For a biomass production facility to stand a chance of achieving steady-state production and profitability, its material handling infrastructure must be well considered and expertly deployed. More than a few biomass-to-energy projects have failed because project development teams failed to adequately plan and resource their inbound material handling operation. This panel will offer insights and discussions of the best available technologies for both production teams at operating facilities and those teams planning new facilities or significant expansions.

• Lawrence Berg, RJM Corporation (USA), Inc.
  Materials Handling - The Forgotten Cornerstone To Optimal Plant Efficiency
• Amy Duncan, Dos Santos International
  Sandwich Belt High Angle Conveyors Elevating the Value of Biomass
• Sandra Eksioglu, University of Arkansas
  Streamlining of a Biomass Feedstock Processing System via Analytical Models

Arguably the best lessons in biogas project development are those lessons learned the hard way, while putting iron in the ground and willing a facility into steady state production. This panel is populated with the development stories of four very different operations and attendees will appreciate the detailed, step-by-step photo rich presentations. The breadth and variety of the applications featured during this session are a testament to the flexibility of biogas technology and will ensure that each attendee regardless of their feedstock or aims will learn something that is relevant to them.

• Carl Hinchman, Valkyrie Analytics
  Valkyrie Case Study: A One Year Review of Inline, Real-Time Monitoring at a Food Waste Digestion Project, Increased Energy & Improved Stability
• Randy Baerg, Warren & Baerg Manufacturing, Inc.
  Ground and Densified (Cubed) Baled Biomass - For Anerobic Digestion producing Renewable Natural Gas (RNG): Real World Experience from a New Facility - Things to Consider Seriously
• Matt Steiman, Dickinson College Farm
  Co-Digestion Of Brewers Spent Grain With Dairy Manure And Food Waste

Cookies, Coffee, Hot Tea, Soda

The Inflation Reduction Act, a sweeping spending bill that will carry the water for the ambitions of the Biden Administration, included an array of provisions for the clean energy industry generally and the biomass sector specifically. This panel will dig into how this landmark legislation may provide tailwinds for biomass power, biogas and wood pellet producers alike. Attendees can expect in-depth analysis from an impressive roster of clean energy professionals with decades of combined experience in project development, marketplace intelligence and industry advocacy.

• William Strauss, FutureMetrics
  How the Inflation Reduction Act Opens the Door to the Implementation of Bioenergy Carbon Capture and Sequestration in the US
• Carrie Annand, Biomass Power Association
  Charging Up Transportation with Biomass
• Lance Healy, FD Real Asset Advisors
  Navigating the Headwinds: Sustainable Project Finance Opportunities and Considerations in the Inflation Reduction Act and Beyond

An important function of our nation’s national laboratories is to conduct research that can demystify and debottleneck production challenges that have vexed or been ignored by private industry. Private enterprise seeks opportunity where commercial success is visible on the near term horizon and can’t spin their wheels endlessly on feedstocks or processes that haven’t been proven. The International Biomass Conference & Expo is honored to present this panel populated entirely by researchers hailing from our national laboratories for an in depth look at the biomass handling and conditioning work being conducted there today, with an aim to unlock more opportunity for more biomass feedstock streams tomorrow.

• Wencheng Jin, Idaho National Laboratory
  Wedge-Shaped Hopper Design For Milled Woody Biomass Flow
• Jordan Klinger, Idaho National Laboratory
  Influence Of Biomass Physical Properties And Comminution Techniques On Size Reduction Performance
• James Parks, Oak Ridge National Laboratory
  Multi-scale Simulation for High-Temperature Biomass Conversion
• Tomas Grejtak, Oak Ridge National Laboratory
  Improving Knife Milling Performance In Biomass Size Reduction By Using Wear-Resistant Blade Materials

Memphis Pork Shoulder Carving Station, Smoked Cheddar Mac & Cheese, Beer, Wine, Soda

Breakfast Biscuit Sandwich, Fruit, Coffee, Hot Tea

Southern Flair Buffet, Coffee, Iced Tea

To an untrained eye, wood pellet production may seem a straightforward mechanical process free of the nuance of the biological processes associated with other forms of biomass-to-energy technologies. Those engaged in daily production of wood pellets know that achieving consistent, high-quality production can seem more like art than science. This panel, populated with International Biomass Conference & Expo regulars will attempt to demystify the process, providing attendees with a pathway to follow from feedstock preparation through pellet cooling required to achieve and maintain high quality throughput.

