Energy Recovery from Wood Residues by Fluidized-Bed Combustion

Dramatic increases in costs of energy during the decade of the seventies have provided the economic incentive for the forest products industry to recover energy from their wood residues rather than purchasing fossil fuels. The Fluid Flame® System was designed by Energy Incorporated and its subsidiary, Energy Products of Idaho, to accomplish this task utilizing fluidized-bed technology. Thirty-one of these units are now in commercial operation burning various types of wood residues and recovering energy in the form of steam, hot gases, or a combination of the two. The total installed output is equivalent to 1.62 x 10 12 J/hr (1,540 MM Btu/hr) of thermal energy or 559,000 kg/hr (1,232,000 lb/hr) of steam. Applications have varied according to the energy needs of the individual customer. In steam production, fire-tube boilers are generally employed for systems providing less than 13,600 kg/hr (30,000 lb/hr) of steam, while water-tube boilers are used for larger