Pergamon

0961~9534(94)E0030-V

Biomassand Bioenergy Vol. 8. No. I, pp. 21-28, 1995

0 1995 Elscviet Science Ltd
Printed
in Great Britain.
All rightsreserved
0961-9534/95$9.50+ 0.00

ENERGY POSSIBILITIES FROM FOREST RESIDUES IN

THE REGION OF CASTILLA Y LE6N IN SPAIN
J. UBEDA DELGADO* and

G. ANToLiNGIRALDO~

*Direccibn General del Medio Natural, Consejeria del Medio Ambiente y Ordenacion del Territorio,

Junta de Castilla y Leon, C/ Muro no. 9, 47004 Valladolid, Spain

tDepartamento de Ingenieria Quimica, Escuela T. S. de Ingenieros Industriales,
Universidad de Valladolid, Paseo del Cauce s/n, 47011 Valladolid, Spain
(Received 19 August 1993; revised received 28 February 1994; accepted 2 March 1994)

Abstract-This paper analyses the potential forest biomass existing in the autonomous region of Castilla
y Leon in Spain. The presentation shows some possible applications for the use of forest biomass as fuel
in previously adapted classic ovens. The text presents the gathering processes of the forest wastes and their
transformation, both in the forest as well as in the milling plant. The paper also provides a comparative
study of combustion tests in different ovens. Furthermore, this study analyses the economic result of the
application of forest biomass for fuel. A comparative economic study of the use of forest biomass and
other traditional fuels demonstrates the profitability of such biomass as a source of complementary energy.
Keywords--Biomass;

biomass as fuel; wood chips; forest wastes; chip treatment plant

1. INTRODUCTION

Wood has always served mankind as its principal energy source. It presently provides the
greatest part of the energy needs in developing
and third-world countries. At the beginning
of this century in Spain it still represented
over half the energy consumed, the remainder
being covered by coal. The use of other energy
sources gradually lessened the importance
of wood, and in the 1950s and 1960s there was
a sharp decrease in its use as fuel. However, the
high cost of petroleum energy derivatives and
the tendency towards short-term depletion of
sources have generated a search for other renewable natural resources to use as substitutes.
The European Community is promoting the
use of biomass through investigation, development and demonstration programmes. These
programmes dedicate special attention to energy
cultivation as a possible alternative to the
current agricultural policies of the countries in
the South of the community. Such cultivation
could also help solve problems of agricultural
excesses, the desertification of the territory, and
rural depopulation. In addition, biomass utilization represents an alternative which can
improve the environment
through residue
elimination and the substitution of fossil fuels
by other, cleaner, renewable ones.

Bearing these criteria in mind, the authors

chose the region of Castilla y Leon in Spain
(specifically the province of Palencia) as an
experimental zone. The region was selected because it has a great quantity of thickets and
branches from timber-yielding trees, plus scrap
from pruning and tree clearing. The abundant
amount of forest products available for possible
energy application as an alternative fuel to
petroleum derivatives make the region ideal for
experimental purposes.
The experiments were carried out in reforested areas some 20-25 years old which had
been artificially reforested with wild larch and
pinaster pines. First, branches from pruning
areas and poor quality timber from cleared zones
from some forests in Palencia were extracted.
Several 30 h.p. tractors hooked to sleds to load
the firewood within the forest area were used.
Next, the firewood was chipped in situ with a
chipper powered by a 100 h.p. tractor. The
firewood yielded chips from 5 to 10 cm in size.
The chips thus obtained in the reforested area
were transported to a storage and grinding plant
located 25 km from the forests in the zone of
Guard0 in Palencia. Some of the chips were
used in classic boilers which had previously been
adapted. The remaining chips were ground to
the size of 5-lOmm, making them usable in
other types of boilers.
21

J.

22

UBEDA

and G. ANTOL~N
GIRALDO

DELGADO

Table I. Forest land in Castilla y Leon (km*)

