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Wood chippers: machinery for wood chip production for industrial carpentries
Wood chippers are machines used to produce wood chips, an economical and completely green biofuel. The raw material used to obtain wood chips is very easy to source. Important sources come from the agricultural sector and, above all, from industries that process wood, such as carpentries and sawmills. Installing a machine for wood chip production is therefore an excellent investment, especially considering the goals of the 2030 Energy Transition, which aims for a future increasingly focused on renewable energy sources.
RP Engineering is a company specialized in the design, construction and installation of industrial systems for the drying and thermal treatment of wood chips, sawdust and other materials.
In this article we will focus on wood chips. We will look at what wood chips are, the advantages they offer and how they are produced. Nowadays, installing a wood chipper in your company is an excellent investment for the future.
What are wood chips?
When talking about wood chips, we refer to one of the various ways wood is processed. In practice, wood chips are wood fragments reduced into uniform pieces through a mechanical process called “chipping”.
The flakes into which the wood is crushed can vary in size, from a few millimeters to several centimeters. In any case, they are always uniform.
Wood chips belong to the category of ecological fuels (such as pellets, firewood and sawdust shavings). They are therefore a green biofuel because they are 100% ecological.
How wood chips are produced
Wood chips are produced using special wood-processing machines called wood chippers. RP Engineering is a company specialized in the design, construction and installation of industrial systems for the production and drying of wood chips, sawdust and biomass.
Let us look at all the stages involved in wood chip production.
- Material recovery: branches, trunks, agricultural production waste, sawmill waste and carpentry waste
- Chipping: the wooden material is fed into the wood chipper, where it is shredded and crushed
- Storage: once shredded, the wood chips are discharged into dedicated storage areas for drying. The process is rather long and can last up to 24 months in order to obtain a product with low moisture content
Where the material used to produce wood chips comes from
The wood used for wood chip production comes from:
- Waste from carpentries, sawmills and furniture manufacturers
- Pruning residues, grass cuttings and branches from agricultural companies, public green areas and private properties
- Scheduled forest and countryside maintenance operations
Depending on the origin, wood chips can be divided into hardwood and softwood.
The species most commonly used for wood chip production are conifers (e.g. spruce), as well as oak, chestnut, beech, poplar, alder and hazel wood.
Le tipologie di cippatrici
La macchina utilizzata per la cippatura è chiamata “cippatrice”. Esistono vari tipi di cippatrici. Le più comuni sono:
a disco
a tamburo
In base alla potenza e alle dimensioni, le cippatrici possono lavorare piante intere (i modelli industriali con potenze di centinaia di kW), così come ramaglie aventi un diametro di pochi millimetri (le cippatrici piccole e ad uso domestico o semi-professionale).
Prendendo come riferimento le dimensioni, la potenza e la resa produttiva, possiamo distinguere tra 3 tipologie di cippatrici.
Types of wood chippers
The machine used for chipping is called a “wood chipper”. There are different types of wood chippers. The most common are:
- Disc chippers
- Drum chippers
Depending on power and size, wood chippers can process entire trees (industrial models with power ratings of hundreds of kW) as well as branches with diameters of only a few millimeters (small domestic or semi-professional chippers).
Considering size, power and productivity, we can distinguish between three types of wood chippers.
- Small
- Medium
- Large
Small wood chipper
A machine capable of processing wood pieces with diameters up to 25 cm, with an average productivity of approximately 1.5–1.8 tons/hour. Small wood chippers can be trailer-mounted or attached to the three-point linkage of a tractor. They are also equipped with an independent electric motor or powered through a PTO shaft. Small chippers are intended for domestic or semi-professional use.
Medium wood chipper
Medium-sized wood chippers are powered by independent engines or tractor PTO systems (average power between 120 and 170 kW). They can process wooden materials with diameters up to 40 cm, with an average hourly productivity of around 10–12 tons/hour.
Large wood chipper
Mounted on trucks or trailers with two or more axles, large wood chippers have power exceeding 200 kW and can process wooden material with diameters up to 50–70 cm. Estimated productivity is approximately 50 tons/hour.
