BEFORE and AFTER: Plainfield Renewable Energy’s new conveyor mixes and loads more than 100 tons of wood chips per hour, 2.5 times the original capacity.
At Troy Industrial Solutions we pride ourselves on our long running customer partnerships. Plainfield Renewable Energy in eastern Connecticut is a great example.
Troy has worked with the team at Plainfield Renewable Energy, a woody biomass electrical generation facility, for more than two years, completing several small fabrication projects.
During this time Plainfield was considering fabricating a new, large, reclaim wood drag chain conveyor.
Plainfield’s existing reclaim conveyor blended green wood with dried reclaimed wood, and loaded the woodchip mix into a boiler to create steam for a turbine-driven generator and created power. That power was then sent to the grid to be distributed in the area.
The existing system could only move about 40 tons of wood per hour. Plainfield was looking to more than double that capacity to save costs by eliminating the need for weekend truck deliveries, which costs the Plainfield about $100 per hour. The company also wanted the hopper to better mix the green and dried woods so that the boiler could run hotter, cleaner and more efficiently; ultimately allowing them to send more power to the grid and drastically reducing maintenance costs.
After the success of some smaller projects, Plainfield approached Troy Industrial to help build a more efficient conveyor. Troy Industrial CT’s local territory manager, Tyler Slomkowski, worked closely with Troy Industrial ME’s project manager, Chris Pierce, and the Plainfield team, to design and draft plans for a new system. The collaboration produced a design that more than met the goal of doubling capacity, increased overall efficiency, and lowered operating & maintenance costs. In December 2020, Plainfield signed off on the final design and Troy got to work.
Fabrication began on the new system at Troy’s Brewer, Maine facility in February 2021. In just 3 months, the hopper was built, brought to Connecticut and installed.
The new conveyor mixes and loads more than 100 tons of wood chips per hour, 2.5 times the original capacity.
Plainfield ran successful system tests in late May and is now in full operational mode. Long a model for renewable power, the added savings in energy from a cleaner, more efficient system makes this plant even more impressive.