• Kyle Hoffman, CPM
  Material Preparation in Wood Pelleting
• Jason Kessler, KESCO, Inc.
  Pellet Cooling & Storage
• Timo Mueller, SALMATEC GmbH
  The Pelleting Process
• Holger Streetz, Bathan AG
  Key Maintenance Tasks in Wood Pellet Plants

This panel discussion was organized in collaboration with The American Boiler Manufacturers Association and populated with experts from its membership ranks. These expert panelists will walk attendees through the practical considerations heat and power producers must consider when utilizing biomass fuel streams in industrial boilers. Attendees can expect a discussions in all facets of boiler operation including boiler design, the nuances of moving biomass fuels into a boiler and the effective use of centrifugal fans.

• Rich Clasby, Detroit Stoker Company
  Fuel Distribution Upgrades for Biomass-Fired Boilers
• Bob Langstine, Zeeco, Inc.
  Practical Considerations for Aux Fuel Burners on Biomass Boilers
• Doug Jones, New York Blower Company
  Centrifugal Fan Selection for Biomass Boilers

This two-pronged panel will tackle best practices in biogas clean up and the measurement of flow rates. Interestingly, accurately measuring biogas flow rates is hampered by the impurities typically found in raw gas output streams. Presentations in this discussion will share the techniques for removing impurities from biogas streams and then pivot to the technologies available to producers to measure gas flow rates without the need for traditional flowmeters so often fouled in biogas operations.

• Jeff Blair, Eastern Controls
  Advances in Biogas Flow Measurement
• Steve Milford, Endress & Hauser
  A Decade Since Launch – Successes and Advances made in Ultrasonic Technology for Biogas Flow, Methane Fraction and Energy Measurement to Support Renewable Energy
• Alan Vidal, Ecotec
  Measurement and Data Quality: Improve operations, facility efficiency, and meet reporting requirements

Breaking out of the Gen 1 biofuel production and into advanced biofuel productionbox involves a deft navigation of emerging technologies, non-traditional feedstocks and pathway approvals within the Renewable Fuel Standard. Each connect to the other and project success requires an understanding of this complex interplay. The presenters in this panel will attempt to bring clarity to these nuances, offering producers considering tapping into the RFS while converting dedicated energy crops or forest biomass streams a punch list of things to consider as they endeavor to bring their projects online.

• Annie Nichols, Carbonfuture
  The Carbon Removal Market: Bottlenecks and Opportunities
• Dennis Chafiâ, GIDARA Energy
  Future Of Biofuels: Proven Pathways To Utilize (Bio)Waste

Brownies, Coffee, Hot Tea, Soda

In the run up to the 2022-23 heating season, the table seemed to be set for strong sales year for wood pellet producers around the world. With Russian wood pellet volumes off the market, all signs pointed to a shortfall and anyone with feedstock and production capacity seemed well positioned for a strong year. At the commencement of this year’s conference, the heating season will be entering its final stanza and speculation will have largely been replaced by fact. Featuring a robust analysis of both global and domestic markets, this panel promises a data-rich exhaustive breakdown of the impact of sanctions and unpredictable weather on production, sales and inventory positions of wood pellets around the world.

• William Strauss, FutureMetrics
  An Overview of Global Pellet Fuel Markets
• Tim Portz, Pellet Fuels Institute
  A Deep Data Dive on Heating Pellet Production, Sales and Inventory in the United States
• Christian Rakos, proPellets Austria
  Wood Pellet Market Conditions in Europe

This second in a two-panel series will look broaden the view of boiler operations utilizing biomass fuels. This panel will build on the afternoon’s first panel and delve deeper into boiler conditions monitoring including two presentations on monitoring boiler temperatures. Attendees should also expect robust information about approaches and maintenance concepts aimed at preserving precious boiler uptime. Finally, this panel will feature at least two presenters who will discuss the opportunities for using biogas streams to fire boilers.

• Dustin Divinia, Vector Systems
  Avoiding Downtime with an Environmental Catalyst
• Jacob Halasowski, AMETEK Land
  Temperature Measurements For Boiler Optimization
• Ravi Jethra, WIKA
  Effect of Operating Parameters On Boilers Tube Skin Temperature Measurement Accuracy & The development of new improved Tube Skin Thermocouple
• Ed Verderose, Miura America Company
  Biogas Quality for Burners and Boilers

Anaerobic digesters are biological, powered by living populations of microbes. As such, their output is dependent upon robust and healthy populations of these living organisms. Achieving and maintaining planned for levels of biogas production is dependent upon monitoring the environmental conditions within a reactor tank, and making the right adjustments at the right time. The presentations offered in this panel will tackle both giving attendees and opportunity to learn not only about techniques for monitoring digester conditions, but also how to best react and make adjustments to bring biogas production back into healthy trim when necessary.

