A SunCam online continuing education course

Biomass Process Flow Calculations

by

Allen Wiley, P.E.

 Biomass Process Flow Calculations
A SunCam online continuing education course

1.0 PURPOSE

1.1 The purpose of this Design Course is to provide a systematic method for process
flow design calculations for biomass and similar projects. This guideline is mainly
applicable to the dry processing portion of a project. For example, on a biomass to
liquids project, it would be applicable only to the delivery, storage and preparation
of biomass and may not be applicable to the fuel conversion process. For a wood
pellet plant, it would be applicable from start to finish of the process. These
calculations are intended to be done on Excel spreadsheets.

2.0 ABSTRACT

2.1 Biomass projects require specialized calculations to determine expected and design
flowrates for overall process design and for sizing of equipment. The calculations
are complicated by the fact that moisture contents, bulk densities and operating
hours may vary as material moves through the process.

2.2 The process may be schematically represented as a “Block Flow Diagram”, or as a

“Process Flow Diagram”. In the case of the Block Flow Diagram, the diagram may
be part of the Excel spreadsheet, and the entire task is performed by an engineer.
In the case of the Process Flow Diagram, the engineer will perform the calculations,
to be inserted into the drawing by the designer or drafter, generally in the lower
area of the drawing. The spreadsheet is inserted as a “live” document that is,
automatically updated when the drafter opens the drawing.

3.0 BLOCK DIAGRAMS VS. PROCESS FLOW DIAGRAMS

3.1 The difference between block flow diagrams and process flow diagrams is mainly
one of detail. The process flow diagram will have more detail than the block flow
diagram.

3.2 Block Flow Diagram (BFD)

3.2.1 Purpose is to represent the client’s wishes in an easily understood diagram.

3.2.2 Processing centers are grouped into blocks. Conveyors are not shown.

3.2.3 Flow between blocks and branch flows are shown with labeled flow
identifiers.

www.SunCam.com Copyright 2016 Allen Wiley Page 2 of 17

 Biomass Process Flow Calculations
A SunCam online continuing education course

3.2.4 Input at each flow identifier:

a. Annual Uptime Hours—This is scheduled time minus expected
downtime. See Discussion in Section 5.
b. Bulk Density—Preferred density is on oven-dry basis. See
discussion in Section 5.
c. Moisture Content—Normally biomass companies use wet-basis
moisture content. See discussion in Section 5.

3.2.5 Calculated values at each flow identifier:

a. Annual Fiber Flow
b. Annual Wet Basis Flow
c. Hourly Dry Basis Flow
d. Hourly Wet Basis Flow
e. Hourly Volumetric Flow
f. Storage Weight and Volume where Required

3.3 Process Flow Diagram (PFD)

3.3.1 Purpose is to identify each major piece of equipment and to provide enough
data to size the equipment. This approach allows systematic and easily
identified equipment sizing criteria.

3.3.2 Each piece of equipment including conveyors is shown in symbolic form.

Normally the symbols are the same as would be used on a Piping and
Instrument Diagram (P&ID) and are pre-drawn as autocad blocks.

3.3.3 Flow identifiers between equipment are shown to verify flows, to parse out
flows between processing units and as a calculation aid.

3.3.4 Flow identifiers attached to the equipment are for sizing equipment.

3.3.5 Input at each flow identifier:

a. Annual Uptime Hours—This is scheduled time minus expected
downtime. See discussion in Section 5.
b. Bulk Density—Preferred density is on oven-dry basis. See
discussion in Section 5.

www.SunCam.com Copyright 2016 Allen Wiley Page 3 of 17

 Biomass Process Flow Calculations
A SunCam online continuing education course

c. Moisture Content—Normally biomass companies use wet-basis.

See discussion in Section 5.
d. Design Factor—This is a multiplier that is applied to the average
calculated flow that is used to specify the equipment. See discussion
in Section 5.

3.3.6 Calculated values at each flow identifier:

a. Annual Fiber Flow
b. Annual Wet Basis Flow
c. Hourly Dry Basis Flow
d. Hourly Dry Basis Flow, Design
e. Hourly Wet Basis Flow
f. Hourly Wet Basis Flow, Design
g. Hourly Volumetric Flow
h. Hourly Volumetric Flow, Design
i. Storage Weight and Volume where Required

3.4 Drawing Sequence

3.4.1 The Block Flow Diagram should be performed and approved by the Client
before any other drawings are started. It will be started after a Design
Criteria is created.

