Naheola Mill Biomass-Fueled Boiler

Pennington, Alabama

Vinmart Global subsidiary, TIC, engineered, procured, constructed and started up a 550,000-pound-per-hour biomass-fueled boiler operating at 1,345 pounds per square inch absolute/900 degrees Fahrenheit, and an accompanying steam turbine generator (STG) at the Naheola Pulp and Paper Mill. The new boiler and STG replaced existing coal units, providing higher efficiency and lower emissions to help the client comply with environmental regulations.

We also designed and installed a new baghouse, ash storage and handling equipment, a steam surface condenser, boiler feedwater pumps and a biomass fuel yard. The fuel yard equipment included drive-over hydraulic truck tippers/dumps, a truck scale, conveyors, a disc screen, a hammermill hogger, a circular stacker reclaimer, and a biomass classification and sizing system.

Work was performed in three areas of the mill with interconnecting conveyors, piping and electrical around existing equipment and structures. Primarily, the work took place in the 400-by-400-foot power block, requiring detailed planning throughout the project.