Walking Floors for Biomass Boilers
Biomass boilers are a fantastic choice for sustainable and efficient heating in the UK. Choosing the right fuel delivery system is crucial for smooth operation and the choices here are fundamental to a projects success. Walking floors provide a proven, automated solution for delivering large volumes of biomass fuel to your boiler.
Understanding Walking Floors:
Walking floors consist of a series of raised metal slats, mounted on runners, and actuated in sequence to the next slat in line. This creates a "walking" motion, pushing woodchip along the floor on this ladder of raised slats to a discharge conveyor at the end of the store. Actuation is typically a combination of hydraulic and mechanical.
Why Choose Treco for Walking Floor Integration?
At Treco, we have extensive experience integrating walking floors into biomass boiler systems. We understand the importance of a seamless and efficient fuel delivery process, and our team of experts can help you design and install a walking floor system that perfectly meets your specific needs. Below is a selection of pictures from a recent walking floor installation to help you visualise them, with an example layout drawing that can be downloaded here.
How Walking Floors Work with Biomass Boilers:
Walking floors are typically installed in elongated storage units designed for large fuel volumes, often exceeding 80 cubic metres. Here's a breakdown of their operation:
- Fuelling Up: A huge benefit of walking floors is their ability to be easily filled with large quantities of fuel in quick time. Certain designs allow vehicles to deliver by driving onto the walking floor itself. They then simply tip, or if equipped with a moving floor within the trailer, progressively drop the fuel into place on the walking floor. A robust walking floor can store fuel at over 3 metres in height.
- Activation: When feeding the biomass boiler becomes necessary, the hydraulic system kicks in. Its smooth operation allows for a measured delivery of fuel – forming a large part of the systems efficiency.
- Precise Movement: The individual slats advance sequentially, propelling the biomass fuel steadily towards the discharge point.
- Boiler Ready: At the discharge point, the fuel is seamlessly transferred to a conveyor or auger system, ultimately feeding directly into the boiler.
Benefits of Walking Floors:
Walking floors offer a multitude of advantages for commercial biomass boiler systems:
- Filling: Large quantities of fuel can be quickly loaded by tipping directly from delivery vehicles onto the walking floor itself.
- Automated Efficiency: Like all the fuel conveying systems Treco provide. Walking floors eliminate the need for frequent manual fuel loading, translating to significant reductions in labour costs and operational effort.
- Optimised Combustion: The system ensures a consistent, precisely controlled flow of fuel to the boiler, promoting efficient combustion for optimal heat output.
- Fuel Versatility: Walking floors can handle a broad range of biomass fuels commonly used in the UK, including wood chips, pellets, and even agricultural byproducts.
- Durable Design: These systems are built to withstand demanding fuels , effortlessly handling even large and bulky fuel materials at high moisture contents.
Is a Walking Floor Right for You?
Walking floors are particularly well-suited for commercial and industrial biomass boiler systems that require a high volume of fuel. Their smooth, unobstructed operation is particularly well suited to larger grades of fuels – the likes of G100 - and at moisture contents that normally evade a standard conveying system. Essentially, poor quality, variable fuels are no match for a walking floor. Should your site have the space to accommodate it, then a walking floor system deserves serious consideration.
Taking the Next Step with Treco:
For a free consultation on how walking floors can integrate with a biomass boiler system, contact Treco today on 01884 250790, by email on [email protected] , or completing an enquiry form here. We can assist you in determining the optimal size and configuration to perfectly match your specific needs and ensure a smooth and efficient fuel delivery process for your biomass boiler system.