3.4.2 The Process Flow Diagram will be done somewhat concurrently with the
General Arrangement Drawings as they affect each other.

4.0 DESIGN PROCESS

4.1 Usually, the material balance calculation will begin at the end of the process, or
close to the end where a single stream of finished product can be identified. This
is because the Client has identified a process goal in terms of finished product
output, and it is the Engineer’s job to help him to achieve this and to identify
material inputs and equipment requirements to achieve this goal. The annual
production flow is normally given by the client on a wet basis. It must be shown
as wet basis, but corrected to oven-dry basis.

4.2 The material balance calculations are done on an annual, oven-dry basis. Changes
in moisture content and uptime hours are accounted for separately at each flow
identifier. This renders material balances generally very straight forward, easy to
check, and easy for the client to follow.

www.SunCam.com Copyright 2016 Allen Wiley Page 4 of 17

 Biomass Process Flow Calculations
A SunCam online continuing education course

4.3 All calculations at each flow identifier are based on the annual oven-dry flow and
are all done the same way. Therefore, each column, headed by a flow identifier can
be simply copied to an adjacent column. The material balance calculation is
adjusted as required by the process. Then the input variables (annual uptime hours,
bulk density, moisture content and design factor) are adjusted appropriately.

EXAMPLE:

Flow Identifier: 2
Annual Uptime Hours: hr 7500
Bulk Density, Dry Basis: PCF 9.0
Moisture Content % 8.0%
Design Factor 1.33

Annual Flow, DB MT/YR 520,353

Annual Flow, WB MT/YR 520,353/(1-.08)= 565,560
Hourly Flow , DB MT/HR 520,353/7500 = 69.4
Design Flow, DB MT/HR 69.4 X 1.33 = 92.3
Hourly Flow , WB MT/HR 565,560/7500 = 75.4
Design Flow, WB MT/HR 75.4 X 1.33 = 100.3
Volumetric Flow, Design CF/HR 92.3 x 2204 / 9.0 = 22,603

Notes:
• Metric tons (2204 pounds/ton) are often used by clients with
European delivery contracts.
• DB means “Dry Basis”, WB means “Wet Basis”.
• Volumetric flow is the same whether calculated wet basis or dry
basis as long as bulk density basis is consistent. This is because the
moisture has minimal effect on volume.
• Fiber flow represents flow on an oven-dry basis. Wet flow is fiber
flow with moisture included.
• The calculations above are done as formulas in Excel spreadsheet
cells. The Annual Flow, DB is calculated as a multiple of another
cell and is the basis of the material balance. Cells below this are
calculated based on the Annual Flow, DB and the data above this
cell. As a result, columns can be copied and only the Annual Flow,
DB calculation changed. The input data is changed to reflect
characteristics of the process at the particular flow location.

4.4 Storage: There will usually be several places in the process where material is
temporarily stored in open piles, silos, bins, etc. The storage requirement is usually
provided by the Client in terms of hours or days of storage. The block flow or

www.SunCam.com Copyright 2016 Allen Wiley Page 5 of 17

 Biomass Process Flow Calculations
A SunCam online continuing education course

process flow diagram should identify these and include a calculation of total
volume and weight of material stored. The Client should clarify whether his storage
requirement is “full-to-empty” or if it is between two operational points in the
storage unit. Calculation columns for storage are handled separately in the
spreadsheet.

4.5 Dryers: Dryers are handled somewhat differently. Here, the main problem is
usually to predict the fuel flow to the dryer. Often, when tree stems are being
processed, this will be supplied partly from bark from the debarker and partly from
purchased fuel. The oven-dry flow of dryer furnish into the dryer is equal to the
flow leaving the dryer. The wet-basis flow is reduced however, due to elimination
of water. The difference in annual wet-basis flow represents the annual moisture
removal. Dryer suppliers will normally provide a rating in terms of Btu, hot gas
entering the dryer, per pound of moisture evaporated. This is usually about 1600
to 1700 for Btu/pound for green wood chips dried in rotary drum dryers. The flow
of bark to the dryer is calculated based on the oven-dry heating value of the bark,
corrected for moisture content. Annual purchased fuel becomes the difference
between fuel requirement and fuel supplied by the debarker from purchased tree
stems.

