Clarkson starts testing green energy with wood-pellet boiler

POTSDAM — It might not look revolutionary, but the wood-pellet-fueled boiler in Clarkson University's Walker Center is key to the college's campuswide effort to test alternative energy technologies.

"It's part of a grand view of an energy park on campus to test different technologies, so we can be a test bed, a proving ground," said Thomas M. Holsen, professor of civil and environmental engineering.

The 500,000-BTU boiler is fed via a conveyor from a nearby room full of wood pellets. After the pellets drop into the unit and are burned, their combustion gases go through a heat exchanger to heat water, which is circulated to the front of the building to keep offices there warm.

"It's renewable, because the energy comes from wood instead of petroleum," Mr. Holsen said.

The college installed the small boiler, which was produced by ACT Bioenergy of Schenectady, during its renovations of the Walker Center last year, but it didn't go into use until March.

This year, Clarkson researchers will have a whole winter to watch the unit in action and monitor its emissions for a state-sponsored study. The New York State Energy Research and Development Authority recently awarded Clarkson $164,506 to evaluate the pellet boiler, analyze emissions and study ways to reduce them.

"Clarkson's focus is on emissions. We're looking for particles and pollutants and comparing these emissions to, say, a fireplace or an outdoor wood boiler," Mr. Holsen said. "From NYSERDA's point of view, they want to encourage the use of clean technology."

The college's Center for Air Resource Engineering and Science is backing the study and providing support to analyze emissions for two other north country grantees.

The Wild Center, the Adirondack natural history museum at Tupper Lake, also received $350,000 to install a 1.7-million BTU wood-pellet boiler for demonstration and use in the facility.

Curran Renewable Energy of Massena will receive $300,000 to support the operation of two 1.2-million BTU high-efficiency wood boilers, which it will use to heat five buildings at its plant in the Massena Industrial Park. Curran, which began producing wood-pellet fuel in July, will be one of the suppliers for Clarkson's boiler.

Clarkson graduate students will be taking all of the emission measurements from all three units and analyzing the data, Mr. Holsen said.

"New York has an abundant need for high-efficiency renewable heating systems, especially in commercial-size buildings, such as schools, hospitals, and government facilities," NYSERDA President Francis J. Murray Jr. said in a statement. "Coincidentally, New York has an abundant supply of forest waste wood by-products that can be used as a home-grown fuel."

Philip K. Hopke, director of CARES, will lead the study. NYSERDA's goal is to find ways to make wood-pellet boilers more efficient, with fewer emissions.