Wood Waste

A north-west joinery company recently purchased a fully automated wood combustion heater for its new factory, courtesy of Wood Waste Technology. Ace Joinery Services - based near Kendal - had previously worked with Wood Waste Technology regarding the installation of a WT15 hand-fed heater for their original premises, so was therefore already aware of the benefits of biomass technology.

Part of the LNT Group, Ace Joinery Services manufactures furniture for care homes, such as door sets, reception counters, fire screens and staircases. When the company moved from its 10,000sq.ft unit to a brand-new 35,000sq.ft building earlier this year, the decision was made to install a full extraction system.

Ace Joinery Directors commissioned a leading extraction company to install the new system, and the team recommended Wood Waste Technology to install the heating system. The fully-automated WT25A was delivered and commissioned in July this year, along with a Gross GAZ82 shredder. The automatic units represent a state-of-the-art breakthrough in wood combustion technology, as all the extracted waste is transported to a storage silo, then fed directly into the combustion zone via a temperature-controlled screw feed system.

Years of development

Wood Waste Technology’s research and development team spent years developing the WT25A. It uses specially-built cyclones, augers and hot gas fans, which have been designed to outlive similar parts used on other units in today’s marketplace, saving companies money on future maintenance costs and providing a great solution for businesses in terms of noise output, safety features, silo discharge mechanisms and power consumption.

Tony Butterfield, Development Director at Ace Joinery, explains: “We wanted the new building to have an all-singing, all-dancing extraction system, to help us turn waste wood generated from our manufacturing processes into heat, which could be used to keep the factory warm during colder months. We’re delighted with the system that's been installed. Our sawdust waste is taken to the filter plant by the extraction fan, and we put the waste wood offcuts through the new shredder, so shredded waste lands into the central filter plant, allowing all the waste wood to automatically go into the silo as fuel for the heater.

"We can light the machine on a Monday morning, and it continues to work automatically until it turns itself off on the following Sunday. Then on a Monday morning, the team cleans it out and lights it up again so it’s ready for another week. The heater's thermostat can be set at the temperature we require, then, once the temperature starts to drop, the heater automatically feeds in more waste wood from the silo, which is used as fuel to keep the heater at the constant required level.

In-built safety features

“We’ve been very impressed with how easy the system is to use, as well as the amount of its in-built safety features. For example, if the temperature falls below that required for a sustained period of time, due to the silo being empty, the heater automatically shuts down. We were delighted that our extraction suppliers recommend Wood Waste Technology as their heating company of choice. Due to already owning a heater, we know their products – manufactured here in the UK – are of a high quality. Also, the team is very helpful and provide excellent customer service.”

Kurt Cockroft, Managing Director at Wood Waste Technology, says: “We work closely with many dust extraction companies to offer businesses a complete 'turnkey' project at a competitive price. It’s a great system for those companies that generate between 7–11 tonnes of waste wood each week. We often end up supplying a shredder as it makes sense to incorporate it into the system, allowing for the disposal of offcuts along with extracted waste. We’re delighted that the team at Ace Joinery Services is happy with the system installed."

Wood Waste Technology’s years of expertise in wood waste solutions have helped many companies reduce their waste disposal and heating costs. As well as offering site survey, design, manufacture, installation and ongoing maintenance for new units, they also service all types of wood waste heaters as well as suppliying genuine spares up to 60% cheaper than competitors.

In addition, Wood Waste Technology is the UK's official distributor for Gross Apparatebau GmbH, a German manufacturer of dependable, precision-engineered shredders and briquetters, available in various sizes and specifications to suit all business applications.

Call Wood Waste Technology on 01785 250 400 and start to recoup some value from the waste in your business, or visit www.woodwastetechnology.co.uk or www.grossuk.co.uk to find out more.