EXAMPLE:

Fuel Higher Heating Value BTU/LB 8,900

Loss due to Hydrogen
Combustion BTU/LB 660
Fuel Lower Heating Value BTU/LB 8,240
(typ. For pine bark)
Fuel Moisture Content % 50%
Heat to Evap Fuel Moist BTU/LB 1116
Effective Heat Value BTU/LB 8,240-(1-.5)/.5x 1116 = 7,124
Dryer Heat Required BTU/LB 1600
(Provided by Dryer Mfg)

Flow to Dryer , Wet MT/YR 940,000

Flow from Dryer, Wet MT/YR 522,222
Bark Fuel to Dryer, Dry MT/YR
(940,000-522,222) x 1600/7124 = 93,829

Notes:
• Lower heating value of fuel is used. This is because the dryer temperature
remains above the temperature required to condense water vapor formed in

www.SunCam.com Copyright 2016 Allen Wiley Page 6 of 17

 Biomass Process Flow Calculations
A SunCam online continuing education course

combustion of hydrogen in the fuel. To understand the difference between

lower and higher heating values, consider that the combustible elements in
most fuel are mainly carbon and hydrogen. To test for heating value, a
sample of the fuel is burned in an oxygen bomb calorimeter. The amount
of heat released is determined by the temperature rise of a water jacket
surrounding the sample. Since the final temperature is only a few degrees
above the initial temperature, the water formed in the combustion of the
hydrogen portion of the fuel must condense and in doing so, release its heat
of vaporization to the water jacket. The resulting calculation yields the
“higher heating value”, and this is the value that is often found in fuel tables.
The “lower heating value” is calculated from a knowledge of the fraction of
the total sample weight that is comprised of hydrogen. In most dryer
applications, the water formed in combustion of hydrogen does not
condense, and therefore the associated heat of vaporization is not available
for drying.
• Calculation assumes a direct-fired dryer. All of the heat from fuel
combustion enters the dryer.
• Heat to evaporate moisture includes heat to raise water temperature from
initial fuel temperature to dryer exit temperature cannot be recovered.
Assuming initial fuel temperature of 80F and dryer exit of 240F, then:

(212-80)1 + 970 + (240-212).49 = 1116

Where 1.0 and 0.49 are the heat capacities of water and steam, respectively.
The heat required to evaporate water at atmospheric pressure is found in
steam tables to be 970 BTU/LB.

5.0 NOTES ON INPUT DATA

5.1 Uptime Hours

5.1.1 Typical Calculation

Days per year available: 365
Less Holidays: -7
Less Planned Down Days -7
Planned Operating Days 365 -7 -7 = 351
Planned Hours per Day 24
Planned Hours per Year 351x24 = 8,424
Expected Uptime Rate 0.9
Expected Uptime Hours 8,424x.9 = 7,582

www.SunCam.com Copyright 2016 Allen Wiley Page 7 of 17

 Biomass Process Flow Calculations
A SunCam online continuing education course

5.1.2 Typical Processing Center Rates

Hours/Day Day/Week Uptime Rate

Shipping and Receiving 8-12 5-6 100%

Log Processing 8-12 5-6 80%
Dryer 24 7 95%
Main Processing Area 24 7 90%

5.2 Moisture Content

5.2.1 There are two ways to refer to moisture content in the wood products
industry:

Dry Basis MCdb = Ww/Wod

Wet Basis MCwb = Ww/(Ww + Wod)

Where:
Ww = weight of water in a sample.
Wod = weight of oven-dry wood in a sample.

To convert one to the other:

MCwb = MCdb/(1+MCdb)

Or:

MCdb = MCwb/(1-MCwb)

Dry basis moisture content is used mainly by solid wood processors such
as sawmills and plywood plants. Biomass facilities usually use wet basis
moisture content, but it is a good idea to be conversant in both and be sure
that you and your client are using the same terminology. Dry basis
moisture content can often be above 100%, which may be confusing to the
“uninitiated”.

5.2.2 Oven-dry: This is effectively the same as “bone dry”, but reflects a
particular way of drying a sample in an oven at 101-105C until constant

www.SunCam.com Copyright 2016 Allen Wiley Page 8 of 17

 Biomass Process Flow Calculations
A SunCam online continuing education course

weight is obtained. It is used mainly in wood processing industries. Coal

processors typically use the term “bone dry”.

