INTERPELLETS 2007 Exhibition
If we glance through the event calendar of any acknowledged industry magazine, we can quickly come to the conclusion that it is only those laziest who do not hold exhibitions. The number of exhibitions is such that if one sets a goal of visiting each and every one within the specific field, they should be taking it up as a full-fledged job. In other words, visiting merely most of them is virtually impossible. Going for the major one – it’s abroad, and that implies visas, foreign language, booking etc. Some overview article could be nice...
Well, here you go.
So, Interpellets 2007:
1. Specialization
Fuel pellets (from timber and agricultural wastage, peat and other biomass), and the entire infrastructure therewith: production machinery, catching hoppers, lab equipment for quality tests, specialized cargo transport, customer-based storage bins, pellet burning equipment and, naturally, specialized media.
2. Location: Stuttgart, Germany
Europe today is the leader in consumption of fuel pellets and development of the related infrastructure. This is why the venue – practically in the heart of Europe – is convenient for the majority (with the unfortunate exception of Russians). The exhibition center is located in the direct vicinity of the international airport, and there is a high-speed train connection from the city of Stuttgart, thus it is possible to get to the exhibition with any transportation means, and the plane from Moscow is one of them.
3. Exhibitors
There were over 150 exhibitors. Here are the most well-known alphabetically: Amandus Kahl, Andritz Sprout, Buderus, Buhler, Costruzioni Nazzareno, CPM, FireStixx, German Pellets, RIKA, Salmatec, Viessmann and so on. Russia was represented rather well among the visitors; spoken Russian was heard all around. But there were very few Russian exhibitors: the only eye candy was the mockup of a forest belt timber pellet manufacture, show-cased by the Krasnodar Region’s AlTBioT.
4. Technologies
At the exhibition, all pellet-related technologies were presented: from pellet production to pellet burning. Alongside such grand masters of pellet equipment manufacturers as CPM (photo 1), there also were less known companies exhibiting. In particular, such companies as PTN (Pelleting Technology Nederland) (photo 2) and MGM (Mischi G Maschinen, Italy) presented their pellet mills.
In the field of lab equipment and instruments, the most interesting were the complexes for pelleting flow humidity measurement. In practice, these complexes allow to automate fully the process of drying the raw materials. Besides, electronic devices for complex testing of smoke gases to determine the content levels of hydrogen and nitrogen oxides, as well as other harmful substances, were show-cased. A large number of exhibitors presented their customer-based storage bins. The vast majority of them were big synthetic bags, hung on a special metal frame (photo 3). This spread rate is resulting from the factors of low price, prefabricated structures and the ease of rigging works. Nevertheless, there were some plastic underground containers, as well as the classical steel silos. Several of the famous European truck manufacturers exhibited truck makes intended for pellet transportation and feeding them into the said bins (photo 4). The biggest exhibitor group was that of pellet furnace manufacturers; it’s noteworthy that not only the manufacturers of completed equipment pieces were represented (photo 5), but also of the completing parts: burners, igniters, fans, air-pipes, pellet conveyors, and heat insulation. The number and diversity of the boilers were simply mind-boggling, and there was a sense of shame for the native land so rich in raw materials to manufacture the pellets, so vast in its territory that it is unprofitable to centralize fuel delivery, and yet lagging so far behind Europe in this area. I can’t but notice that a fairly large number of pellet burning equipment manufacturers also exhibited their solar traps meant to be paired with the boilers. And, finally, the main thing: the most interesting – from my perspective – and the most expected was the appearance at the exhibition of the household pellet-fueled cogeneration plant (photo 6). In Europe, the devices generating both power and heat have been steadily spreading for a long time now; however, this is the first pellet-fueled unit of this kind. Consuming 3 kg of pellets per hour, it yields 3 kW of electric power and 10 to 12 kW of heat power, which is optimal for smaller houses. It became possible to manufacture the device through the use of the Stirling engine. For those of you unaware of the technology: the Stirling engine is a heat engine with the heat fed externally, which was invented by Scottish pastor Robert Stirling in 1816. Today, it is the most efficient heat engine – the actual performance index is 43%. Since the Stirling engine can work with lower temperatures of the working medium, the heat use may be fuller than that of the internal combustion engine-driven cogeneration plants. By virtue of this, the total performance index of this unit will always be higher than that of a plan with the ICE. Equal in power generation, the Stirling engine is heavier than the ICE, but its system is much simpler, and therefore its life is longer. Under these circumstances, the use of the Stirling engine with the household cogeneration plants is maximally justified. Thus, let us impatiently await the serial production of these units.
5. Analysis
The exhibition showcased a large volume of analytical information. Let us stop on the most essential spots. Pellet production and consumption figures were published, as well as the information on the working plants and those under construction. In particular, in Germany a plant with the capacity of 300,000 tons a year was announced launched. (Just imagine how funny it is to then read in a Russian magazine a huge advertising article from one of the national enterprises stating they “have built the biggest plant in Europe with the nominal capacity of 65,000 tons a year”).
6. Conclusions
The previous rather warm winter for the first time in the pellet history led to a drop in their price across Europe. This has made some people doubtful of the pellet future. In this connection, the main conclusion for us – after the visit to Interpellets 2007 – is that both the production and the consumption of pellets is growing fast – and it is going to within the next 10-15 years. As fast and alongside the related infrastructure is going to develop.
Every day mankind produces more and more goods. They have to be sold daily – in bigger and yet bigger volumes. To boost the sales, there are numerous special technologies, and one of the oldest and the most efficient is to hold exhibitions. Probably this is why recently exhibitions sprout like mushrooms after the summer rains. On the one hand, it is very good, since there is choice, but on the other hand, it is bad, since it becomes hard to get a large number of exhibitors in one place at the same time (especially the industry leaders), so that the exhibition becomes interesting. And this complicated task was perfectly tackled by the organizers of Interpellets 2007. No doubt that to those whose business is in any way connected to fuel pellets this was the main event of 2007.
Pavel Slipchenko
