The New York State Energy Research and Development Authority (NYSERDA) has announced more than $1.5 million in funding to develop New York in high-efficiency, wood-fired heating. Seven projects will assist New York manufacturers in developing advanced high-efficiency wood-fired boilers, demonstrate the technologies, and evaluate the energy efficiency and emissions performance of the heating systems and the various fuels available.
Reports and a public information program will follow, detailing the new technologies as they enter the market.
Francis J. Murray, Jr., NYSERDA president and chief executive officer noted the importance of this funding: “New York has an abundant need for high-efficiency renewable heating systems, especially in commercial-size buildings, such as schools, hospitals, and government facilities. Coincidentally, New York has an abundant supply of forest waste wood by-products that can be used as a home-grown fuel. NYSERDA is now working with three advanced wood boiler companies incorporating a two-stage, gasification design, projected to achieve greater than 85% thermal efficiency. This is a huge contrast to common outdoor wood boilers that achieve average efficiencies of only 43% according to a report by the New York State Attorney General. We have a unique opportunity to greatly improve the use of this renewable heating fuel and substantially reduce levels of air emissions with state-of-the-art technology, made right here in New York.”
The New York companies are Advanced Climate Technologies, LLC of Schenectady; Thermo Control, Ltd. of Cobleskill; and Alternative Fuel Boilers of Dunkirk.
Advanced Climate Technologies (ACT), of Schenectady has secured an exclusive manufacturing license from a European manufacturer of high-efficiency, fully automated, commercial-scale, wood pellet and wood chip boilers. ACT will adapt the units to meet U.S. building code requirements including Underwriters Laboratory (UL) and American Society of Mechanical Engineers (ASME) certifications. The first unit manufactured in Schenectady will be demonstrated at the SUNY College of Environmental Science and Forestry’s Ranger School in Wanakena.
Thermo Control Heating Systems, Ltd., of Cobleskill, is a third-generation family business that has been using gasification technology for decades. They will optimize their gasification design and include advanced controls to develop a split-wood boiler for residential and smaller commercial applications that maximizes performance for both thermal efficiency and emissions.
For demonstration and testing, The Wild Center, a natural history museum in Tupper Lake, will install a 1.7-million-BTU ACT boiler fired by locally produced wood pellets. A solar-thermal hot water array and storage system will be integrated to further boost the efficiency of the heating system and provide zero-emission heating in moderate-temperature months for this 54,000 sqare-foot facility. The Wild Center will also provide public information on the installation through its “New Path” sustainable working museum displays.
Curran Renewable Energy (CRE), LLC, of Massena, produces wood pellet fuel certified by the Rainforest Alliance and the Forest Stewardship Council and will operate two 1.2-million-BTU pellet-fired boilers in tandem to heat five buildings in a mini-district heating loop at its facility. The two boilers can be optimized to follow the seasonal heating load, cutting back to one when appropriate.
The Clarkson University Center for Air Resource Engineering and Science (CARES) is an integral part of NYSERDA’s biomass heating R&D program. They are performing an independent evaluation of a pellet boiler on their campus and also for the demonstration units at The Wild Center and Curran Renewable Energy. In addition, they will evaluate an electrostatic precipitator to determine how fine-particle emissions may be further reduced. The project study team will evaluate whether high-efficiency wood-fired systems can reach the high thermal efficiencies and low fine-particle emissions levels of modern oil-fired residential systems.
The Northeast States for Coordinated Air Use Management (NESCAUM) will perform an analysis of various biomass feed stocks, including wood pellets, wood chips, and some grasses. They will measure the energy, moisture, ash, and trace-element content of these feed stocks and make recommendations for future research on fuel and boiler compatibility specifications.
Cornell Cooperative Extension of Tompkins County will conduct an education campaign to improve public awareness of wood-smoke emissions and develop consumer information on wood stove and boiler operation and maintenance on existing and emerging wood-fired heating technologies. They will distribute this information to the public through a variety of activities including an energy fair in 2009 fall, a series of brochures, and a web site.
Under a previous contract, Alternative Fuel Boilers, of Dunkirk, continues to optimize the Econoburn boiler design for residential and small commercial applications. The Econoburn has a two-stage, gasification design that burns split cordwood. Alternative Fuel Boilers has achieved Warnock Hersey International (Underwriters Laboratory/Canadian Standards Association) certification and now offers ASME {H}-Stamped boilers for applications requiring boilers to meet these code requirements nationwide. Alternative Fuel Boilers has also provided a residential-sized Econoburn unit for extensive emissions and energy performance evaluations underway at the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and Brookhaven National Laboratory as part of the broader NYSERDA biomass heating R&D evaluation program.
NYSERDA president Murray said: “We are about to enter a new era on biomass heating fuels, and we want New York to be at the forefront of providing native fuel while emphasizing energy efficiency and low air emissions. These research and demonstration projects come at a time when wood-fired appliance popularity is rising at a pace even faster than petroleum fuel prices. If wood-fired heating systems are to compete with modern oil-fired systems in residential and commercial applications, they must achieve high thermal efficiencies and low-emissions performance. By working with manufacturers and supporting rigorous third-party evaluations, New York can build a high-efficiency biomass heating industry.”