5.2.3 If the client can provide moisture contents, this is best. The following are
some typical moisture contents for southern tree species.

Species Stem Wood Stem Bark

Southern Pines 50% 50%

Mixed Oaks 41% 35%
Sweetgum 55% 47%

5.3 Bulk Density:

5.3.1 Most published data for wood is in terms of oven-dry specific gravity of
solid wood. When wood is run through a chipper, it experiences an
expansion factor that is approximately constant for all species, but
increases as target chip size decreases. Historically, most wood has been
chipped to a ¾” target size for paper-mill chips. However, in biomass
applications, a smaller target size is often sought and chippers may be set
up to produce 3/8” and some for ¼” chips. Expansion factors for these
chip sizes are 2.8, 3.08 and 3.42 respectively. Some useful rules of thumb
for chip bulk densities follow:

Southern Mixed Sweetgum

Pines Oaks

Solid Wood Specific Gravity 0.5 .65 .45

Solid Wood Density 31.2 40.6 28.1
MCwb 50% 41% 55%
¾” OD Wood Bulk Density 11.14 14.5 10.0
3/8” OD Wood Bulk Density 10.13 13.18 9.12
¼” OD Wood Bulk Density 9.12 11.87 8.22
¾” Wet Wood Bulk Density 22.3 24.6 22.3
3/8” Wet Wood Bulk Density 20.3 22.3 20.3
¼” Wet Wood Bulk Density 18.2 20.1 18.3

Densities are in pounds per cubic foot.

The advantage of working with oven-dry bulk density is that it does not
change with moisture content, and as the project progresses, the moisture

www.SunCam.com Copyright 2016 Allen Wiley Page 9 of 17

 Biomass Process Flow Calculations
A SunCam online continuing education course

content assumption may change at various process locations. If oven-dry

bulk density is used, then only one value, moisture content, must be
changed at each affected data point. However, oven-dry bulk density does
not represent reality and this may cause some confusion. One solution is
to list both and let the wet wood bulk density be calculated from the oven-
dry bulk density as follows:

Wet bulk density = Oven dry bulk density / (1-MCwb)

This was done on the examples in Section 8.

5.3.1 Bark: Bark for Southern Pines is usually assumed to have a wet bulk
density of 16 PCF, or 8 PCF dry bulk density.

5.3.2 Roundwood: Stems or logs as delivered to the plant are collectively

referred to as “roundwood”. Tree-length roundwood (typically 30’-50’
long) and cut to a 3” to 4” top is referred to as stemwood or stems. After
they are bucked to length for further processing, they are referred to as
logs. This step is usually not required in biomass plants. When
roundwood is stacked, the stack will typically contain about 25% air
space, so the above solid wood densities should be reduced by a factor of
0.75 to yield stacked wood density. For conservatism, a factor of 0.70 is
suggested. This is useful for calculating required storage area for
roundwood.

5.4 Design Factor: A design factor is a factor, usually greater than 1.0 that is
multiplied by the average flow to obtain design flow. Several issues may be
considered in determining the design factor. Among these are:

5.4.1 Lack of certainty regarding input data (moisture content, bulk density,
uptime rate).

5.4.2 Lack of certainty that the vendor design will be adequate. Under bidding
conditions, vendors will typically bid to the bare minimum.

5.4.3 Natural process variations. For example, log feed to a chipper is not
constant and may vary by as much as +/- 50%. So the chipper discharge
conveyors should be designed to handle the higher rate. On the other
hand, chips are fed from a silo at a steady rate.

www.SunCam.com Copyright 2016 Allen Wiley Page 10 of 17

 Biomass Process Flow Calculations
A SunCam online continuing education course

5.4.4 Upstream equipment capacities. A chipper will usually be fed to near

capacity even if it is not required to meet process needs. Therefore, the
chipper discharge conveyors must be designed for the full chipper
capacity.

5.4.5 Some typical design factors are as follows:

• Conveyors with steady feed rate: 1.25-1.50.

• Conveyors with uncontrolled, variable feed rate such as debarker
or chipper discharge conveyors: 2.0 or capacity of upstream
equipment, whichever is greater.
• Chippers and hogs: 1.1 or capacity of upstream equipment,
whichever is greater.
• Dryers: 1.05 – 1.1.
• Pellet Presses: 1.05-1.1.
• Silo and storage piles: 1.0 (Storage requirement is usually not
absolute. Also, material tends to pack by about 10% giving some
inherent conservatism).

