Bus Tour, Safety Workshop Offered During Bio Conference

 Organizers of the Wood Bioenergy Conference & Expo announce that a Pellet & Torrefaction Mills Bus Tour and a Safe Wood Pellet Storage Workshop are offered as two optional events, in conjunction with the conference & expo, which is scheduled April 14-15 at the Omni Atlanta Hotel at Centennial Park.

On Wednesday morning, April 15, the Pellet & Torrefaction Mills Bus Tour will visit the Hazlehurst Wood Pellets mill in Hazlehurst, Ga. HWP—a subsidiary of Fram Renewable Fuels—started up in 2013 and produces up to 500,000 metric tons per year of wood pellets. The facility has undergone regular modernizations through the years.

The bus tour will also visit the torrefaction factory at Telfair Forest Products in Lumber City, Ga. Telfair is also a subsidiary of Fram Renewable Fuels. The torrefaction operation is a collaboration between TFP and TSI, long known for its drying and technologies expertise.

The bus will leave the Omni on April 15 at 7:30 a.m. and return to the Omni at 5:30 p.m. Cost is $75. Attendees can register separately for the bus tour and the Wood Bioenergy Conference & Expo at this button:

• Safe Wood Pellet Storage—Preventing, Detecting and Managing Self-Heating Incidents is the title of the workshop to be held Tuesday, April 14, from 1-5 p.m. at the Omni Atlanta Hotel. It will be conducted by William Strauss, president and founder of world famous consulting firm, FutureMetrics, and John Swaan, often called “the grandfather of North American wood pellets.”

When wood pellet fuel is stored in domes, silos, or warehouses, there is a significant risk of “self-heating.” If undetected and unmitigated, catastrophic outcomes are likely. This workshop will discuss what causes self-heating, how to minimize the risks (including how to measure the reactivity of the pellets being placed in storage), and what to do (and not to do!) if there is an incident underway. 

Cost of the workshop is $175. Attendees can register separately for the workshop and the Wood Bioenergy Conference & Expo at this button:

First Wave Of Technical Talks Announced

Following the previous announcement of the initial wave of scheduled speakers, organizers of the Wood Bioenergy Conference & Expo have announced a second wave of participants with focusing on specific technincal areas.

A repeat speaker will be Paul Oesterreich, Senior VP Project Development at Strategic Biofuels. He’ll address the Louisiana Green Fuels (LGF) project journey and important lessons during the past two years, including significant opposition to carbon capture and sequestration (CCS). LGF plans to deliver a biomass-fired power plant with CCS and subsequently a biorefinery and additional low-carbon power facilities.

Many of the newly announced speakers bring project development and technology expertise. Bijan Shams, Vice President and Founder of Cogent Industrial Technologies, will address integration of fire, explosion and emergency shutdown systems with a multi-tiered safety approach.

Two other speakers will also speak on fire and safety issues, including Jörgen Dehlbom, Division Manager at Firefly US, who will present fire risks in pellet production and how some ignition sources often bypass convention detection systems, which is why true IR detection and quick suppression systems provide engineered protection. And Todd Havican, Sales Director at Fagus GreCon, will focus on the newest spark detection and extinguishment technologies at specific areas of biomass facilities.

Two speakers will address project development, including Scott Stamey, President—Southeast Region at Cooper Tacia General Contracting Co. As capital projects become more complex and internal project management expertise declines, alternative strategies and models are increasingly necessary which encompass collaboration, flexibility and accountability, leading to project predictability. And Jowan Toor, Vice President of Operations at KTC Industrial Engineering, will emphasize 3D plant design and replication to fully exploit operations and processes, reducing the need for extensive rework.

Two speakers from Georgia will touch on woody biomass raw materials and forest inventories and growth, especially with a decline in pulp and paper markets, and the impact on the future of the wood bioenergy industry. One is Dru Preston, staff forester at the Georgia Forestry Commission, and the other is Tim Lowrimore, President and CEO of the Georgia Forestry Assn. and Foundation.

Daniel Chastenais, Vice President—Sales and Marketing at Tanguay Machinery, will address specific electrical and remote-control knuckleboom loader technologies, and the environmental benefits.

Video Spotlight Bio 2024: Jessica Johnson, Managing Editor, Wood Bioenergy, and Dan Shell, Senior Editor, Wood Bioenergy, give a recap of Day 1.