Geographical
Timber land
area

Open land

Woody area

Forest land

Avila
Burgos
Leon
Palencia
Salamanca
Segovia
Soria
Valladolid
Zamora

8048
14,178
15,469
8035
12,336
6949
10,287
8150
10,559

783.8
1281.0
1817.6
510.0
483.8
1047.7
1783.7
827.0
562.8

721.2
892.9
1098.5
681.3
2050.1
381.3
594.0
64.0
295.6

771.7
1225.5
1676.0
436.6
448.3
297.8
929.7
206.1
598.1

2276.7
3399.4
4592.1
1627.9
2982.2
1726.8
3307.4
1097.1
1456.5

Total

94,011

9097.4

6778.9

6589.8

Province

2. POTENTIAL FOREST BIOMASS IN CASTILLA Y

LEON

This section presents the statistical data concerning the forest surface of Castilla y Leon, the
autonomous region which has the greatest
physical area in Europe. It is made up of nine
provinces, whose forest extensions are indicated
in Table 1. This table also shows the forest area
breakdown by utilization.
The forest land includes all areas covered
with trees or bushes, as long as such land is not
dedicated to agricultural or non-forest uses. It
includes poplar groves within or outside forests
and the groups of chestnut and walnut trees
fundamentally dedicated to wood production.
The term timber land means all land with
trees whose tree tops cover more than 20% of
the land surface and which is used for wood
production or improvement of the environment,
with limited shepherding. It also includes the
zones reforested for forest purposes, although
the tree-top density is less than 20%.
Open land refers to surfaces with adult trees
whose treetops cover from 5 to 20% of the area
and which is used principally for shepherding.
Woody land has trees with spreading
portage deriving from sprouts of vine-like plants
or roots. It also includes land with thickets or
undergrowth formed by inferior species which

22,466.l

cover more than 20% of the surface. Such

woody land is dedicated to obtaining firewood
or to shepherding.
The results of applying known rates of
biomass production to all the Castilla y Leon
forest areas are presented in Table 2. These data
correspond to the forest biomass with 0%
moisture content (M.C.) available in the zone.
The data on the potential totally dry forest
biomass allows calculation of the potential
green forest biomass (50% M.C.) which it
would be necessary to gather from the forest, or
the air-dried biomass (15% M.C.). These factors
are calculated by simply multiplying by 2 and
1.33, respectively.

3. ZONE OF PREFERENTIAL

LOCATION

Bearing in mind the concentration of forest

biomass production in very specific zones of the
Castilla y Leon region, as well as the elevated
transport costs due to its low density, geographic zones of preference needed to be
defined. Such zones serve as a basis for the
possible location of transformation industries or
those which could use the biomass as fuel. Based
on a limit of 30 km for the transport of forest
biomass to a processing plant (to avoid elevated
transportation costs), 24 preference zones have

Table 2. Forest biomass production in Castilla y Leon @g/year)

Province
Avila
Burgos
Leon
Palencia
Salamanca
Segovia
Soria
Valladolid
Zamora
Total

T-l

T-2

T-3

T-4

T-5

T-6

T-7

T-8

Total

42.8
901.6
0.1
16.0
0.4
23. I
210.1
1.8
175.1

44.1
5.7
0.0
70.3
96.8
3.0
311.3
0.0
28.7

178.2
166.9
48.5
95.6
123.7
323.3
548.2
15.7
656.3

3.7
21.1
84.1
30.4
0.0
31.3
40.3
71.6
2.3

33.4
39.6
582.1
541.7
0.0
119.9
145.9
475.5
4.6

15.4
0.1
40.5
5.2
11.0
23.1
4.8
41.4

5. I
128.8
183.1
23.9
87.1
28.7
0.0
0.0
0.4

22.8
10.4
34.6
3.1
42.3
2.2
2.4
1.3
24.4

345.5
1274.2
932.5
821.5
355.5
452.5
1281.3
570.7
933.2

1371.0

559.9

2156.4

284.8

1942.7

141.5

457.1

143.5

7056.9

0.0

T-l, Brushwood and pruning; T-2, brushwood and clearing; T-3, brushwood, pruning and clearing; T-4,
pruning; T-5, pruning and clearing; T-6, brushwood; T-7, utilization residue; T-8, forest-fire residue.

Possible energy applications of Spanish forest biomass

23

. PALENCIA

Source

: Cuantificacidn

Consejeria

de

Medio

de

biomaso

Ambiente

fore901

Ordenaci&

de
del

10s Mantes
Territorio.

de
Junta

Costillo
de

Costillo

Ledn
y

Ledn

Fig. 1. Forest-residue concentration zones.

been designated in Castilla y Leon for the

management and utilization of forest biomass
(Fig. 1). The production in each of these is
indicated in Table 3.
4. GATHERING AND TRANSFORMING FOREST
BIOMASS