5.5 Notes on Flow Identifiers

The calculations are basically simple, but the convolutions of the process can
make the overall spreadsheet complex and there are many opportunities for errors
of neglect. This type of error can be reduced by arranging the flow identifiers as
much as possible in the order of process flow. During the course of the project
the need to insert flow identifiers inevitably arises, and with it, a new calculation
column. By starting with 1 on each PFD sheet, the re-work involved is
minimized. This of course means that each data point will not have a unique
identifier. It must be identified by both its number and the PFD number. This
does not normally have any negative consequences. However, some clients that
come from chemical process industries will object and insist that no flow
identifier be re-used. In this case, the Engineer will have to “bite the bullet” and
do as the Client wishes.

6.0 ERROR CHECKING

There are many opportunities for errors to manifest themselves both due to neglect and
logics in the material balance. One way to check for errors is to check for overall
balances. Each sheet should be checked that:

Oven-Dry Annual Flow In = Oven-Dry Annual Flow Out + Process Consumption

www.SunCam.com Copyright 2016 Allen Wiley Page 11 of 17

 Biomass Process Flow Calculations
A SunCam online continuing education course

One source of losses is combustion of bark or fines. Another may be in an

assumption of windage losses.

The overall balance should also be checked to verify that flow entering the process equals
flow leaving.

7.0 EXAMPLE BLOCK FLOW DIAGRAM

A client wishes to construct a wood fuel pellet plant to produce 300,000 metric tons (MT)
per year of pellets at 8 percent moisture content.

The proposed process is as follows:

• Scale incoming tree stems and bark fuel.
• Store tree stems.
• Remove bark from stems
• Hog bark to reduce size and improve feeding characteristics.
• Burn bark to fuel dryer(s).
• If enough bark cannot be recovered from the tree stems to fuel the dryer(s), then
extra bark will be purchased.
• Chip bark-free stems to 3/8” chips.
• Store chips.
• Dry chips to 8 percent moisture content.
• Store dry chips.
• Hammer-mill dry chips to yield a fine fibrous material.
• Store fiber.
• Pelletize fiber.
• Screen pellets to remove fines
• Recycle fines to fiber storage.
• Store pellets.
• Load pellets onto trucks.

Input Data

Uptime hours

www.SunCam.com Copyright 2016 Allen Wiley Page 12 of 17

 Biomass Process Flow Calculations
A SunCam online continuing education course

Receiving and shipping scales: 10 hr/day, 6 days/wk 100% uptime: 2,980

hr/yr.

Log processing: 16 hr/day, 5 days/wk, 80% uptime: 3,149 hr/yr.

Dryers: 24 hr/day, 7 days/wk, 95% uptime: 8,002 hr/yr.

Pelletizing: 24 hr/day, 7 days/wk, 90% uptime: 7,589 hr/yr.

Storage Requirements

Tree Stems (logs): 2 weeks

Green Chips: 72 hours
Dry Chips: 8 hours
Dry Ground Fiber: 8 hours
Finished Pellets: 72 hours
Bark Fuel: 72 hours

Raw material

Species: Southern yellow pine.

Bark content of incoming stems: 12%, dry mass basis

Moisture contents:

Wood: 50%
Bark: 50%
Dry wood: 8%
Pellets: 8%

Bulk densities, dry basis, pounds/cubic foot

Solid wood: 31.2

Tree stems: 21.8
Bark: 8.0
3/8” chips: 10.13
Ground fiber: 9.69

www.SunCam.com Copyright 2016 Allen Wiley Page 13 of 17

 Biomass Process Flow Calculations
A SunCam online continuing education course

Pellets: 39.48 (Note that the client will usually provide a target
pellet density with moisture included, in this case, 42.0 pcf).

Lower Heating Value of Bark: 8,240 Btu/oven-dry pound.

Dryer heat requirement: 1,600 Btu/pound of water evaporated.

