Fercell – from production waste to biomass fuel

Clare Hollister

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With plans to implement a waste handling facility, a luxury yacht manufacturer installed a biomass system to generate energy from their production waste. Consisting of mixed wood-based materials, including large sheets of skeletal waste from various CNC machining centres, they were looking to easily and effectively convert their waste into a uniform product, which could be easily transported and used within their biomass system. 

Fercell was consulted on the specification of a plant design best suited for their application, which ultimately resulted in Fercell being awarded the contract for a complete turnkey installation. 

The system, consisting of a 2-metre wide shredder, outfeed conveyor, a series of loading conveyors and an air-handling system was designed to fit within a plant room and operate between the plant room and an externally sited biomass boiler (with storage silo) and an adjacent canopied trailer loading bay. 

Wood Shredding & Dust Extraction

In operation, waste wood is placed in a waste compound in palletised piles, from where it is taken by telehandler and loaded directly into the hopper of the WEIMA WL20 shredder. 

Due to the extended length of some of the skeletal waste, the shredder was supplied with a bespoke, oversized hopper with a pivot point designed to feed the material directly into the shredder’s cutters. In addition, due to the requirements to minimise dust emissions from the process, the shredder hopper was equipped with a retractable roof and multiple suction points, which in turn are connected to a centralised ducting system serviced by an F320 compact dust filtration system. 

Along with controlling the fine airborne particles from the process, the F320 filter system is safe for operation in confined spaces classified as potentially explosive with the addition of both ATEX explosion relief panels and an automatic H20 sprinkler system. Collection and removal of the extracted dust is safe and clean thanks to the negatively pressurised collection bins with removable plastic liners.

The WL20 processes material via WEIMA’s preparatory patented ‘V’ rotor through an interchangeable screen, which grades the shred until it’s small enough to pass through. After shredding, the material drops onto a swan-neck belt conveyor equipped with automatic ferrous metal separation, with any tramp metal removed into a tipping skip at the conveyor head, before the shredded output drops into a series of chain-conveyors. 

Material Transportation 

The chain conveyors transport material from the back of the plant room, rising vertically (at 90°) up and across the biomass silo to the canopied truck port.  

Within the series of chain-conveyors, there are motorised slide dampers which enable material to be directly discharged at specific points, including into the biomass storage silo and along the entire length of an articulated walking-floor trailer. 

The fail-safe control system communicates with all parts of the system, making operation and observation of the system straightforward. With the addition of inverter drives, each of the system’s conveyors can be adjusted and fine-tuned to ensure seamless transport of shredded material between the shredder and any of its discharge points. 

Fercell has been delivering industrial size reduction and recycling systems and industrial ventilation systems for over four decades. From product, installation and servicing to spares and repairs, Fercell provides complete solutions. Fercell is the UK distributor of WEIMA Maschinenbau GmbH shredding and compaction equipment.  

T: 01622 791414

E: [email protected]

www.fercell.com