The preferential zone of Guardo, in the

province of Palencia, was chosen as the site in
which to carry out this experimental study on
forest biomass as fuel in previously adapted
boilers. The project was divided into three
phases: forest, plant transformation and boiler
testing phases.
4.1. Forest phase
This phase commenced with the pruning and
thinning out of firewood in artificially reforested
conifer areas. The work was performed by
teams of seven or eight workers, with axes and

power saws. Two members of the team used

power saws to cut the small trees to be culled
and the thickest branches to be pruned, thus
facilitating the labour of those behind who
pruned the rest of the pine branches up to a
height of 2.5 m.
The resulting firewood was pulled to the
borders of the paths or fireguards by two lowpower tractors (30 h.p.) and groups of six men
(two tractor drivers and four labourers). The
tractors dragged the bundles of firewood prepared in the forest by means of a chain wrapped
around their branches, as these became tangled
together and facilitated the transport.
Once brought out of the forest, the firewood
was then chipped by a hand-fed mobile chipper
powered by a 100 h.p. tractor. The resultant
chips, from 5 to 10 cm, were loaded directly
from the chipper into a truck. However, it is
possible to use interchangeable containers to
avoid truck idle time.

J. UBEDADELGADOand G. ANTOL~N
GIRALDO

24

Table 3. Preferential forest biomass zones in Castilla y L&n

Province
Avila

Burgos

Leh
Palencia
Salamanca
Segovia

Soria

Valladolid
Zamora

Preferential zone
El Barco de Avila
Arenas de San Pedro
Cebreros
Medina de Pomar
Briviesca
Quintanar de la Sierra
Ponferrada
Villablino
L&n
Guard0
Aguilar de Campoo
Ciudad Rodrigo
Bejar
Cukllar
Cantalejo
Segovia
El Burgo de Osma
Soria
Almadn
Valladolid
Medina de1 Campo
Iscar
Puebla de Sanabria
Fonfria

Production (Gg)
(15% M.C.)
32.1
177.1
97.5
405.8
336.8
312.7
176.5
90.4
678.1
358.2
115.5
163.8
145.0
193.8
194.3
114.8
253.4
617.3
304.0
138.7
141.8
285.6
260.2
416.0

M.C., moisture content.

The average outputs of these operations

in the forest, plus their costs (including amortization of the equipment needed) were as follows:
Firewood gathering
??1 km2

of treated forest yielded 2 Gg of chips

with 15% M.C.
??The two tractors dragged 1905 kg of logs at
15% M.C. each hour.
??The gathering cost of 1 kg of firewood, at 15%
M.C. was 1.45 pesetas.
Firewood chipping
??The

chipper yielded 1389 kg of chips at 15%

M.C. each hour.
??The chipping cost was 2.45 pesetas/kg of wood
with 15% M.C.
4.2. Plant transformation phase
The chips obtained in the forest were transported by truck to a storage shed of 4000 m2,
where they were dried naturally by environmental air (no cost). Following this, the chips took
two separate paths: direct sale for use as fuel,
just as they came from the forest; or grinding to
reduce their size in order to use them in other
types of boilers. The chip transportation cost to
the treatment plant was 1 peseta/kg.
The chip grinding was performed by two
equal work lines (Fig. 2). Each line consisted of

a hopper having a capacity of 10 m3, with a

metallic chain belt at the bottom which dragged
the chips to the exit. The belt then dropped the
chips onto a transport belt which fed a hammer
grinder powered by a 25 h.p. motor revolving at
3000 rpm.
The ground product was transported pneumatically by an aspirator powered by a 10 h.p.
motor, and gathered in a cyclone which fed
another grinder similar to the previous one. The
final product was likewise transported pneumatically to a system of worm screws located in the
upper part of the storage halls, to distribute it
to any part of the sheds (Fig. 3).
The entire grinding process was controlled
from a control board manageable by just one
individual. A security system was built in, so
that any time a malfunction occurred in any
part of the transformation lines, all the equipment ceased to work.
The ground product can be sold in bulk or by
sacks which are filled by a sacking machine.
This facilitates chip management, principally
for small-quantity consumers.
The information in Table 4 indicates the
production of chips ground in the transforming
plant. It also shows the consumption of electricity needed, depending on the chip size selected
by the type of screen placed in the grinders.
The average cost of each kilogram of ground
chips in the transformation plant with 15%
M.C., including amortization of the equipment
installed, was 2.40 pesetas. Including the operating costs of the two phases (forest and plant
phases), plus a 10% allowance for unplanned
costs and 15% for final management costs and
benefits, the final shed-floor price of the two
chip types produced would be as follows:
??Forest

chip (large size): 5.5 pesetas/kg

chip: 7.9 pesetas/kg

??Plant-ground

The possible repercussion of pruning and

clearing costs has not been included in these cost
estimates. This is because the necessity of performing these two processes is independent of
whatever posterior use is made of the resultant
forest residues.
4.3. Boiler testing phase
The chips obtained from both the forest and
the grinding plant were utilized as fuel in a
series of previously adapted boilers. One of
two burners designed for this study was added
or substituted for the existing burner. Their
behaviour was observed in each case.

