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Nolan, Anthony
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Nolan, Anthony
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Nolan, Anthony
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- PublicationEconomic Analysis of Manufacturing Costs of Pellet Production in the Republic of Ireland Using Non-Woody BiomassAn economic analysis of a non-woody biomass pelleting process was performed for conditions in the Republic of Ireland. The analysis considered the establishment, harvest, storage and drying costs of the feedstock’s on-farm, together with transportation costs to the processing plant and the costs associated with the pelleting process. Capital and operating costs of the pelleting process were estimated at several plant capacities – 6t / h, 8t / h and 10t / h. The pellet production cost for the base case scenario of 8t / h was 102 / t of pellets produced. By decreasing production capacity to 6t / h an increase in the production cost of 10 / t was experienced while increasing capacity to 10t / h resulted in a decrease of 6 / t in the production cost of pellets. The cost of the raw material is the largest cost component (66%) of the total pellet production cost. Other major cost factors include pelleting and cooling plant (11%), straw grinding plant (10%) and personnel costs (9%). Considering current energy prices the equivalent energy cost of 7 / GJ (excluding profit margins) the potential production of non-woody biomass pellets competes favourably with oil and gas and was found to be economically viable.
1337 - PublicationPotential availability of non-woody biomass feedstock availability for pellet production within the Republic of Ireland(Association of Overseas Chinese Agricultural, Biological and Food Engineers (AOCABFE) and Chinese Society of Agricultural Engineering(CSAE), 2010-03)
; ; ; The threat of increasing fuel prices and climate change necessitates the need for clean, renewable and independent energy sources. A GIS (Geographical Information Systems) model was developed using ArcGIS 9.2 to analyze the availability of non-woody biomass (wheat, oat, barley and rape straw, willow and miscanthus) for pellet production in Ireland. Utilization within the heating and electricity sector would displace currently used fossil fuels with cleaner, carbon neutral non-woody residues. The aim of the analysis was to determine the total hectares of biomass within Ireland and compute the potential non-woody biomass yield. The greatest potential source of biomass for pelleting is cereal straw. Within the Republic of Ireland the South-East, South-West and Mid-East of Ireland have the greatest biomass yield for pellet production and likely to be most economically viable. Non-woody biomass has a realistic potential to displace fossil fuels within the heating and electricity sector resulting in CO2 mitigation355Scopus© Citations 4