Classification of wood chips
UNI EN ISO 17225-4:2014 is the reference technical standard that defines 4 classes of wood chips (A1+ – A1 – A2 – B2) according to biofuel quality, determined through information on the raw wooden material obtained from laboratory analyses of biomass samples.
Wood chips are classified according to the following parameters.
- Type of wood: the better the quality of the source wood, the higher the calorific value
- Calorific value
- Moisture content: a factor affecting both the energy performance of the fuel and its economic efficiency. Dry biomass generates more heat and less ash. Wet wood chips lower the boiler temperature, resulting in reduced energy efficiency
- Ash production, meaning the residue remaining after combustion of the biofuel
- Bulk density: a value allowing an approximate estimate of energy density
- Sulfur, chlorine and other minor element content that may cause technical and environmental impact issues
Wood chips are also classified according to size. We can therefore distinguish between:
- Micro chips – 5 mm (G5)
- Small chips – 10 mm (G10)
- Wood chips – max 3 cm (G30)
- Large wood chips – max 6 cm (G50)
Uses of wood chips
With a calorific value of 2.5–3.5 kWh/kg, wood chips are a very advantageous biofuel: economical and highly efficient in terms of thermal performance. They are used in various contexts.
Domestic use of wood chips
Smaller wood chips are mainly used as fuel for domestic purposes, powering automatic and multi-fuel boilers. They generate very little ash residue and no dispersion of substances.
For domestic use, dry wood chips with low moisture content are recommended. As for material supply, in addition to relying on local suppliers, those who own forests or agricultural land can purchase a small wood chipper to self-produce wood chips using wood waste and branches.
Industrial use of wood chips
Larger wood chips are used in industrial settings as fuel for biomass power plants and cogeneration systems.
In Central and Northern European countries, due to the abundance of raw material, wood chips are used to power biomass district heating systems, which generate electricity and provide heating for large public and private facilities (such as schools, hospitals, industries, commercial activities, greenhouses and hotels). Recently, even small and medium-sized companies in the agricultural and forestry sectors have started reusing their own processing waste to produce wood chips for feeding mini biomass plants for their own energy needs or for resale.
Use of wood chips in the agricultural and livestock sectors
In agriculture, wood chips are widely used for mulching and fertilizing gardens, vegetable patches and flowerbeds.
In livestock farming, wood chips are used for their draining, absorbent and insulating properties. Specifically, they are used as bedding in cattle and poultry farms, horse stables and kennels.
Using wood chips: all the advantages
As a woody biomass, wood chips are a renewable energy source. The European Union considers the energy use of woody biomass “one of the most efficient systems for reducing greenhouse gas emissions”.
Let us look in detail at all the advantages of wood chips.
- It is a sustainable and 100% ecological product
- It does not produce carbon dioxide emissions into the atmosphere
- It has a positive environmental impact
- It is a very economical fuel (savings of over 70% have been estimated)
- It has low production costs (even compared to pellets, which require more processing stages and higher energy consumption)
- The raw material it comes from (trees) is easily available
- It can be easily stored in silos or bags
- It has excellent performance: it burns very slowly
- Its calorific value ranges from 2.5 to 4.5 kWh/kg, depending on the type of wood and moisture level
- It produces little ash
- Modern boilers feature automatic loading systems
Do you need a wood chipper for wood chip production? Contact RP Engineering
In light of the 2030 Energy Transition goals, which include Italy’s phase-out of coal by 2025 and the increase in renewable energy sources, woody biomass represents a resource that should be enhanced.
If you run a carpentry workshop or a sawmill, you may consider purchasing a wood chipper to process your production waste into wood chips for sale.
RP Engineering designs, manufactures and installs industrial systems for the drying and production of wood chips, pellets and other materials.
With more than 25 years of experience in the industry, RP Engineering stands out for offering customized solutions to its customers.
Would you like to install machinery for wood chip production? Contact RP
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