Visit to VERDO CHP plant in Randers, Denmark

Last January, the BIOFMET project members from DTI and CETIAT visited VERDO CHP plant in Randers, Denmark.

This plant provides power and heat to the town of Randers. Its main fuel is wood chips, which generally have a high water content (about 40%) and with significant variation (10-60%).

Figure 1. Wood chips of mixed quality (remark the color difference).

Figure 2. A front loader picking up wood chips for the boiler.

VERDO has online sensors based on microwaves (MW, Figure 3) and infrared radiation (NIR) to measure the water content of the fuel. The online equipment provides the means to quickly determine the water content of large quantities of biofuels, such as wood chips. This is very important for the fair payment for the biomass, for the control of the operation of the boiler, however, calibration of this equipment is a challenge.

Figure 3. Belt transporting wood chips to the boilers. In the middle is the online water sensor.

Figure 4. Boiler

Figure 5. Boiler

One key purpose of the BIOFMET project is to provide the metrological foundation and equipment needed for the calibration of the online sensor of water content. For example, reference instrumentations (transfer standard) based on multiband electromagnetic radiation and acoustic principles, and reference materials quantified by reference methods.

Figure 6. From left to right; Jens Ole Hougaard, from VERDO, Eric Georgin, from CETIAT, and Jan Nielsen, from DTI.