Angelina Fuels begins bundling slash for Aspen Power
January 1, 1970
BY Ryan C. Christiansen
Web exclusive posted Nov. 25, 2008 at 11:54 a.m. CST
Based in Lufkin, Texas, Angelina Fuels LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Aspen Pipeline LP, has begun using a John Deere 1490D Slash Bundler to collect the slash and residual woody biomass left behind in the woods of east Texas after the timber harvest. The slash is fed into the bundler and bound into compact logs, dubbed "slash logs." According to Deere & Co., each slash log contains on average one megawatt-hour of electricity when burned at a power plant. The bundler can package 40 bundles or more per hour.
Angelina Fuels is collecting the biomass for its sister company, Aspen Power LLC, which has begun building a 50 MW biomass-fired power plant in Lufkin, according to Danny Vines, president of both companies. He said the power plant is scheduled to go on line in November 2009. The plant will consume 1,500 tons of woody biomass per day, producing 4,200 to 4,400 British thermal units per ton, based on a 50 percent moisture content.
The John Deere bundler is only the third unit to be sold in the United States, according to Shane Toner, sales consultant for Doggett Machinery Services in Lufkin. According to John Deere, the bundler is already widely used in Finland, Sweden, Spain, Italy, Switzerland, and the Czech Republic.
Vines said the bundler is a necessary piece of equipment for collecting biomass for large power plants. "The logistics currently do not exist in this market to provide the volumes of biomass necessary to fuel one of these plants," he said.
Logging operations in east Texas generate approximately 8.6 billion pounds of slash each year, which is equivalent to 37 trillion Btus of energy, Vines said. "That material, for the most part, has been wasted," he added. "It has either been slash-burned in the woods for site preparation activities or has simply been left to rot."
Vines said bundling makes it easier to transport slash from the woods and increases the shelf-life of slash. When bundled and stacked, the material dries properly and can be stored more than a year before it has to be chipped or ground for a power plant. "It's a very good tool to meet the needs of the biomass industry as it develops," he said, "to be able to inventory substantial volumes of materials on site."
Ultimately, Vines said, Angelina Fuels will need to have six of the John Deere slash bundlers in operation to meet its needs.
Based in Lufkin, Texas, Angelina Fuels LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Aspen Pipeline LP, has begun using a John Deere 1490D Slash Bundler to collect the slash and residual woody biomass left behind in the woods of east Texas after the timber harvest. The slash is fed into the bundler and bound into compact logs, dubbed "slash logs." According to Deere & Co., each slash log contains on average one megawatt-hour of electricity when burned at a power plant. The bundler can package 40 bundles or more per hour.
Angelina Fuels is collecting the biomass for its sister company, Aspen Power LLC, which has begun building a 50 MW biomass-fired power plant in Lufkin, according to Danny Vines, president of both companies. He said the power plant is scheduled to go on line in November 2009. The plant will consume 1,500 tons of woody biomass per day, producing 4,200 to 4,400 British thermal units per ton, based on a 50 percent moisture content.
The John Deere bundler is only the third unit to be sold in the United States, according to Shane Toner, sales consultant for Doggett Machinery Services in Lufkin. According to John Deere, the bundler is already widely used in Finland, Sweden, Spain, Italy, Switzerland, and the Czech Republic.
Vines said the bundler is a necessary piece of equipment for collecting biomass for large power plants. "The logistics currently do not exist in this market to provide the volumes of biomass necessary to fuel one of these plants," he said.
Logging operations in east Texas generate approximately 8.6 billion pounds of slash each year, which is equivalent to 37 trillion Btus of energy, Vines said. "That material, for the most part, has been wasted," he added. "It has either been slash-burned in the woods for site preparation activities or has simply been left to rot."
Vines said bundling makes it easier to transport slash from the woods and increases the shelf-life of slash. When bundled and stacked, the material dries properly and can be stored more than a year before it has to be chipped or ground for a power plant. "It's a very good tool to meet the needs of the biomass industry as it develops," he said, "to be able to inventory substantial volumes of materials on site."
Ultimately, Vines said, Angelina Fuels will need to have six of the John Deere slash bundlers in operation to meet its needs.
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