Woodfuel Standards & Accreditation - Wood Energy Scotland

Quality Assurance and
Woodfuel Accreditation
John Farquhar
RDI

Some definitions...
Specifications –Mainly physical properties but can also include
sustainability and origin, these can be set by anyone; a boiler
manufacturer, Local Authority, your grandmother
Standards –They have specifications but also include methods of
testing for the specifications. These are set by a recognised Standards
body, e.g. BSI, CEN, ONORM
Quality Assurance –A method of ensuring and documenting that all
the standards are met
Quality Assurance Scheme / Accreditation – An independent
third party, monitors and checks that quality assurance is being carried
out.

Do we need really need
accreditation for wood
fuel production.....?

Why bother with Accreditation?
Product improvement–the accreditation schemes will introduce bestpractice
into the production, therefore product quality may improve as a
result
Error correction –if the production goes wrong, and you haven’t recorded
what you did previously, it can be hard to remember what you did in order
that you can correct it
Liability protection –if you can demonstrate you follow best‐practice, you
can’t be deemed to be negligent
Customer demand –there are several reasons customers may demand
accredited suppliers: 1) confidence the suppler can produce the correct
fuel; 2) customer gets a FREE independent arbiter should things go wrong;
3) RHI payments for >1MW systems demand sustainability reporting and
accreditation schemes are an easy way of verifying this, this may apply to
smaller systems in the future
Present a more professional image

What happens when
the new expensive,
shiny woodfuel
boiler isn’t doing it’s
job properly?

Boiler
supplier
Fuel
supplier
Quality Assurance Accreditation can help prove if a fuel was within specification
or not AT POINT OF DELIVERY
Or at least give confidence the supplier is using best practice and therefore
unlikely to be producing out‐of‐specification fuel

Standards...
EN ‐ Technical Committee CEN/TC 335 “Solid Biofuels” at the
European Committee for Standardisation (CEN) has compiled a suite of
37 standards and one guide. These are now the default standards across
the EU, countries which already had standards are now in the process of
adopting these
ONORM –M 7133 and M 7135, an Austrian standard which is often still
specified in the UK
DIN ‐ 66 165, a German standard occasionally specified (for pellets
mostly), used in the ONORM standard for testing
In a number of ways these standards don’t always suit the UK supply
chain structure, they can be biased towards large scale supply to power
stations and district heating schemes. Therefore sometimes we have to
adapt them to reflect our smaller scale operations, this is fine as long
as you document it

