TITLE:
A Cost Analysis of Mobile and Stationary Pellet Mills for Mitigating Wildfire Costs
AUTHORS:
Ryan Jacobson, Shahab Sokhansanj, Dominik Roeser, Jason Hansen, Bhushan Gopaluni, Xiaotao Bi
KEYWORDS:
Bioenergy, Harvest Residues, Mobile Pelletization, High Moisture
JOURNAL NAME:
Journal of Sustainable Bioenergy Systems,
Vol.11 No.3,
September
23,
2021
ABSTRACT: A comparison of traditional and mobile wood pellet mills found that
mobile systems had higher production costs. Wildfire suppression costs have
consistently exceeded British Columbia’s budget set for such activities.
Pelletization of excess wood for bioenergy applications has been proposed as a
possible method of reducing the overall costs of fighting wildfires. In this study, a traditional pellet
mill produces wood pellets from new, marginal feedstocks for $182.24 ± 24.47 and a mobile
pellet production system produces wood pellets for $402.71 ± 24.18 .
The traditional pellet mill produces 90,000 with harvest
residues being collected in the forest, transported to the pellet mill, dried,
chipped, pelletized and then stored. The mobile system collects harvest
residues from the forest, transports them to the forest landing where the trailer-mounted
mobile pellet system is established and is then ground, pelletized and dried if
needed. The mobile system uses a novel high moisture pelletization system and
harvest residues to heat the biomass dryer used in the system. The mobile
pellet system requires 22 systems to produce 90,000 and
each system should relocate 9 times in a year to minimize production costs
related to feedstock quality and scarcity. These mobile pellet systems can
allow increased forest management in forest areas at high risk for wildfires
and reduce the cost of suppressing wildfires in treated areas.