Wood chips
Wood chips are a solid wood biomass produced by chipping wood into pieces of defined size, usually in chippers or shredders. They consist of irregular, medium-sized wood particles with controlled dimensions, enabling reliable transport and combustion in boilers and energy plants. In energy applications, wood chips are used as a main fuel for district heating systems, cogeneration plants, and larger biomass boiler houses, thanks to their favorable balance between cost and energy content, suitability for automated handling, and the possibility of using local forest and wood resources. Moisture content and quality of wood chips are key parameters for efficient and stable combustion, therefore standardized wood chips with defined classes are often used.
Category
- Biomass
- Solid wood biomass – chipped wood for energy purposes
- Renewable energy source based on forest biomass, wood residues, and energy plantations
Variations
- Forest wood chips (from whole trees, crowns, and forest residues)
- Industrial wood chips (from residues in sawmills and wood-processing plants)
- Standardized wood chips with defined size fractions and moisture content (e.g. classes according to European standards)
- Dry or naturally seasoned chips for high-efficiency boilers and cogeneration units
Applications In The Industry
Energy systems
In energy systems, wood chips are one of the leading fuels for district heating networks, central biomass boiler houses, and small to medium-scale cogeneration plants. They are fired in grate or moving‑grate boilers with fully automated fuel handling from storage silos or bunkers via floor scrapers and screw conveyors, with precise feeding and combustion control. Typical applications include:
- biomass boiler houses supplying several buildings, campuses, hospitals, schools, or public facilities;
- district heating systems in small and medium municipalities replacing heavy fuel oil or coal;
- wood‑chip‑fired cogeneration units that produce both electricity and heat for local grids and commercial consumers.
Wood chips are often sourced from local forests, municipal green waste, or the wood industry, providing a stable fuel supply chain and supporting local bioenergy infrastructure. Properly designed systems automate the entire process from storage and conveying to combustion and flue‑gas cleaning, ensuring high energy efficiency and reliable operation throughout the heating season.
Industry
In industrial applications, wood chips are used as a primary biofuel in larger boiler plants and energy facilities supplying production sites with heat, steam, and electricity. Typical users include the wood-processing sector, food industry, agro‑industrial complexes, building‑materials industry, and chemical plants with substantial process heat and steam demand. Wood‑chip systems usually comprise:
- central biomass boilers connected to internal hot-water or steam networks;
- cogeneration plants providing electricity for the factory and heat for technological processes, dryers, sterilization, and space heating;
- hybrid boiler houses combining biomass with existing fossil-fuel boilers for flexibility and supply security.
Industrial use of wood chips enables replacement of a significant share of fossil fuels, particularly heavy fuel oil and coal, with the option to secure long-term fuel contracts from local biomass suppliers. Properly sized storage, handling, and feeding systems are essential for reliable year-round operation, especially in processes with continuous energy consumption.
Benefits Of Use
- Reliable renewable fuel supply for district heating, energy plants, and industrial boiler houses
- Well-suited to automation, with mature technologies for boilers, transport, and storage
- Potentially lower and more predictable long-term energy costs compared with fuel oil and gas, especially where chips are locally available
- Reduced dependence on fossil fuels and lower CO₂ emissions compared with reference fossil fuels, while utilizing forest residues and wood waste that would otherwise remain unused
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