Biomass heat network in the “Fuentes Blancas” complex (Burgos)

biomass compte r boiler

Since 2013, the Castilla y León Regional Government has been carrying out an important program of energy saving and efficiency actions promoted through the Castilla y León Public Society for Infrastructure and Environment (SOMACYL).

Within the scope of this program, SOMACYL has carried out 30 actions for the replacing fossil fuels with biomass, through the installation of individual boilers and centralized heating networks that use wood pellets and wood chips as fuel.

One of the actions carried out is the recently completed biomass heat network of the “Fuentes Blancas” complex, which has been designed to supply heating and sanitary hot water to three buildings owned by the Burgos Provincial Council: the Assisted Residence, the College and the Nursing Home. The existence of welfare buildings obliges to assure with total certainty the energy supply 24 hours a day, 365 days a year.

The three buildings had boiler rooms that they used as fuel natural gas and to be replaced by biomass fuel, specifically by wood chips, from the mountains of Castilla y León. The complex also has a small existing solar thermal installation, which continues to support the supply of ACS.

The heat production plant has a installed thermal power of 1.500 useful kW, by means of a single biomass boiler from the manufacturer COMPTE-R with mobile grill technology.

Feeding system using toploader and redler

The silo where the chip is stored is a silo with a surface of 150 m2, equipped with a toploader system and a redler-type conveyor. The toploader is in charge of automatically feeding the splinter to the redler thanks to a mobile upper hinge. With this novel system, the chip is always kept piled up, making better use of the available space and also allowing the possibility of a quick unloading of 2 mobile floor trucks at the same time.

The annual production of useful energy is estimated at 3.150.000 KWh / year, which will mean an annual consumption of forest chips of 1.100 tons / year.

The facility has a buffer tank with a total capacity of 30.000 liters. The pipe network starts from the buffer tank, connecting the new biomass boiler room with the boiler rooms of the 3 buildings. Said pipe has been made of pre-insulated steel and runs underground, with a total length of 1.950 meters.