• Derek Walker, Hach Company
  Real-time Process Monitoring for Anaerobic Digester Health and Biogas Production Efficiency
• Amy Hall, Digester Doc
  Biology, Chemistry & Overall Wellbeing of a Digester Increases Production by 30% or More: Reviewing The Sciences Behind Anaerobic Digestion
• Elizabeth Seber, Advanced Cooling Technologies
  Development of Thermal Regulation for Biodigester Isothermality

Airlines have indicated repeatedly that once low-carbon, biogenically derived aviation fuels are delivered to the marketplace they are ready to include steadily increasing percentages in their fuel mix. These market signals are being felt all across the biofuels sector and the race is on to crack the commercial viability code and capture early market share. The axiom “first things first” certainly applies to biofuels production and sustainable aviation fuel is no exception. To consistently produce market ready fuel, producers must first consistently deliver feedstock into their conversion process. This panel will offer panelists with deep experience in material handling sharing the strategies they are perfecting for producers ready to engage in this exciting market.

• Steve Nelson, Wolf Material Handling Systems
  Solid Bulk Material Handling for Biomass-Based Gasification to Renewable Diesel, Sustainable Aviation Fuel (SAF) and Biobased Chemicals
• Neal Yancey, Idaho National Laboratory
  Advanced Milling Approaches to Improve Quality and Efficiency
• Jayant Khambekar, Jenike & Johanson, Inc.
  How JenZero^TM Technology Will Facilitate Advanced Biofuels Production in High Pressure Reactors
• Guy Penard, Yilkins
  Unlocking Biomass Potential

Muffins, Coffee, Hot Tea

This first of a two-panel exploration of dust management, fire and explosion mitigation is a reflection of the conference’s commitment to offer producer attendees that latest thinking in managing the ever present risk to plant personnel and equipment inherent in wood pellet production. While the nature of moving and extruding ton after ton of wood dust and flour means the risk of fire can never be completely eliminated, a robust suite of prevention, detection and abatement solutions are available to producers ready to aggressively attack the dust hazards inherent in wood pellet production.

• Timothy Heneks, Dustcon Solutions, Inc.
  Managing and Mitigating Self-Heating Hazards in Wood Biomass Production
• Jason Krbec, CV Technology, Inc.
  Safe Operation of Heated Belt Dryers for Biomass
• Bruce McLelland, Fike Corporation
  Explosion Isolation Flap Valves – A Deeper Look!
• Jeramy Slaunwhite, Rembe Inc.
  Application and Reliability of Combustible Dust Explosion Protection Solutions

This wide-ranging panel discussion features power, biofuel and thermal generation opportunities all unified by a common fuel source, waste. The biomass sector has long hung its hat on making saleable energy products from the cast offs from higher value manufacturing sites and waste-to-energy operations are the peak of that mountain. Attendees should expect a diverse discussion of the myriad ways in which waste streams are being utilized not only as standalone fuels but also how they are being used to supplement and enhance other biomass operations as an auxiliary fuel stream.

• Joseph Curro, CDM Smith
  Wood Waste/BioMass Combustion Utilized for Landfill Leachate Evaporation
• Lawrence Berg, RJM Corporation (USA), Inc.
  Modelling Solid Recovered Fuel (SRF) Combustion for Thermal Power Generation
• Josiah Hunt, Pacific Biochar
  Harvesting Reinjection Ash as Biochar; A New Revenue Stream for Biomass Power Plants

Moving a biogas project successfully through the project development phase’s so called “Valley of Death” requires a keen awareness of every available revenue stream, tax incentive, production spiff, tipping fee and financial carbon instrument available. Those producers who can successfully stack and fully leverage these financial benefits will see their projects graduate into groundbreaking while those that don’t will see interest in their projects wither as investors move on to better considered projects. The presenters in this panel are well versed in navigating the alphabet soup of state and federal programs that often mean the difference between a greenlit projects and those that end up back on the drawing board or altogether abandoned.

