Wood fuel storage and delivery access are key issues as the size
of storage and delivery mechanism will affect the frequency and
ease of delivery. If you are currently using gas, this won't be
something you've needed to consider before. If you use oil, you
will need more storage space.
So, you need to assess how much storage you need, what space is
available, and how accessible that space is to delivery
vehicles.
Plan your fuel storage and delivery system at the very
beginning of your planning process. Get your installer and
potential supplier talking at the outset to make sure the two sides
of the system marry up-faliure to plan an integrated system can
prove expensive.
Storage should be as close to the boiler as possible, to
minimise the complexity of system needed to transfer woodfuel to
the boiler. The system should be designed to minimise fuel handling
- poor design can add substantially to your fuel costs. It also
needs to be a watertight space. Have a look at the types of storage available.
How much wood fuel storage space is needed?
You can estimate how much woodfuel you'll need to store based
on:
The Biomass Energy Centre have produced a tool,
Estimating Fuel Requirement, to help you do this
calculation.
Some points to bear in mind when estimating storage space:
- Fuel requirements will vary between summer and winter - the
size of the store needs to minimise deliveries during the heating
season. However, the maximum size will be mainly be constrained by
cost and the space available on site.
- For wood chip and pellet systems, unless your delivery system
is very flexible, you should be able store enough fuel for at least
10 winter days.
- For wood chip systems your fuel store should be about 25%
larger than the fuel is contains to reduce potential condensation
problems.
- With automated systems, approximately half a meter is required
at the bottom of the store to accommodate walking floors or spring
loaded agitators.
- If you have limited storage space, wood pellets may be the best
option.
Delivery access
Do you have convenient access for the size of vehicle your
delivery needs? If not, is there the potential for delivery access
to be part of the project design?
The tipping or transfer of wood fuel should be quick and simple
to minimise your costs.
There are a number of fuel delivery options available. Delivery
type will depend on:
- The proposed fuel type for the wood fuel boiler.
- The area available and any other physical access constraints at
the site (e.g size of gate).
- The area required for the delivery vehicle to access the fuel
store.
- The proposed delivery vehicles available from prospective fuel
supplier
Generally the fuel supplier's vehicle needs direct access to the
fuel store. However, wood chips can be blown a limited distance.
Where access is problematic, wood pellets may be the best
solution.
Health and safety information
The following table outlines the risks that may be associated
with fuel storage/delivery and actions to minimize risk:
|
Risk
|
Action to lower risk
|
|
Fungal spores and carbon monoxide.
|
Good ventilation/No lone working/Wearing of masks when handling
fuel (or else those moving chip should be in an enclosed
vehicle)
|
|
Moving parts
|
No lone working
|
|
Slips and falls
|
No lone working
|
|
Structural failure due to swelling of wet wood
|
Protection from rain/water ingress, not storing wood chip above
30-35% moisture content to avoid risk of decomposition
|
|
Fire/explosion
|
Back fire prevention, earthing of pellet stores, Fire Alarms,
minimize break up of pellets (dust) e.g through use of a baffle or
rubber matting on back of pellet stores and use of straight
delivery pipes
|
Further information