RECONSTRUCTION OF WOOD

DISTILLATION PROCESS IN
HORISONTAL RETORTS
Sreko Tomas, Mate Bili,
Mirela Planini, Ana Buci-Koji, Darko Veli
J.J. Strossmayer University of Osijek, Croatia

Faculty of Food Technology

Wood charcoal processing in Belie Ltd.,

Factory of wood processing

Destructive distillation of wood

 Traditional processing of wood charcoal
 Chemical decomposition of wood by gradually
heating of wood (up to ~400 C) in the absence
of oxygen or any other reagents pyrolysis
 Products: wood charcoal & by-products

WOOD
RETORT GAS

PYROLYGNEOUS ACID
WOOD CHARCOAL

25 000 kg/day of waste, dark red-brown liquid with

characteristic, sharp odour, composed of:
80% water
4% methanol derivates
9% acids (acetic acid)
7% tar derivates and other aromatic substances
ECOLOGICAL ISSUE!

Process plant scheme of destructive distillation of wood in Belie

before reconstruction
necondensed gases

DISTILLATION

scrubbed
gas

2
1

1
1

retort gases and vapours (275 C)

scrubbed gas

D1

R1

R2

R3

R4

R5

R6

D2

natural gas

C1

C2

C3

C4

C5

C6

(R1-R6) retorts
(D1, D2) drying chambers
(C1-C6) cooling chambers
(1) condensers of retort gases
(2) pyroligneous acid tank
(3) scrubber

Proposition of issue solution

Starting point daily full capacity of plant (6 retorts):

 process: 65 520 kg of wood mass (25% moisture)
 produce: 17 042 kg of wood charcoal,
 produce: 32 098 kg of total retort gases and steams
(45% of burning compounds)

According to the theoretical calculation

 plant energy required: ~170 GJ/day;
 combustion of total retort gas with O2 supply produce the
fume gases (910 C) that almost provide necessity of heat
for daily plant work

Proposition

reconstruction of existing process plant!
 combustion of total retort gases and steams (condensation
phase is eliminated)
 produced fume gases use for indirect heating of retorts,
 after heating of retorts, cooled" fume gases (500 C) use
for heating and drying the raw wood mass in drying chambers

Scheme of reconstruction proposal of destructive distillation of

wood in Belie
natural gas
cooled fume gases
air

total retort gases

fume gases

D1

R1

R2

R3

R4

R5

R6

D2

(R1-R6) retorts
(D1, D2) drying chambers
(1) combustion chamber

Expectation ecological and economical effects:

 energy source utilization,
 decreasing of operating costs,
 process time saving,
 no production of pyroligneous acid!
 waste fume gases are environmental-friendly

Scheme of wood distillation plant in Belie

after reconstruction (2004/.2005.)
Classen Apparatebau Wiesloch GmbH, Weisloch, GERMANY
Enerkon d.o.o., Zagreb, CROATIA

GROUND FLOOR

OUTDOOR VIEW OF PLANT

UNDERGROUND

GROUND FLOOR
Combustion chamber

Road
Secondary air fan
Heating gas fan 2
insulation 100mm

insulation
100mm

Retort gas line

Stack 2

insulation 100mm

Natural gas line

Torch

insulation 100mm

insulation
100mm

Stack 1
Heating gas fan 1

insulation 100mm

Heating gas line

insulation 100mm

insulation 100mm

Dryer gas line

insulation 50mm

insulation 100mm

UNDERGROUND

Combustion chamber

Secondary air fan

Heating gas fan 2
Natural gas line
Heating gas fan 1

insulation 100mm

insulation 100mm

Retort pipes

Heating gas line

insulation 50mm

Reconstruction achievement

The main expectations of preliminary design are obtained:

positive technological-economical, &

ecological effects:

no

production of pyroligneous acid,

emission of pollutant is in accordance with Decree
of limit value of pollutant emission from stationary
source to air (Zavod za unapreenje sigurnosti d.d.,
Osijek)

Record production (~20% enhancement in regard to

production of long-standing)

Continue of traditional production of high-quality wood

production

Keep of 60 work places

Total investment: 11.000.000,00 kn

Production in reconstructed plant started

at 2005

Expectation: The investment will pay for

itself at the end of 2008

Acknowledgement:
Acknowledgement

Belie Ltd., Belie, Croatia

Factory for wood processing

Classen Apparatebau Wiesloch GmbH,

Weisloch, Germany

Enerkon d.o.o., Zagreb, Croatia

Thank you
for your attention !