Wood Chip System For Forest Products Company
The Process Challenge
A forest products company contacted S. Howes to design a system which would take residual waste wood product from a sawmill and convert it into a value-added product to be sold as animal bedding. The major challenges in designing the system included the different properties, sizes, and moisture levels of the incoming residual wood as well as the material’s flowability.
The Solution
Material testing was performed at the S. Howes testing facility to determine the specifications of the system. The system was engineered to convey the product from the sawmill to a knife cutter where the size of the product was reduced. The wood chips were then passed into a Snappy Shaker, where they were separated and resulted in a more uniformly-sized product. Our screw conveyor moved the wood chips to a baler where the product was packaged for sale.
Components
- S. Howes Adjustable speed, Horizontal U-Trough Screw Conveyor, Model 12U28
- Eureka Knife Cutter Model KC11
- Model #7 Double Deck Snappy Shaker
- S. Howes Inclined Tubular Screw Conveyor, Modek 8C15
The Result
The system currently processes up to 4,000 pounds of wood chips per hour and creates value out of what otherwise would have been considered waste.