Stela delivers low-temperature belt dryer

 Monday, January 16, 2023

Stela Laxhuber supplied a low-temperature belt dryer in the brand-new pelleting facility that has been running in the Rumplmayr Danube Sawmill since mid-October 2022. 62,000 t of pellets are anticipated to be made from the plant’s sawdust and wood shavings annually during the first stage of the expansion. To maximise the site’s potential for energy savings, the chips are dried using a low-temperature belt dryer from Stela Laxhuber, Massing/DE, which is run only on waste heat.

“In a construction period of just nine months, the plant was realised – starting with the demolition work through to the functional commissioning of the new pelleting system – including infrastructure, conveyor technology and integration into the existing large sawmill,” explains Andreas Rauscheder, authorised signatory and technical manager at Stela Laxhuber – the impressive key data of the project.

The biomass power plant’s flue gas condensation and waste heat from the turbines are both sources of thermal energy. Waste heat dries the sawdust, producing a total of more than 10 MW of thermal energy. A 174 m long tubular belt conveyor that runs 16 m above the sawmill’s sorting hall initially carries the chips themselves to the wet chip silo. During the relevant dwell time, moisture equalisation occurs here. The material is then immediately transferred into a storage bin in front of the Stela belt dryer and dispersed on the dryer belt by augers.

Johann Schwalsberger, Head of Pellet Production, notes that in order to produce a uniform drying result, the chip carpet must always be of an even, consistent height. “It was a big challenge to dimension the hall’s statics accordingly and to mount the dryer at this height,” reports Schwalsberger.

Another dryer will be installed atop the current one in a second expansion stage. The Rumplmayr sawmill’s shavings are now entirely utilised thanks to the new pellet production line, and local renewable, CO2-neutral fuels may now be used even more effectively.

Tags: belt dryer, biomass, Stela Laxhuber, waste heat, wood, wood and panel, wood chips, woodworking, woodworking and manufacturing, woodworking event, woodworking industry, woodworking UK