Truck loads

Log trucks: 20 MT
Bark delivery trucks: 20 MT
Pellet shipping trucks: 20 MT

Results and Discussion:

The block flow diagram is constructed on an excel spreadsheet and shown

below in Figure 1. The plant output requirement is shown below in
column 17 as 300,000 MT/yr. This is the only column in which the dry
basis flow requirement (276,000 MT/yr.) is calculated from the wet basis
flow (300,000 MT/yr.). From this point, we work upstream and
downstream, calculating upstream requirements equal to, or some fraction
of the upstream or downstream requirement. The hourly flow is used for
preliminary equipment sizing. For example, column 13 shows that there
will be 40.7 MT/hr. flowing through the pellet presses. Assuming that the
presses are capable of producing 5 MT/hr. each, there will be a need for 8
or more presses.

Three columns, 1, 2 and 18 are headed “Trucks”. These columns indicate

the number of truckloads of tree stems, bark fuel and pellets that will
move in and out of the plant. These are respectively, 10.52, 0.64 and 5.03
trucks per hour. Since each truck must cross the scales twice (once empty
and once full), the scales will average 32.38 weighments per hour. This
plant will likely require two sets of scales, one incoming and one
outgoing.

Storage requirements are indicated in yellow, columns 5S, 9S, 11S, 13S,
17S and 22S. The volumetric requirements are used to make a

www.SunCam.com Copyright 2016 Allen Wiley Page 14 of 17

 Biomass Process Flow Calculations
A SunCam online continuing education course

preliminary assessment of the yard areas that must be allotted for tree
stems, green chips and bark fuel, and the size of silos required for dry
chips and pellets.

The fuel requirement to the dryer is calculated based on the weight

difference between columns 10 and 11, which represents the water
evaporated. The net heating value of the bark is calculated in the
“Assumptions” block in the lower right corner of the spreadsheet. The
total bark requirement is indicated in column 23, using the method
discussed in Section 4.5. The bark available from the tree stems is shown
in column 20. Column 4 is purchased bark, which is calculated as the
difference between columns 23 and 20. If this had been a negative
number, then a need for removing excess bark from the plant, or using it in
the process, would have been indicated. In this case, the plant will need to
purchase 47,240 MT per year of green bark from nearby wood processing
plants, or develop a plan to recover slash from logging operations.

Note that column 12 indicates a slight drop in moisture content (from 8%

down to 6%) due the drying effect of the hammermills. This moisture will
be added at the pellet presses to bring the moisture content back up to the
required 8%. A calculation of the water flow requirement could be added
if it is deemed critical to the project at this stage

The overall balance should be checked. Flow into the process is found in
columns 3 (tree stems) and 4 (purchased bark). Flow out is found in
column 17 (pellets). Material consumed is in column 23 (bark burned).

313,636 + 18,961 = 276,000 + 56,597

332,597 =332,597

Confirming that:

Flow in = Flow out plus process consumption.

