FireBird Bio-Tec User manual

Bio
Bio- -Tec Tec
Wood Gasification Boiler
Wood Gasification Boiler

Contents
I. Understanding Wood Gasification Technology
II. The Firebird Bio-Tec Wood Gasification Boiler
III. User Operation
IV. Installation & commissioning
V. Maintenance
VI. Sales & Marketing information
(Pricing, components, literature)

Part I
Understanding
Wood Gasification Technology

Background
•Wood gasification boilers have evolved over the past
decade and today can ensure a very efficient and
clean combustion of wood
•Characteristics
– Efficiencies between 85% and 90%
– Cheap fuel source (free if you have you own timber)
– Carbon-neutral heating
– low emissions – the cleanest form of wood burning
– ash waste ensure minimal of cleaning

How it works
•Dried wood is loaded and burnt
in the upper chamber
•Gases released from the
combusting wood are drawn
down to the lower chamber by
extractor fan (located at the flue
outlet)
•These gases are mixed with a
regulated supply of oxygen
(secondary air) to create a
complete oxidation process

How does wood burn ?
There are essentially 3 stages involved in burning wood…
I. When the wood is first heated most of the energy is used to
remove the moisture from it
II. As the wood heats up (100ºC to 300ºC) it starts to smoke.
Smoke is a cloud of combustible gases (CO2, CO, H, CxHy,
etc.) and tar droplets
– Smoke will burn if the temperature is high enough and enough
combustion air is supplied.
– If the smoke does not burn it will flow into the chimney where it will
either condense as creosote or go outside as air pollution (waste)
III. As the fire progresses and most of the gases and tars have
vaporized out of the wood and charcoal remains. Charcoal is
almost 100% carbon and burns with a red glow and very little
flame or smoke

Gasification v. Conv. Wood Boiler
• Forced draft (fan)
• Automatic
primary/secondary air
valves
• Flue gas monitoring
• Fast hot burn (>1200°C)
• No tar or charcoal build up
• Single fill of wood per day
• Uses approx. 40% less
wood
• Natural draft
• Manual
primary/secondary air
valves
• No monitoring gases
• Slow cool burn (800°C)
• Tar/charcoal build up
• Must burn when heating
is required
• Uses more wood

Types of Fuel
•As the name implies, wood gasification boilers can
only be used to burn wood. Coal, peat, refuse, etc.
can not be used in the Bio-Tec boiler
•Best woods
– Hard woods like Ash, Oak & Beech enable a longer burn time
– Spruce, etc. burn quicker and create more ash waste
•What is the energy content of wood?
– it depends mainly on the moisture content. Bone dry wood of any
species has about the same calorific value of ca. 19 MJ/Kg
– Dried wood ~ 14.5 MJ/Kg @ 20% moisture
– Wood pellets ~ 18.0 MJ/Kg @ <10% moisture
– Kerosene ~ 43.1 MJ/Kg or 34.9 MJ/litre

Fuel Cost Comparison
•Kerosene delivers about 3 times more heat energy
per Kg than dried wood (43.1 MJ/Kg v. 14.5 MJ/Kg)
or 1 litre of Kerosene =~ 2.5 Kg of dried wood
•Sample fuel costs
– Kerosene €0.90 / litre = €1.11 / Kg
– Dried wood €150 / Tonne = €0.15 / Kg
•Compare annual heating costs
– 2000 litres of Kerosene = €1,800
– Equivalent to 5000 Kg of wood = € 750
– Annual SAVINGS = €1,050

The impact of moisture
•The less moisture the better the heating energy of
wood as the below chart demonstrates;
•A high moisture content will cause a buildup of tar
and soot in the chimney and the increased
condensation occurring inside the boiler will reduce
its lifespan

The impact of moisture (cont.)
•The moisture content of wood fuels is influence by
the climatic conditions, the time of year, tree
species, the part of tree stem and by storage phase.
– Freshly cut Hardwoods 40% and 50%
– Freshly cut Softwoods 50% and 60%.
•One summer seasoning reduces the moisture
content by 10 to 15%. For the Irish climate two years
drying is recommended
•On a wood gasification boiler moisture content
should be 20% or less; and never over 25%
•Moisture measuring devices are
available, e.g. Testo 606 series

Tips for drying wood
The best way to dry your wood is to
•split it first
– Split wood has less bark and will therefore dry faster
•stack it at right angles to the prevailing winds
– To allow air to circulate around the wood
•make sure it is covered and off the ground
– keeps moisture at bay
– The best drying place is an open sided shed. Old pallets could be
used to keep wood off the ground
If you dry your wood inside, allow for adequate ventilation.
Note that drying wood gives off a lot of water which could
create a dampness problem

Part II
Firebird Bio-Tec
Wood Gasification Boiler

Main Components
Digital Controller
Lower Chamber Door
Upper Chamber Door
Air intake
(primary & secondary)
Cleaning Utensils

Cross Sectional View
Extractor fan
Flow connection
Flue Exhaust
Return connection
Secondary air intake
Primary air intake

Digital Controller
Info Display
(temp. error codes,
settings, etc.)
Activate GLOW
function
Start button
These LED’s
indicate activation
of circulating
pumps (boiler,
heating and DHW)
ON/OFF Switch
These 3 LED’s
indicate system
error, fan activation
& lack of fuel
STOP button

Key Specifications
720 x 1200 x 1300mmOuter Dimensions (W x D x H) 35kWOutput
ValueunitsSpecification
132litreWood storage volume 550mmMax length of wood permitted 18PaRecommended flue draft 190ºCFlue gas temp 90ºCMax Operating Temperature 2.5barMax Operating Pressure 96litreBoiler Water Content 515KgBoiler Weight

Advantages of Bio-Tec
•Built to the highest manufacturing standards
•Robust build
•Easy to clean
•State-of-the-art controller regulates the complete
combustion process and ensures optimal efficiency

Part III
User Operation

Starting the boiler
1. Make sure that both chambers are reasonably clean
(see maintenance instructions)
2. Build a small ‘kindling fire’ with paper/firelighter and some
well-dried kindling
3. Close the lower chamber door
4. Turn on the MAIN SWITCH power switch and push the START
button. The fan will start up and the LED light next to the start
button will begin to flicker.
5. Light the kindling fire and close the upper door.
6. When a good glow has been created open the upper chamber
door and load with the desired amount of timber
7. Close the upper chamber door and again push the button
START. The boiler is now in gasification mode