• Mark Riedy, Kilpatrick Townsend & Stockton LLP
  Advanced State of the Art Funding and Contractual Structures For Gaseous And Liquid Biofuels Project Financing
• John Reese, Weaver
  What's in Store in 2023 for Biogas/RNG under the RFS, LCFS & IRA
• Wes Younger, Trinity Consultants
  How to Keep Selling Biogas with Non-Negative CI into LCFS Markets

If there is a final frontier for the biomass industry, a strong argument could be made for hydrogen production from biomass streams. The Biden administration sees hydrogen and fuel cell technologies as a critical piece of its decarbonization ambitions. This panel will outline the opportunity for the biomass sectors within this up and comer in the clean energy sector, helping attendees understand not only the pathways from biomass to hydrogen production but also the funding sources available via the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law for producers ready to begin their own hydrogen production journey.

• Mike Cox, Anaerobe Systems
  Anaerobic Production of Hydrogen and Fertilizers
• Andrew White, CHAR Technologies
  High Temperature Pyrolysis Co-Products
• Dr. Brian Higgins, Dir. Advanced Technologies, Babcock & Wilcox
  Using Chemical Looping from Biomass or Waste Fuels to Produce Negative Carbon-Intensity Hydrogen
• John Pierce, Stroock
  Hydrogen Production: Carbon Sequestration and the Ag World

This companion panel to the morning’s opening panel continues the conversation around effectively mitigating the risk of operating a facility designed to accept, process and refine tens or hundreds of thousands of wood fiber every year. Together these two panels offer attendees an opportunity to lay their own dust management approaches side by side with the best available technologies and thinking available in the marketplace today. In the industry’s ongoing quest for a zero incident year, these annual technology and strategy discussions are invaluable for pellet plant production personnel.

• Geffrey Mitchell, IEP Technologies
  SIL Requirements and Explosion Protection System Reliability
• Christopher Giusto, Hallam-ICS
  Practical Guidance on Housekeeping for Combustible Dust Safety
• Timothy Heneks, Dustcon Solutions, Inc.
  Managing Electrical Ignition Sources in Biomass Wood Pellet Facilities
• Bruce McLelland, Fike Corporation
  It's The Little Things – Dust

All too often biomass operations experience a bottleneck in either their development or once they are operating in the form of the emissions limits outlined in their air permit. Any equipment supplier with any kind of tenure in the industry has received a phone call that a planned project or expansion had been scuttled owing to the difficulty in expanding their current air permit. This fact of life in the energy generation space has given rise to technologies enabling heat and power generators to maintain and even expand operations while staying on the good side of their permitted emission levels. These presenters will offer plant teams a survey of some recent technological and process advancements aimed at making the road to compliance a smoother ride.

• Zack Doran, SOLVAir
  Highly Efficient Acid Gas Remediation For Biomass Combustion
• Cameron Kiani, Precision Partners
  Utilizing Ceramic Filter For High Level Emissions Control
• Craig Anderson, UCC Environmental
  Modular DSI And ACI Solutions For Biomass Boilers
• Yves Marc Schade, Stela Laxhuber Drying Technologies GmbH
  Emissions On Low Temperature Belt Dryers Comparison Of EU&EPAs’ Regulations

Biogas proponents celebrate the technology’s incredible flexibility, rightly trumpeting the idea that nearly any agricultural waste, food waste, animal waste or human waste stream can be fed to a digester. While certainly accurate from a theoretical perspective, digester deployments certainly have their sweet spot. This panel features technologies that promise to expand that sweet spot, widening the scope of deployments where anaerobic digestion makes commercial sense.

• Hong-Shig Shim, Reaction Engineering International
  Hydrogen-enriched Biogas Production from Invasive Plant Species using Rotary Kiln Approach
• Andrew White, CHAR Technologies
  High Temperature Pyrolysis Co-Products
• Md Saiful Islam, University of Limerick
  Valorisation Of Dairy Industry Waste Streams To Produce Biomethane By Pretreatment Using Vortex Based Hydrodynamic Cavitation
• Xavier D’Hubert, Sebigas Renewable Energy
  Anaerobic digestion technologies. Not just yesterday’s technology. CSTR and anMBBR reactors for increased efficiency

This companion panel expands on the conversation started earlier in the morning regarding the potential in abundant municipal solid waste streams. This heterogenous waste stream is rich in opportunity but handling and conversion challenges abound as well. This panel offers a varied look at this waste stream featuring research from the USDA around the notion of converting MSW streams to nanocellulose ready for further conversion to a broader presentation surveying the current landscape of waste-to-energy projects in the United States.