www.SunCam.com Copyright 2016 Allen Wiley Page 15 of 17

 Biomass Process Flow Calculations
A SunCam online continuing education course

TRUCKS TRUCKS 5S 9S
CHIP
SCALE 1 LOGS 3 STEM 5 DEBARK 6 7 STORAGE 9
CHIP
STORAGE

TRUCKS 20
22S
BARK 4 HOG 21 BARK 22 RECLAIM 23 BURNER
2
STORAGE

11S

9 DRYER(S) 10 DRY CHIP 11 HAMMER- 12

SILO #2 MILLS

13S 17S TRUCKS

DRY FIBER PELLETING PELLET AC'PTS
13 14 15 PELLET SILO 17 TRUCK 18 PELLETS TO
SILO SYSTEM SCREENS
LOADOUT #2 CUSTOMER

16 FINES

NOTE: 1.) WHERE COLUMNS ARE HEADED BY "TRUCKS", WEIGHTS REFER TO TRUCK LOADS AND "ANNUAL WET" IS THE NUMBER OF TRUCK LOADS
FLOW IDENTIFIER 1 2 3 4 5 5S 6 7 9 9S 10 11 11S 12 13 13S
STEMS CHIPS DRY CHP DRY FIB
UNITS TRUCKS TRUCKS
ANNUAL UPTIME HR 2,980 2,980 2,980 7,560 3,149 3,149 3,149 8,002 8,002 8,002 7,589 7,589
BULK DENS., DB LB/CF N/A N/A 21.80 8.00 21.80 10.13 10.13 10.13 10.13 10.13 9.11 9.11
BULK DENS., WB LB/CF N/A N/A 43.60 16.00 43.60 20.26 20.26 20.26 11.01 11.01 9.69 9.69
MC WET BASIS % N/A N/A 50.0% 50.0% 50.0% 50.0% 50.0% 50.0% 8.0% 8.0% 6.0% 6.0%
AN'L FLOW, DB MT/YR N/A N/A 313,636 18,961 313,636 276,000 276,000 276,000 276,000 276,000 276,000 290,526
AN'L FLOW, WB MT/YR 31,364 1,896 627,273 37,922 627,273 552,000 552,000 552,000 300,000 300,000 293,617 309,071
FLOW, DB MT/HR N/A N/A 105.2 2.5 99.6 87.6 87.6 34.5 34.5 34.5 36.4 38.3
FLOW, WB MT/HR 10.52 0.64 210.5 5.0 199.2 175.3 175.3 69.0 37.5 37.5 38.7 40.7
BULK FLOW, CFH CFH N/A N/A 9,675 628 9,156 17,339 17,339 6,823 6,823 6,823 8,000 8,421
STARAGE CAP. HR N/A 72 8 8
WEIGHT STORED MT 13,068 4,967 310 326
VOLUME STORED CF 600,657 540,313 60,035 67,371

FLOW IDENTIFIER 14 15 16 17 17S 18 20 21 22 22S 23 ASSUMPTIONS

PELLET BARK
UNITS TRUCKS PELLET TRUCK LOAD 20 MT
ANNUAL UPTIME HR 7,589 7,589 7,589 2,980 2,980 3,149 3,149 8,002 8,002 LOG TRUCK LOAD 20 MT
BULK DENS., DB LB/CF 39.48 39.48 39.48 39.48 N/A 8.00 8.00 8.00 8.00 BARK TRUCK LOAD 20 MT
BULK DENS., WB LB/CF 42.91 42.91 42.91 42.91 N/A 16.00 16.00 16.00 16.00 PELLET SCREEN FINES 5.0%
MC WET BASIS % 8.0% 8.0% 8.0% 8.0% N/A 50.0% 50.0% 50.0% 50.0% BARK CONTENT OF LOGS 12.0%
AN'L FLOW, DB MT/YR 290,526 276,000 14,526 276,000 N/A 37,636 56,597 56,597 56,597 FUEL REQ'T TO DRYER 1600 BTU/LB
AN'L FLOW, WB MT/YR 315,789 300,000 15,789 300,000 15,000 75,273 113,195 113,195 113,195 LHV OF BARK 8240 BTU/LB
FLOW, DB MT/HR 38.3 36.4 1.9 92.6 N/A 12.0 18.0 7.1 7.1 MOIST CONTENT OF BARK 50.0%
FLOW, WB MT/HR 41.6 39.5 2.1 100.7 5.03 23.9 35.9 14.1 14.1 HEAT TO EVAP WATER 1116 BTU/LB
BULK FLOW, CFH CFH 1,943 1,846 97 4,701 N/A 2,994 4,502 1,772 1,772 NET HEAT VALUE OF BARK 7124
STORAGE CAP. HR 72 72
WEIGHT STORED MT 7,248 1,018
VOLUME STORED CF 338,490 127,567

Figure 1. Example of Block Flow Diagram for a pellet fuel plant.

www.SunCam.com Copyright 2016 Allen Wiley Page 16 of 17

 Biomass Process Flow Calculations
A SunCam online continuing education course

9. SUMMARY AND CONCLUSIONS

As in most chemical process projects, a biomass project will require creation of a block flow
diagram (BFD) or a process flow diagram (PFD), or both. The block flow diagram is usually
created in the earlier engineering stages to help firm up the basic process and to get the client and
engineer both thinking along the same lines. The BFD will include groupings of equipment
represented by blocks, whereas the PFD will show every major piece of processing equipment
with associated design flow.

Biomass projects differ from most chemical process projects in that some key variables such as
daily operating hours, moisture content and bulk density of the material vary at different stages
of the process, making calculations based on hourly flow difficult. The calculations are greatly
simplified by balancing the mass flow based on annual dry mass. Adjustments then are made
simply at each designated flow point by incorporating the correct parameters. For the purpose of
sizing equipment and writing equipment specifications, a carefully selected design factor can be
incorporated into the PFD calculations.

www.SunCam.com Copyright 2016 Allen Wiley Page 17 of 17