2-2.5T/H Wood Pellet Production Line in UAE

Project background

The papermaking industry itself is a wood resource-intensive industry. In particular, a large amount of waste scraps will be generated during the production process, such as wood chips, fiberboard scraps, shavings and pulp residues.

In the past, these materials were considered difficult to handle by many manufacturers, but in the eyes of this customer, they are untapped energy treasures. The customer hopes to use these by-products and process them into wood fuel pellets through granulation technology, which can not only provide clean energy for the boiler system in the factory, but also be sold to supplement operating income.

Raw materials

Since the raw materials mainly come from wood scraps, pulp wood chips and pine and eucalyptus fragments left over from processing during the papermaking process, the customer has put forward higher requirements on the adaptability and reliability of the equipment in the raw material pretreatment link.

Although most of these raw materials have high flammability, their shapes and moisture contents vary greatly. Some raw materials are wet, have high fiber content and prominent irregular shapes, resulting in the early crushing, drying and screening processes occupying an important position in the entire wood pellet production line in the UAE.

wood pelletizing process design

The entire process of wood pellet production line in the UAE consists of the following core links: slicing - crushing - drying - silo temporary storage - granulation - cooling - screening - automatic packaging. The process design is closely centered around the properties of its raw materials.

For example, large wood is first processed into controllable sizes by a drum chipper, and then further crushed into 3-5 mm particles by an efficient hammer mill to ensure that the raw material size entering the pelletizer is uniform; then, the dryer controls the moisture content of the raw material to about 12-15%, which is crucial for production capacity and pellet quality.

The pelletizing host uses a ring die wood pellet mill, whose stability and finished product density meet industrial fuel grade standards.

The cooler ensures that the finished product maintains hardness and size stability after rapid cooling to avoid breakage due to residual heat. After multiple layers of vibration screening, the final product enters the fully automatic packaging system and is finally shipped in the form of ton bags or small bags.

Although this wood pellet production line in the UAE is positioned as a wood pellet production system, it actually has a certain degree of versatility.

According to customer feedback, the equipment line can also flexibly adjust process conditions for processing agricultural waste pellets such as coconut shells, palm shells, straw, etc., especially in the context of the prevalence of local date palm plantations and abundant agricultural scraps in the UAE, this multi-purpose capability is particularly practical.

After mixing and processing, some raw materials such as date palm branches and leaves can also form pellet fuels with suitable density and good calorific value, which can meet the needs of greenhouse agricultural heating and industrial boilers.

Equipment configuration for wood pellet production line in the UAE

The core configuration of the whole set of equipment includes: drum chipper, high-efficiency hammer crusher, airflow or rotary drum dryer, automatic lifting and conveying system, ring die pelletizer, countercurrent cooler, multi-layer vibrating screen, automatic weighing and packaging system and supporting dust removal device.

The intelligent PLC system is used to link each link, which can realize automatic parameter control and real-time monitoring of output to ensure operation stability and convenient operation.

Prospects of developing a wood pellet production line in the UAE

As a pioneer country in the dual transformation of industry and energy in the Middle East, the UAE has continued to promote green economic development and renewable energy substitution in recent years. Especially in Dubai, Abu Dhabi and other places, the government encourages enterprises to carry out waste resource treatment and clean energy utilization.

Driven by this policy orientation and market demand, the localized production of biomass pellet fuel has become the focus of many companies.

The paper mill has precisely identified this development trend, and has increased economic added value through closed-loop utilization of internal materials, while reducing carbon footprint and enhancing the competitiveness of enterprises in the context of gradually tightening environmental regulations.

It is worth mentioning that the industrial zone where the customer is located has also been promoting the reform of centralized energy supply mode in recent years, requiring some large enterprises to gradually transition from traditional fuel boilers to renewable energy boilers.

The completion and commissioning of this wood pellet production line in the UAE will provide customers with a continuous, stable and compliant fuel source, further enhance its green manufacturing image, and is expected to obtain financial subsidies and carbon emission reduction quota rewards at the policy level.

Project Significance

Looking back on the entire wood pellet production line in the UAE project cooperation process, from the customer's initial expression of interest on December 22, 2021 to the formal signing of the contract on May 31, 2023, the time span is 17 months.

During this period, we had multiple rounds of in-depth discussions with the customer on technical details such as equipment solutions, raw material adaptability, energy consumption configuration, production capacity budget, calorific value of finished pellets and mechanical wear rate. The final project was sold for US$160,500, and the customer highly recognized our overall solution and response efficiency.

It is foreseeable that this wood biomass pellet production line will not only bring direct energy cost savings to customers, but may also inspire their broader layout vision in the field of renewable energy. If it runs smoothly, the customer intends to expand the equipment scale to 5 tons per hour in the future, and even replicate similar factories in other countries to provide new support for the construction of its corporate ecological closed loop.

From single paper manufacturing to comprehensive energy management, from disorderly stacking of waste to efficient use of granulation, this customer's transformation path reflects the actual needs of green upgrading of the manufacturing industry in the Middle East. And this 2-2.5 tons/hour wood pellet production line in the UAE may be a key step for them to move towards sustainable development.