The quality of wood fuels affects fuel trading, transport costs and, at the plant, the handling of fuels and combustion process. Moisture is the significant factor in the quality of energy wood since it affects the calorific value of fuel and thus the energy content of the fuel load. Therefore, fuel pricing is based on the moisture content of the fuel. It can be determined using either a moisture determination standard or another moisture measurement method, if they are equivalent with the standard. A quality measurement system based on X-ray scanning is, as the name implies, a method of measuring fuel quality that provides many benefits in addition to determining moisture. We have listed in total eight facts that change in the operation of the plant when utilizing X-ray. This article presents the two of them.
5. Forecast vs. need of fuel has become more precise
The daily challenge for biopower plants is to assess the fuel demand on the basis of which fuel loads are ordered. The fuel procurement manager usually has some standard value for different fuel types and energy contents for different load sizes. However, the standard values do not take into account variations in fuel quality, which can be significant despite quality standards and supply contracts. As a result, the accuracy of weekly fuel orders in relation to demand can even vary so much that there is not enough fuel, for example, over the weekend. However, with the X-ray, based on its measurements, the FUELCONTROL ® system provides ready-made reports to monitor the quantities and energies delivered. The reports allow the fuel procurement manager to view historical performance in terms of energy content. In this way, fuel loads can be ordered more precisely to meet production needs.
6. The circulation of money between supplier and buyer speeds up
In the current situation, combined samples are formed from the fuels delivered for the determination of fuel moisture and fuel properties. In addition to weight data, both moisture content and the net calorific value of dry matter are needed for invoicing. Moisture can be determined in the laboratory from samples in a minimum of a day, but at worst, it takes up to three days to determine the moisture content. In order to determine the calorific value of the dry matter, the combined sample is made up of samples from the previous month. A sample for net calorific analysis is formed for each supplier and each type of fuel, from which an analysis sample is obtained for the determination of the net calorific value. This analysis typically takes about ten days, and the final results for invoicing will therefore only be known in the middle of the following month.
With X-ray, there is no need to perform a net calorific value determination of the dry matter at all, as the pricing uses a constant value agreed between the supplier and the buyer, and the moisture results are immediately available after unloading the fuel load. Thus, the circulation of money between fuel suppliers and the buyer accelerates in almost two weeks, as the information needed to determine the price is immediately available at the end of last month.
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