Profitability of drying wood chips integrated into heat entrepreneurship

Moisture is the most important quality factor of fuelwood. It affects the profitability of supplying wood chips and the economy of running a heating plant. Most fuelwood is seasoned outdoors, therefore drying depends on the weather, and the desired moisture level of wood cannot always be achieved. To get rid of weather dependency, wood chips can easily be dried in driers connected to a heating plant. Most of the year small and medium-sized heating plants have significant excess heating capacity that could be used to dry fuelwood. This study aimed to present the possibilities and analyse the profitability of drying wood chips in warm air dryers as part of a fuel supply chain. It also aimed to provide calculation tools and practical examples for entrepreneurs and other fuel wood suppliers for understanding the basics of warm air drying. The investment in and running costs of a dryer determine how feasible such a drying method is as part of the wood fuel supply chain. The profitability of drying increases significantly if the heating enterprise can increase its sales because of a higher boiler output. Thus warm air drying of fuelwood can quite easily be made profitable if there is the potential to expand the heat clientele.