Possible energy applications of Spanish forest biomass

25

Fig. 2. Chip-grinding plant.

Fig. 3. Worm screw system for chip distribution.

The chips were introduced into the furnaces

by two different methods: pneumatic transport
and gravity. Pneumatic feed, which was valid
only for small-sized chips (8-10 mm), consisted
of a hopper fitted with a shaker which prevented

arch formation and an adjustable outlet in its

lower part (Fig. 4). The chips fell from the
hopper to a lower tube due to the twin effects of
gravity and the absorption produced by the
Venturi effect of the fan-impulsed combustion

J.

26

UBEDADE~GALIOand

G.

ANToLiN GIRALDO

Table 4. Chin production and plant electricity consumption

Screen diameter (mm)
Grinder 1

Grinder 2

Electricity
Production
consumption
(kg of chips/h) (kW/kg of chips)

20
18
16
14
12

8
8
8
8
8

1180
1230
1280
1340
1380

0.0400
0.0330
0.0380
0.0385
0.0395

:o
18
16
14
12
10

86
6
6
6
6
6

1430
790
860
940
1010
1080
1160

0.0415
0.0550
0.0520
0.0490
0.0470
0.0470
0.0420

The air passed through the lower tube, and

served in turn to transport the chips pneumatically to the combustion furnace. The combustion air flow was regulated by varying the
opening of the air inlet to the fan. Chip distribution throughout the furnace was handled by
a distributor fitted to the end of the feed tube.
This entire pneumatic feed system was mounted
on a wheeled platform to increase its mobility.
The pneumatic system was used only in ceramic
and Hoffmann furnaces.
The gravity-feed system was based on the
suction effect which the furnace draft exercised
on the chips, either by natural or forced draft.
It consisted of a hopper which let the chips fall
air.

,i
1

Fig. 5. Gravity feed system.

on a system of two grates set at an inclination

of 45. Wood carbonization (char formation)
was produced by the loosening of volatiles in the
first grate and total combustion in the second.
Lighting was handled very easily through the
intake gate (A in Fig. 5).
Industrial furnace tests were carried out using
two chip types with a 15% M.C. During the
experiments a constant heat flow production
was maintained in all furnaces under both the
initial combustible (fuel oil) and chip use. Tests
were performed on a bakery oven, a mixed
boiler with gas and fuel oil burners, a tunnel
oven for drying ceramic construction material,
and a central heating furnace for a residential
building. All these units were adapted to use one
of the two types of chip burners designed for
this study (Figs 4 and 5).
Chip consumption in the adapted furnaces
was compared to the previous fuel oil consumption in the four industrial furnaces tested
(Table 5). The bakery oven presented the lowest
consumption, and the fuel oil furnace the
highest.
5. ECONOMIC

ANALYSIS

A comparative economic analysis between

traditional combustibles and the chips has been
performed (Table 6). This analysis takes into
consideration the sale price of the two chip types
and the current prices of traditional fuels in the
national market, as well as their respective
calorific values.
Table 5. Comparative study between chips and fuel oil

Furnace type

Fig. 4. Pneumatic feed system.

Bakery oven
Mixed boiler
Ceramic drier
Fuel oil furnace

Chip
type
Plant
Plant
Forest
Plant

Size
(mm)

Chip
consumption
(kg/kg fuel oil)

8-20
8-20
50-100
8-20

1.17
1.70
1.70
3.00

Possible energy applications of Spanish forest biomass

27

Table 6. Comparative study of chips and other fuels

Price
(Pts/kg)

Fuel
Gas oil
No. I fuel oil
Coke coal
Pit coal
(10% ash)
Anthracite coal
(10% ash)
Forest chip
(15% M.C.)
Plant chip
(15% M.C.)

Lower
heating
power

Cost difference (Pts/kJ)

&J/kg)

cost
Pts/kJ

Forest chip

Plant chip

20
46
26

40,612
38,937
29,307

1.64 x 10-d
1.18 x IO-
8.87 x lO-4

2.23 x IO+
8.52 x 1O-4
5.59 x 10-d

0.20 x IO-4
7.08 x 1O-4
4.15 x 1o-4

29

31,401

9.23 x 1O-4

5.95 x 1o-4

4.51 x 10-d

28

32,238

8.68 x 1o-4

5.40 x 1o-4

3.96 x 1O-4

5.5

16.747

3.28 x 1O-4

7.9

16,747

4.72 x lo-

-1.44 x 10-a

1.44 x 1o-4

MC., moisture content, Pts, Pesetas.

