginia University, Appalachian Hardwood
Center, Morgantown, WV. 31 pp.
 Mr. Victor R. Hutchinson, Extension Specialist - Wood Energy
Dr. Bruce R. Anderson, Assistant Professor - Wood Science
Dr. Curt C. Hassler, Leader

Programs and activities offered by the West Virginia University Extension Service are available to all persons
without regard to race, color, sex, or national origin.

This project was supported by the Southeastern Regional Biomass Energy Program which is administered by the
Tennessee Valley Authority
for the United States Department of Energy.

This development of a Biomass Energy Program was prepared as a cooperative effort with the Energy Efficiency
Program Office, West Virginia Development Office.

Appalachian Hardwood The AHC is supported by:

Center West Virginia Agricultural and
Division of Forestry Forestry Experiment Station
West Virginia University WVU Extension Service
Morgantown, WV 26506-6125 State of West Virginia
Telephone (304) 293-7550 USDA Forest Service
FAX (304) 293-2441 The Forest Products Industry