Standard reference Title
BS EN 14588:2010 Solid biofuels ‐ Terminology, definitions and descriptions
BS EN 14961‐1:2010 Solid biofuels ‐ Fuel specifications and classes ‐ Part 1: General requirements
BS EN 14961‐2:2011 Solid biofuels ‐ Fuel specifications and classes ‐ Part 2: Wood pellets for non‐industrial use
BS EN 14961‐3:2011 Solid biofuels ‐ Fuel specifications and classes ‐ Part 3: Wood briquettes for non‐industrial use
BS EN 14961‐4:2011 Solid biofuels ‐ Fuel specifications and classes ‐ Part 4: Wood chips for non‐industrial use
BS EN 14961‐5:2011 Solid biofuels ‐ Fuel specifications and classes ‐ Part 5: Firewood for non‐industrial use
BS EN 14961‐6:2012 Solid biofuels ‐ Fuel specifications and classes ‐ Part 6: Non‐woody pellets for non‐industrial use
BS EN 14778:2011 Solid biofuels ‐ Sampling
BS EN 14774‐2:2009 Solid biofuels ‐ Determination of moisture content ‐ Oven dry method ‐ Part 2: Total moisture ‐ Simplified method
BS EN 16127:2012 Solid biofuels ‐ Determination of length and diameter of pellets
BS EN 15149‐1:2010 Solid biofuels ‐ Determination of particle size distribution ‐ Part 1: Oscillating screen method using sieve apertures of 1 mm and above
CEN/TR 15569:2009 Solid biofuels ‐ A guide for a quality assurance system
BS EN 15234‐1:2011 Solid biofuels ‐ Fuel quality assurance ‐ Part 1: General requirements
BS EN 15234‐2:2012 Solid biofuels ‐ Fuel quality assurance ‐ Part 2: Wood pellets for non‐industrial use
BS EN 15234‐3:2012 Solid biofuels ‐ Fuel quality assurance ‐ Part 3: Wood briquettes for non‐industrial use
BS EN 15234‐4:2012 Solid biofuels ‐ Fuel quality assurance ‐ Part 4: Wood chips for non‐industrial use
BS EN 15234‐5:2012 Solid biofuels ‐ Fuel quality assurance ‐ Part 5: Firewood for non‐industrial use
BS EN 15234‐6:2012 Solid biofuels ‐ Fuel quality assurance ‐ Part 6: Non‐woody pellets for non‐industrial use
BS EN 14780:2011 Solid biofuels ‐ Sample preparation
BS EN 15296:2011 Solid biofuels ‐ Conversion of analytical results from one basis to another
BS EN 14774‐3:2009 Solid biofuels ‐ Determination of moisture content ‐ Oven dry method ‐ Part 3: Moisture in general analysis sample
BS EN 14774‐1:2009 Solid biofuels ‐ Determination of moisture content ‐ Oven dry method ‐ Part 1: Total moisture ‐ Reference method
BS EN 15149‐2:2010 Solid biofuels ‐ Determination of particle size distribution ‐ Part 2: Vibrating screen method using sieve apertures of 3,15 mm and below
CEN/TS 15149‐3:2006 Solid biofuels ‐ Methods for the determination of particle size distribution ‐ Part 3: Rotary screen method
CEN/TS 15370‐1:2006 Solid biofuels ‐ Method for the determination of ash melting behaviour ‐ Part 1: Characteristic temperatures method
BS EN 14775:2009 Solid biofuels ‐ Determination of ash content
BS EN 14918:2009 Solid biofuels ‐ Determination of calorific value
BS EN 15103:2009 Solid biofuels ‐ Determination of bulk density
BS EN 15104:2011 Solid biofuels ‐ Determination of total content of carbon, hydrogen and nitrogen‐ Instrumental methods
BS EN 15105:2011 Solid biofuels ‐ Determination of the water soluble chloride, sodium and potassium content
BS EN 15148:2009 Solid biofuels ‐ Determination of the content of volatile matter
BS EN 15150:2011 Solid biofuels ‐ Determination of particle density
BS EN 15210‐1:2009 Solid biofuels ‐ Determination of mechanical durability of pellets and briquettes ‐ Part 1: Pellets
BS EN 15210‐2:2010 Solid biofuels ‐ Determination of mechanical durability of pellets and briquettes ‐ Part 2: Briquettes
BS EN 15289:2011 Solid biofuels ‐ Determination of total content of sulfur and chlorine
BS EN 15290:2011 Solid biofuels ‐ Determination of major elements ‐ Al, Ca, Fe, Mg, P, K, Si, Na and Ti
BS EN 15297:2011 Solid biofuels ‐ Determination of minor elements ‐ As, Cd, Co, Cr, Cu, Hg, Mn, Mo, Ni, Pb, Sb, V and Zn
BS EN 16126:2012 Solid biofuels ‐ Determination of particle size distribution of disintegrated pellets

We want to be able to produce one of these with confidence ‐ Fuel quality
declaration for chip that meets BS EN 15234‐1:2011 Fuel Quality Assurance –Part 1.
FUEL QUALITY DECLARATION FOR WOOD CHIPS BASED ON BS EN 14961
Supplier
Solid biofuel Cooperative
P.O. Box 11
FI‐43700 Kyyjärvi, Finland tel.+358‐14‐000 000
Fax. .+358‐14‐000 000
Contact person: Mr. Pekka Hake e‐mail: pekka.hake@kyyjarvi.fi Contract number
SB1345678
Origin: Whole trees (1.1.1)
Country
Traded Form
Finland (Kyyjärvi)
Wood chips
So how do
we do
that??
Normative
Informative
Properties
Particle size (mm)
Moisture (w‐%)
P45A
M40
Ash content (w‐%) A2.0
Energy density as received
(kWh/loose m3)
Amount of delivery 300
loose m 3 /month
850 [kWh/loose m3]
Pekka Hake
Signature of assigned person
Kyyjärvi, 19 December 2005
Place and date

