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Douglas County plans to set up a test project next summer to convert forest slash and other wood waste into a No. 3 grade heating oil, Douglas County Commissioner Joe Laurance told members of the Douglas Timber Operators on Thursday.
Speaking at a breakfast meeting, Laurance said the project would involve the superheating of 5 to 7 tons of woody material per day at a site near Lemolo Lake in eastern Douglas County.
The project would utilize a process described to Laurance and other members of the Douglas County Forest Council during a meeting in September. At that time, Philip Badger, president of Renewable Oil International, explained how a small modular plant could be loaded onto a flatbed truck and taken out into the forest.
The wood waste would be chipped into small, thumbnail-sized pieces and mixed with heated steel shot placed into a heated chamber. The biomass then is heated to 1,000 degrees within a second and the resulting gases are then used to further heat the chamber, which is initially heated by propane.
Each ton of slash produces 157 gallons of bio-oil, the equivalent of nearly four barrels of oil. It could then be used as heating oil or refined slightly to a No. 2 diesel fuel.
The conversion process also produces 500 pounds of char per ton of slash. That material can be used in applications calling for activated charcoal, charcoal briquettes or as home heating pellets with twice the energy of traditional wood pellets.
One-third of the biomass material available in Oregon is located in Douglas County, according to state foresters.
“This is ground zero for that,” Laurance said.
One of the biggest hindrances for large-scale biomass projects has been the high cost of transporting slash materials to a processing plant. In most cases, it’s not feasible because of the long distance between the source of the material and the processing plant.
The portable system was tested in a two-year pilot program at a chicken farm outside Huntsville, Ala. Badger’s company converted the waste of 264,000 chickens into bio-oil that was used to warm the poultry houses on the farm.
“If this shows us what we think it will, we think it will be justifiable, perhaps, to invest in the process,” Laurance said.
Members of Oregon’s congressional delegation, including Sen. Ron Wyden and Reps. Peter DeFazio and Greg Walden, have expressed interest in the project, Laurance said.
• You can reach reporter John Sowell at 957-4209 or by e-mail at jsowell@nrtoday.com.
Speaking at a breakfast meeting, Laurance said the project would involve the superheating of 5 to 7 tons of woody material per day at a site near Lemolo Lake in eastern Douglas County.
The project would utilize a process described to Laurance and other members of the Douglas County Forest Council during a meeting in September. At that time, Philip Badger, president of Renewable Oil International, explained how a small modular plant could be loaded onto a flatbed truck and taken out into the forest.
The wood waste would be chipped into small, thumbnail-sized pieces and mixed with heated steel shot placed into a heated chamber. The biomass then is heated to 1,000 degrees within a second and the resulting gases are then used to further heat the chamber, which is initially heated by propane.
Each ton of slash produces 157 gallons of bio-oil, the equivalent of nearly four barrels of oil. It could then be used as heating oil or refined slightly to a No. 2 diesel fuel.
The conversion process also produces 500 pounds of char per ton of slash. That material can be used in applications calling for activated charcoal, charcoal briquettes or as home heating pellets with twice the energy of traditional wood pellets.
One-third of the biomass material available in Oregon is located in Douglas County, according to state foresters.
“This is ground zero for that,” Laurance said.
One of the biggest hindrances for large-scale biomass projects has been the high cost of transporting slash materials to a processing plant. In most cases, it’s not feasible because of the long distance between the source of the material and the processing plant.
The portable system was tested in a two-year pilot program at a chicken farm outside Huntsville, Ala. Badger’s company converted the waste of 264,000 chickens into bio-oil that was used to warm the poultry houses on the farm.
“If this shows us what we think it will, we think it will be justifiable, perhaps, to invest in the process,” Laurance said.
Members of Oregon’s congressional delegation, including Sen. Ron Wyden and Reps. Peter DeFazio and Greg Walden, have expressed interest in the project, Laurance said.
• You can reach reporter John Sowell at 957-4209 or by e-mail at jsowell@nrtoday.com.
