I don’t believe I have ever spoken to a Biomass Plant manager or Operations manager that is 100% satisfied with the overall operation of their plant. Some are on a path of continuous improvement while others are more complacent and believe their current level is the best that can be achieved. The range and levels of operation are as diverse as the facilities themselves. For many that want to improve the questions often heard are: Where do I start? Or. Can we improve?
Several years ago, I had the opportunity to work with the team at the Engie McBain a Biomass Power Station in Northern Michigan.
The McBain facility is a standalone Biomass Power
Generating station. It is a Zurn stoker travelling grate with an 18 megawatt De Laval condensing steam turbine. The plant fires a combination of hog fuel, railroad ties and TDF (Tire Derived Fuel). It’s a 24/7 operation and has a full-time staff of 21.
While there, I was fortunate enough to meet the plant manager Mr. Tom Vine. During our initial meeting Tom made a comment that really stuck with me. His unassuming comment was “we finally have the plant running at nameplate capacity”. I am not sure why this seemed so critical until I realized that so many facilities that I have been in had not been running anywhere close to nameplate and often struggle to make rating.
Tom has been plant manager for 10 years and has seen and lead many changes to achieve this level of success.
I have always thought that the best way to make something better was to talk to someone who has already figured it out. So, to bring this information forward I had a discussion with Tom and basically asked how he had achieved what others struggle with.
During this conversation the evidence came out that the plant was not running at nameplate but was actually at 110% of original nameplate.
When Tom became manager, the plant operated in a fairly typical manner and had it struggles. The wood chip fired boiler was producing 147,000 lbs of steam and the turbine generator was putting out
16.3 MW, which was the original rating. It is now producing 170,000 lbs of steam and 18.1 MW.
When asked how, Tom’s reply was basically Team Work and fix the leaks. We all know that is a major simplification but generally that’s what it boils down to is the following. Further investigation revealed that Tom’s approach to team work and continuous improvement were the key components.
One of the early efforts was the development of an efficiency matrix for the process. Tom and his team put together an analysis of every piece of equipment and where and what the losses or inefficiencies were. This became their road map and was used to identify what to focus on and how to go about it.
The focal point was grounded in their daily routine team meeting. This meeting takes place at the start of each dayshift and is 10 to 20 minutes long. Everyone, including Tom attends this meeting every day. This is where everything gets discussed, operations including daily production, issues, efficiencies and progress on project items. It also where things such as contract issues, the future of the plant and business issues that impact everyone gets put on the table…. Everything is in the open, a frank and honest forum.
Using this open forum Tom was able to define and communicate the vision of what the operation should be able to achieve. Everyone can put forward their ideas and suggestions as to how and where to improve. Then he says, give the team the opportunity and the tools to make improvements.
A point of interest that I think is probably critical to the success is the decision to upgrade the shift personnel to a multi discipline level of ability. This happened several years ago, and the attitude is that if something is broken you fix it. A pump stops working, and the parts are available it gets fixed on shift. No waiting for maintenance to come in or putting in a work order and waiting until someone can get around to it.
This format may not be practical in all instances. A union situation would make such an implementation difficult since areas of expertise and responsibilities of union members become blurred. However, the very direct line of issue of identification and priority still impacts the overall operation. Everyone’s focus is taking care of the most important issues at any given time.
A couple of stories Tom related to me were of people taking the initiative and creating and installing systems that created immediate measurable improvement in the operation. One of the instances negated a long-term test that Tom had been running but the benefit far overshadowed the loss of test data. He just started the test over. In both cases Tom was not aware of these initiatives being taken until they were completed.
Everyone wants to do a good job and feel like they are contributing. When given the abilities and the opportunities to do that good things are going to happen.
There have been books written on just this subject of clear and concise communications and how to keep alignment within your team. Mastering the Rockefeller Habits by Verne Hamish is the one that comes immediately to mind. This is a management strategy that is based around business goals and team alignment. This may be far deeper than most need but what has been demonstrated are:
- A clearly defined vision and goal(s) for the organization
- Frequent and Open communications as to progress and current challenges
- Allow people to take initiative.
- Never punish someone for trying to do the right thing even if it fails or the attempt has any negative impact associated with it. Safety issues not withstanding.
Many of the items that were addressed on the original Efficiency Matrix were not small items. Some turned out to be very significant.
The one the I believe to be the most significant was the identification of inefficiencies in the original design of the steam turbine. This was identified through a flow path analysis. When investigated it was found that the turbine could be improved, which lead to an examination of the overall turbine design. Even though the full redesign was not implemented for financial reasons several elements could be implemented for a relatively low cost. These included the inter-stage seal design, shaft packing and the location of the extractions. De Laval performed a reanalysis for this turbine model to increase its rating. When investigating this it was found that the model that they had could be relatively easily modified and the extractions moved to the new location thereby increasing the output capacity of the turbine while improving the plants overall heatrate. This was planned and budgeted for during the next scheduled turbine overhaul.
Other items were done over several years. $10,000 per year was spent on insulation for the past eight years. The top of the boiler house is now cool in the winter. This is a significant and easily discernable reduction in losses.
Over many years, they have reduced their fuel consumption from over 700 Tons per day down to 500 by monitoring the mix of their three fuel types and the overall plant efficiency. They have implemented methods to keep the boiler clean while in operation keeping heat transfer more efficient and reducing the need for frequent outages.
They have made cooling tower modifications and the list goes on.
Tom was quite open with the fact that when they are looking for any equipment they need, one of the first places they check is eBay. Keeping costs down and being practical is all part of the challenge.
These all add up to making a more effective operation.
This process is never completed. There are always ways to improve. Tom and his team continue this path of continuous improvement. They have just gone through a very stressful situation where their Power Purchase Agreement looked to be in jeopardy. Fortunately, this has been resolved and they are in the process of signing a new multi year agreement.
While being a full-time manager Tom also has a consulting business where he helps others manage and improve their operations. Berry Lake Consulting. Tom be found on LinkedIn.
Like Tom, many managers are faced with the challenge of making a biomass operation run smoothly. I have always stated that this is a challenge greater than most realise. While every situation and location are unique there are many common factors that can be drawn upon from this example.
Some may look at this case and say that there are special circumstances here. The component that the turbine configuration allowed for such a major advantage. The underlying consideration is that without the initial investigation as to how to make things better this may never have been uncovered.
The major aspects of this challenge can be broken down into People, Process and Equipment. Equipment challenges are typically easy to recognize, a piece of equipment keeps breaking down and limiting production.
People and Process issues are often harder to recognize.
The critical component that holds all of this together is clear and open communications. The daily patter of monitoring progress and challenges. That knowledge shared by everyone as to the progress or lack of progress to move forward is critical in achieving their stated goals. The fact that clear and timely goals are defined reduces the potential for complacency of staff and instills teamwork and commonality of efforts.
When working together as a team we can resolve many of these problems and create the path to more effective operations.
The first step is creating the plan and the team atmosphere to truly bring this together.
To find out more or initiate the process email or call.