Based on the results presented here, the use of

forest chips for biomass energy is currently
profitable. Forest chips cost only 3.28 lo-4 pesetas/kJ, while other fuels cost about 2-3 times
more. Thus, energy savings could range from
50% (substituting forest chips for gas oil) to
260% (using chips instead of fuel oil). With
plant chips the energy savings are slightly less,
due ,to higher processing costs. However, the
savings reach 150% in the case of No. 1 fuel oil.
Forest biomass is therefore a valid substitute for
traditionally used fuels. The only necessity is to
adapt the boilers with a burner and a feed
system similar to the two described in this
paper.
The energy potential of the zone using the
estimated data on annual production of forest
biomass in Castilla y Leon (Table 2), together
with its average calorific value, can be evaluated. The biomass when utilized as an energy
source yields 1.57 lOI kJ/year, equivalent to
4.04 1Okg of No. 1 fuel oil. This represents
approximately 20% of the annual consumption
of fuel oil in the region. This energy saving is
important for the region in terms of the economic boost that it would generate. In addition,
it represents energy available from a renewable
source found naturally within the zone itself.
This process converts forest residue into a
usable product and creates 4.6 new jobs for each
1000 metric tons of oil equivalent produced.
6. CONCLUSIONS

This study has demonstrated the possibility of

advantageously utilizing the forest biomass that
the region of Castilla y Leon has available. Such
biomass consists of 7056.9 Gg/year at 0% M.C.,
corresponding to 3.76 x lo6 metric tons of oil
equivalent. The study has likewise demonstrated

the viability and profitability of the use of forest

residues to substitute traditional fuels.
The mobilization of this potential forest
biomass for energy purposes would permit us to
obtain significant energy savings. Additional
important regional benefits would include the
following:
??Economic

benefits from currently unproductive forest mass.

??Utilization of presently useless residues.
socio-economic
??Regional
development
through additional employment and infrastructure.
0 Installation
of transformation
industries
which would take advantage of the areas
forest biomass.
??Protection of the forests by cleaning them and
thus reducing the risks of forest fires and
plagues of perforating insects.
??Decreasing the flight of currency, by substituting a renewable, regional energy source for a
foreign energy source.
Acknowledgemenfs-The authors would like to express their
appreciation for the financial support of the Consejeria del
Medio Ambiente y Ordenacion de1 Territorio and the
Consejeria de Economia y Hacienda of the Junta de Castilla
y Leon (Spain).
REFERENCES
1. J. Ubeda, Information

sobre posibilidades energeticas

de subproductos letiosos de 10s montes de la cuenca de1
Duero, Delegation Provincial de Palencia del Ministerio
de Agricuhura, Pesca y Alimentacion, Palencia, Spain
(1983).
2. Junta de Castilla y Leon, Cuantiticacibn de biomasa
forestal de 10s montes de Castilla y Leon, Report for the
PIEPMA Resources Subprogram, Valladolid, Spain
(1991).
3. J. E. Carrasco, G. Antolin, L. Ortiz, P. Ciria, E.
Gontilez y and G. Somarriba, Evaluation of biomass
potential and development in Castilla y Leon, Report
for the LEBEN Program (1992).

28

J. UBEDADELGAW and G. ANKIL~NGIRALDO

4. J. de la Maza, Criterios y factores que condicionan 10s

aprovechamientos
forestales, Instituto Forestal de
Investigaciones y Experiencias, Madrid, Spain (1970).
5. A. Bonneaug, Recolte et faconnage des bois de qualite
inferieure et de petites dimensions et moyen de les
utiliser efficacement, Seminaire sur la reduction des
partes de biomasse dans lexploitation forestiere,
Moseau (1982).
6. J. M. Jaquotot, Aprovechamiento energetic0 de 10s
productos resultantes de primeras claras de repoblaciones de coniferas, FAO/ECE/ICO Seminar, Turkey
(May 1984).

7. R. Puig, La biomasa coma energia renovable, Recuperacion de recursos de 10s residuos, ERSA, Madrid,
Spain (1983).
8. D. Brun and J. L. Perez, Combustibles Residuales y
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285-288, Madrid, Spain (1978).
9. J. A. Lopez, G. Antolin and M. Sanz, La Puju
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Cereales
Como
Ahernativa
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Spain