Methodology for quality assurance ‐ BS EN 15234‐1:2011.
1.
Document
the process
in the
supply chain
2.
Define
specificatio
ns for the
fuels
USING
RECOGNISED
STANDARDS
such as
CEN335,
ONORM
3.
Analyse
factors
influencing
fuel quality
and
company
performan
ce
4.
Identify and
document
Critical
Control
Points for
compliance
with fuel
specification
5.
Select
appropriate
measures
that give
confidence
to customers
that the
specification
s are being
realised
TESTING,
MONITORING
AND
RECORDING
6.
Establish
and
document
routines for
separate
handling of
nonconforming
materials
and biofuel

Normative and Informative Properties
Normative properties. These are considered
to be the most important properties of a
particular fuel and must be stated on the fuel
declaration label.
Informative properties. These properties are
considered less important but useful to know
and may be stated as a courtesy.

Typical critical control points for a primary producer
Biomass source –
young stands of
coniferous forest
Customer
Collecting
small trees
after
cleaning
and
thinning
operations
in the forest
Seasoning
Small
roundwood
Chipping
the small
trees
Storing the
woodchips
at depot
Transportin
g
Critical control
point: Moisture
Content,
decayed wood
Critical control
point: Particle
Size, moisture
content
Critical control
point: foreign
matter, moisture
content

Once you’ve identified the Critical Control Points, what’s the
minimum you could test, record and file away?
•File away all invoices for raw material purchased (evidence of sustainability)
•Test moisture of raw material with appropriate moisture meter over time to
monitor the drying process (recording this will help you learn how long certain
species take to dry, but is otherwise not a requirement)
•Keeping processing and testing equipment maintenance / calibration log book
•During processing take a sample for testing for particle size / dimensions and
possibly moisture, the results of these tests could be what is declared on the
delivery note
•Label / segregate each “batch” which would normally be a processing run
•If product is dried post‐processing, take sample, test moisture with appropriate
meter over time and record
•During the loading of the delivery vehicle take a sample, label and keep until
it’s likely the customer has used that batch. If possible test with appropriate
moisture meter (if so this could be declared on the delivery note)

Possible EXTRA workload associated with QA schemes
•Process description / diagram (one‐off)
•Formal H&S policies and records
•Segregation or labelling of “batches” of raw material and product
•Keeping and filing proof of felling license numbers (e.g. Invoice from timber
merchant)
•Keeping equipment maintenance / calibration records
•Extra monitoring of fuel quality before delivery and record keeping
•Detailed customer records
•Customer complaints procedure
•Record keeping system whereby all the information relating to a specific
delivery can be traced with a reasonable level of confidence
•Providing evidence as part of an audit from the scheme administrator

Fuel quality assurance schemes
Formally called Solid Biomass Assurance Scheme (SBAS),
now called ‘Quality Assured Fuel’
HETAS costs £350‐£400 first year then £200 ‐£250 ongoing
HETAS is UKAS accredited, government recognised.
HETAS have produced a guide as support for the scheme
‘Firewood Quality Manual’
HETAS can assure for both CEN and ONORM standards
ENplus –HETAS are the UK’s approved certifying body for the ENplus pellet
accreditation scheme. European Pellet Council agreed certification system.

•12 companies
accredited

Woodsure is free to register until 2013
Woodsure will carry out the handholding (for free) in order to get producers
accreditation ready.
Woodsure has the option of not covering sustainability criteria, thereby
reducing workload
Woodsure is not yet accredited with UKAS
Three levels of Woodsure accreditation:
1. Woodsure Producer –all accredited producers assessed as ‘competent’
as producing fuel to a suitable specification (Onorm or EN standards).
2. Woodsure Supplier –can supply quality fuel on a regular basis
3. Woodsure Plus – assessed using CPET guidelines

•29 depots accredited
•14 depots pending

In summary...
Lack of accreditation does
not necessarily mean a poor
product!

But it may mean a supplier
has difficulty convincing
others it’s not.....

Woodfuel Suppliers Group
All about professionalising the sector, and giving it a
voice!