St. Mary's Daily Press - Abbott Energy Systems produces first biomass furnace

Photo by Amy Cherry Abbott Furnace’s Steve Feldbauer, vice-president of engineering and Jeff Marzella, vice-president of operations and Abbott co-owner, inspect the ash bucket of the company’s new biomass unit.

Abbott Furnace of St. Marys recently completed work on a new biomass furnace as part of the company’s new green initiative.

Marketed under Abbott Energy Systems, the company constructed its first biomass furnace for Horizon Wood Products in Kersey.

“We were looking for something different to produce outside our current customer base. The main reason we did this was to keep people employed so we wouldn’t have to lay them off,” said Jeff Marzella, vice-president of operations and co-owner of Abbott along with Tom Jesberger. “We have good people and in this business our people really are our best asset. The people here are very good.”

Steve Feldbauer, Abbott’s vice-president of engineering, said the company was looking at what else was out there and noticed the popularity of green initiatives.

“We know what it is to heat, we know how to continuously feed things, how to control heat and combustion and convert energy and move it from one place to another. It just makes sense to create a biomass unit. We’re furnace people, if we can heat parts we can heat water or air,” Feldbauer said. “What separates us from current players in field is the level of technology and expertise we have. We’re taking our engineering and control expertise to actually raise the level of performance within the biomass industry.”

Abbott Energy Systems plans to offer two different products in their biomass line. The newly completed biomass unit features a cross flow design, where air travels from underneath and across the fire. This type of unit may only be installed inside.

The second option, a vortex design, is much simpler than the cross flow unit. The vortex unit is targeted to customers with available wood waste products that can heat a building. This unit can be installed outside and will be used a demonstration piece.

Abbott is planning to create a vortex biomass furnace for use at their facility, located on Trout Run Road in St. Marys. Designs and prints have already been prepared with construction likely to begin in November.

Biomass systems are not the type of systems used in residential applications but rather to heat larger facilities and institutions.

The cost of each biomass system varies as it depends on the specific needs of the customer.

Marzella said that he and Feldbauer worked together throughout the endeavor. They began by contacting experienced biomass personnel who encouraged them to pursue the project. Jesberger gave his approval to hire a consultant which the pair worked with for two months in reviewing the project before deciding it was a match for the company.

“The best case scenario was to build a wood grinder and biomass furnace by the end of year and even if it was for ourselves, we would use it to grind up waste wood pellets to heat our building,” Marzella said.

After speaking to Horizon Wood Products owner George Terbovich, the two entities discussed the project for two months deciding on building a complete system rather than a retrofit.

Horizon became interested in the new equipment as their current biomass furnace operates at 75 percent capacity, causing the production process to slow down or utilize natural gas in order to complete the process.

Upon receiving the order for the biomass unit in May, construction began in June and was completed September after allowing one month to conduct numerous rounds of testing. Testing involved utilizing computer models to simulate various circumstances including use of different fuels, controls, responses to numerous situations, testing the furnace’s limitations.

“This allowed us to develop an understanding that we can grow from. We will install it and run it in Horizon’s application and gain even more experience adding to the knowledge base for the next one we build,” Feldbauer said.

In creating the biomass unit Marzella and Feldbauer visited several businesses which currently utilize the systems. They inquired as to what they liked, disliked or could change and improve about the product.

Feldbauer explained the company prides itself on understanding the customer. They often design out what the customers dislike, keep what they like and add what they think would make their customers job easier.

They also spent a day shadowing a biomass operator in Kane learning the ins and outs of the equipment, particularly the daily practices of an operator that may not be covered in a manual.

“There are not many facilities nationwide producing biomass systems. We are at a great advantage with our in-house skills sets,” Feldbauer said.

Marzella added that it was a matter of utilizing the company’s skilled employees

“Although we are entering a new market and new customers, this is still within what we do,” Marzella said.