Task 32 Workshop: Current Projects in the Area of Combustion

As a part of the annual seminar on wood combustion (27. Fachgespräch Arbeitskreis Holzfeuerung) held by TFZ in Straubing, Germany on the 5^th of June 2024, Task 32 had organised a workshop to present the work that has recently or is currently being carried out by Task 32 and in its member organisations on logwood stoves and biomass boilers.

After a general introduction to Task 32 scope and projects by the task leader, Morten Tony Hansen, the Norwegian member Øyvind Skreiberg presented findings from the thorough Norwegian project on woodstoves – SusWoodStove. Based on this project, Task 32 is currently producing a fact sheet on how logwood stoves can contribute to a sustainable energy system.

Wood combustion, particularly in residential applications, is a significant source of air pollution. Task 32 has made an inventory of remedial actions to control air quality considered by policy makers, regulatory agencies at state, provincial /territorial and municipal governments in member countries and beyond. The work was headed and presented by the German member, Hans Hartmann.

Headed by Austria, Task 32 has compiled a report on state-of-the-art residential biomass boilers that shows how advanced modern biomass combustion devices have become in recent years. Emissions as low as the detection level have been obtained. The findings were presented by the Austrian member, Christoph Schmidl, who was followed by the Swiss member, Thomas Nussbaumer, who presented how smaller biomass boilers in cascade can have more advantages in comparison to one large boiler, not least resulting in fewer cold starts and thus lower total emission levels.

Towards the end of the workshop, the Dutch member, Jaap Koppejan presented how biomass had successfully substituted fossil fuels in industries in a number of cases. He was followed by the Canadian member, Sebnem Madrali, who presented a recent study on carbon capture technology options for small scale biomass combustion facilities as well as a Canadian case study.

Photo: “Task 32 experts had the opportunity to visit the successful manufacturer of small-scale wood gasifier plants for CHP generation, German Spanner Re².”

See the program for the workshop (in German).

The presentations can be downloaded below.

• IEA Bioenergy: Overview of Activities of Task 32 Biomass Combustion, Morten Tony Hansen (Ea Energy Analyses, Denmark)
• Emission Levels and Emission Factors for Modern Wood Stoves, Øyvind Skreiberg (SINTEF, Norway)
• Inventory of National Strategies for Reducing the Impact on Air Quality from Residential Wood Combustion, Hans Hartmann (TFZ)
• Latest Innovations in Residential Boiler Technology, Christoph Schmidl (BEST, Austria)
• Cascading Boiler Systems: Smooth Operation of Automated Boilers in Cascades for Low Emissions, Thomas Nussbaumer (Verenum, Switzerland)
• Substituting Fossil Fuels in Industry – Case Studies, Jaap Koppejan (Procede Biomass BV, The Netherlands)
• Overview of Carbon Capture Technologies for Small Scale Biomass Combustion Facilities and a Canadian Case Study, Sebnem Madrali (National Resources, Canada)