• Gabriel Patterson, United States Department of Agriculture - Western Regional Research Center - Bioproducts Research Unit / Hughes Energy
  Garbage To Nanocellulose: Quantitative Isolation And Characterization Of Steam-Treated Carboxymethyl Holocellulose Nanofibrils From Municipal Solid Waste
• Scott Vanderau, Energy Transaction Advisors
  A Current View of U.S. Biomass WTE Projects in Development

• Juergen Joachim, Graf Equipment
  Advantages of a Direct Drive Pellet Mill
• Timo Mueller, SALMATEC
  Advantages of Dual Motor Pellet Mills
• Mike Curci, Amandus Kahl USA Corporation
  Advantages of Flat Die Technology
• Kyle Hoffman, CPM
  Advancements in Roller Assemblies

Long gone are the days of reactive plant maintenance, but opportunities abound for even the most progressive operators to take another step towards zero unplanned outages. This panel will explore both the preventative maintenance tasks and approaches will prolong the lives of important set pieces while also exploring some of the common problems that often get built into pipe and duct infrastructure and strategies to avoid creating ongoing maintenance issues during plant construction or expansion.

• Chase Sasser, UE Systems, Inc.
  Good, Better and Best Bearing Lubrication Practices
• CJ Horecky, INTEREP Inc.
  Common Pitfalls of Piping and Ducting Systems

This panel will expand upon the funding content in the preceding biogas project development panel offering a closer look at requirements to participate in game changing programs like the Renewable Fuel Standard and the Low Carbon Fuel Standard. Attendees actively developing projects looking to double check their assumptions about their eligibility for these programs will appreciate the expert guidance assembled in this panel. Also included in the discussion are a look at the changing landscape for the incentives for biogas projects and revenue streams not yet fully realized by industry participants.

• Ernie Pollitzer, First Environment, Inc.
  RFS Requirements on Waste Feedstocks for Biogas
• Jon Snoeberger, Trinity Consultants
  Intro to LCFS Programs: Market Opportunities, Entry Points, and Pitfalls
• Brad Pleima, EcoEngineers
  The Future of RNG
• Christopher Peterson, Husch Blackwell
  Unlocking Biofertilizer as Additional Revenue Source in RNG Projects

Algae continues to excite considerable research and early-stage commercial development for good reason. These carbon dioxide hungry microorganisms can be mined for lipids, converted into bio-oils or even modified to excrete bio-intermediates. The lion’s share of algae work continues to be performed at national laboratories and University labs. This panel boasts two presenters working on algae research in university settings together with a commercial presenter sharing a solution for removing water from algal biomass streams.

• Greg Loraine, Dynaflow Inc.
  Cavitation Enhanced Subcritical Water Extraction of Wet Algae and Biomass
• Probir Das, Qatar University
  Biocrude Oil Production From A Self-Settling Marine Cyanobacterium, Chroococcidiopsis Sp., Using A Biorefinery Approach

Jumbo Soft Pretzel with Deli Mustard, Coffee, Hot Tea, Soda

A longtime staple of the International Biomass Conference & Expo are discussions of the feedstock streams that show incredible promise but have so far failed to find their way into mainstream use. The agricultural segment is awash in waste streams that by because of their composition or Btu values offer tantalizing potential for project developers. Further sweetening the pot is that fact oftentimes these feedstocks have already been collected or aggregated by virtue of varying upstream agricultural processes as is the case in the two pistachio presentations featured here. The panel is rounded out with an update on the opportunity for dedicated energy crop production in the American south.

• Ray Ganga, Wellons
  Start with the Fuel
• Jayant Khambekar, Jenike & Johanson, Inc.
  Converting Almond and Pistachio Waste to Electricity – Case Study
• Jeff Norton, Vgrid Energy
  Converting Pistachio Waste to Electricity, Biochar and Biooil
• Aaron Pattillo, Vuma Biofuels
  Converting Sugarcane Waste to Densified Biomass in East Africa — Case study

Anaerobic digester deployments at wastewater treatment plants are commonly used generate process energy, but many biogas devotees point to unrealized potential for the technology at the country’s fleet of WWTPs. While wastewater streams lack the density of solids present in food waste digesters for instance, technologies and approaches are available to generate biogas output beyond what is required for the facility’s own use. Presenters in this panel will blaze a trail to not only greater biogas output but also the opportunities to use newfound volumes to generate even higher value co-products like remediated biosolids ready for sale as a fertilizer.

• Noah Carlson, BIOFerm Energy Systems
  A Unique Approach to Wastewater Digestion
• Joseph Curro, CDM Smith
  Wastewater Biosolids Drying And Pelletization Utilizing Landfill Gas As A Fuel