Woodchip boilers and district heating in theUK

Woodchip boilers

Woodchip boilers are large automated boilers which run on woodchip. Woodchip boilers are generally used for larger installations requiring a lot of heating and hot water, so we are talking hotels, large house complexes, manor houses, houses with swimming pools to power, schools, hospitals, etc. Woodchip heating systems are also used in district heating systems where one or more woodchip boilers power several houses. Often a district heating main is run past all the houses. This is basically a pipe through which hot water from the boilers is pumped. Whenever a house needs heat or hot water it just takes some of the hot water from the district heating main. A store is used to house a large quantity of woodchip which is delivered in by large truck. Because the fuel is relatively easy to process and transport the prices are also pretty good - around 3-5p / kWh, which is a lot better than using electricity for example. The woodchips are automatically fed to the boiler by means of an auger (a large screw type thing). The hot water produced by the woodchip boiler is kept in an accumulator tank. These boilers are very efficient achieving over 90% efficiency ratings and low emission levels.

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