Wood chips and sawdust are a prevalent form of biomass used for various applications ranging from energy production to material processing. These products are created from various parts of trees, including limbs, bark, and trunk pieces, typically processed through chipping machines. However, before their end-use, it’s crucial that wood chips and sawdust are dried effectively, a process that improves their quality and energy value, particularly for uses such as biomass fuel, mulching, or as raw material in paper and pulp industries.
We offer industrial dryers that can efficiently dry wood chips and sawdust.
To discover the most suitable drying machines for your specific requirements and to select the perfect option, please feel free to contact us at +380 (67) 658-0767.
Our Dryers for Wood Chips and Sawdust
Features of Wood Chip and Sawdust Dryers
Effective drying of wood chips and sawdust requires specialized equipment designed to handle the unique properties of wooden biomass. Modern mechanical dryers have become pivotal in optimizing the drying process, and among these, conveyor belt drying systems stand out due to their efficiency and effectiveness.
Traditional drying methods, such as bottom-to-top airflow, can be time-consuming and less efficient. For effective drying of wood chips and sawdust, it is important to create high-pressure airflow. However, wood products have very low specific density. Especially sawdust. If strong enough airflow is sent from bottom to top, wood chips and especially sawdust are likely to be blown out of the dryer.
Therefore, to create suitable drying conditions for light wood products, it is essential to arrange reverse airflow: from top to bottom. This setup allows for strong enough airflow to achieve effective drying conditions. Additionally, the wood dust will mostly be contained by the fine mesh of the dryer’s belt.
Fire Safety for Drying Wood Chips and Sawdust
It is also important to remember that wood chips and sawdust are fire hazardous products. Therefore, the dryer must be equipped with all necessary fire safety features.
However, besides typical fire detection and fire extinguishing features, it is important that the conveyor belt is made in antistatic execution to prevent self-ignition.
Heat Sources to Dry Wood Chips and Sawdust
The low-temperature process allows the usage of thermal energy from:
- Hot water sources, such as organic Rankine cycle groups (ORC),
- Cogeneration plants,
- Solid fuel boilers water or steam,
- Waste hot air from other technological processes.
A high-temperature process that utilizes fossil fuels is available by default.
Heat Recovery
Scolari also offers a version of its wood chips and sawdust dryer equipped with a heat recovery system. This system operates on the principle of reusing air that was previously employed to cool the product and the waste air from the final stage of the drying process. At this stage, the air is dry as very little moisture is evaporated; however, it remains warm enough to be reused in the process.
The heat recovery system enables significant energy savings, particularly in high-temperature processes.