Wet fuel troubles for school boiler
Golden Bay High School’s new biomass boiler is producing more smoke than expected but the supplying company is asking residents to be patient while it works on a solution. When the new boiler was being installed, the school was told that one of its many advantages over its coal-fired predecessor was that it produced virtually no emissions once it reached operational heat. The very noticeable plume of smoke issuing from the boiler’s flue has made some neighbours and passers-by wonder if something is wrong.
Living Energy supplied the boiler and managing director Rob Mallinson was keen to explain the situation.
“My company wants to apologise for the amount of smoke coming from the boiler in the last few weeks. The excessive smoking is caused by the wood chip fuel being much too wet. Unfortunately we had to revert to using this fresh chip – sourced from a sawmill in Motueka – as a stop-gap solution when we found the original wood chip supply to be contaminated with too much dirt. Of the six boilers we have just finished installing at schools around New Zealand this is our biggest headache, ...BIOMAS BOILER page 2
