Benekov

Coal

• Is the most frequently used fuel for automatic solid fuel boilers sold in the Czech Republic
• BENEKOV boilers can burn brown coal of the type Ořech 2
• Coal quality significantly influences a boiler operation, its performance, fire going out, etc.
• An important factor is the fuel bitumen content. If a customer is delivered coal with excessive amount of bitumen, then there are problems with the boiler operation. Primarily it is creation of cinder above burner, fire going out, etc.
• We are recommending fuel from Bílina supplied by Severočeské doly as a long-term tested solution
• The biggest advantage of coal is a very low price; disadvantages are necessary handling, dust, etc.
• Heating season costs of a usual family house with the heat loss of up to 25 kW ranged between 12 and 15 thousands CZK in 2009
• Coal is indispensable source of energy in CR. Prohibition to use coal to heat households, considering our dependence on gas and insufficient capacity of our nuclear power plants, is politically impossible
• Burning of coal is suitable for our customers, whose priority is inexpensive heating and time undemanding service at the same time. In comparison with gas or electricity, heating by coal is several times cheaper. In comparison with heating by lump wood or coal in classical boilers, the heating in automatic ones is several times less time demanding. If coal is burned in an automatic boiler, then it is possible to reach very low operation costs for heating and, at the same time, the boiler does not need to be serviced 3 or more times a day, like it is with usual boilers due to manual stoking
• It is to be expected that due to constantly increasing demands concerning coal burning boilers (higher efficiency and lower emissions of newly sold boilers) manufactures in the future will be prohibited from selling boilers that comply with the classes 1 and 2 only, according to the CSN EN 303-5 standard
• Suitable boilers for this type of fuel are BENEKOV ling 25, BENEKOV ling 50, BENEKOV C 15, BENEKOV C 25, and BENEKOV C 50. All these comply with conditions required by the class 3 according to the CSN EN 303-5 standard

Wood pellets

• Wood pellets are primarily different by their bark content. The whiter they are, the less bark they contain
• During burning of barkless pellets there is only a minimum of ash (less than 0.5 %), boiler operation is very comfortable, and it has to be cleaned only once per season
• During burning of pellets with bark there is deposition of minerals in the burner area and the boiler needs to be cleaned more often. The ash content is also higher
• Pellets should not be stored for more than a year, because they absorb humidity and can easily fall apart in the boiler feeding mechanism. Than this mechanism needs to be cleaned
• Pellets come in 15 to 50 kg bags as standard, or in so called big bags. One europallet can hold about 1000 kg of pellets. With the assumed consumption of about 6 tons of pellets per year in a boiler with nominal output of 25 kW, the fuel in a boiler room takes about 6 m² in one heating season
• Big advantage of wood pellets is their cleanliness and comfortable use
• Heating season costs of a usual family house with the heat loss of up to 25 kW ranged between 20 and 25 thousands CZK in 2009
• Burning of pellets is supported by the National Environmental Fund (by grants for wood pellet boilers)
• Burning of wood pellets is advantageous for customers, who are interested in comfortable heating with undemanding operation, and not paying large amounts of money for gas or electricity
• In the long-tem horizon we can expect that burning of wood pellets will be much more common than today; this market shows a long-term increasing trend
• Boilers suitable for burning of wood pellets are BENEKOV pelling 27, BENEKOV R 15, BENEKOV R 25, BENEKOV R 50, BENEKOV C 15 p, BENEKOV C 25 p, and BENEKOV C 50 p

Energy grain

• Scandinavia uses grain as fuel for about 20 years
• A European trend is burning waste grain that cannot be used for food purposes, cannot be sold, has excessive amounts of certain substances, etc.
• During growing of energy grain it is recommended not using nitrogen fertilizers one year before crops
• Quality of grain intended for burning is primarily influenced by mineral content
• Excessive amount of gluten causes "inflammability" of grain
• Heat output of grain can have large differences, which consequently influence boiler output that can be achieved. The heat output is most influenced by the above mentioned gluten
• We consider energy grain such grain that have, among other parameters, the minimum output of 15.5 MJ/kg
• Wheat and oats are mostly burned as fuel in Europe. Corn is a common fuel in the U.S.A.
• From the boiler point of view it is easier to burn oats rather than wheat. On the contrary oats created much finer ash, which almost necessitates use of ash removing equipment
• During burning of grain there is creation of clinker in a burner area. Creation of clinker can be limited by additives (e.g., quicklime) into fuel. Usually about 1 to 2 % of quicklime is added to the grain
• Grain goes out very quickly, therefore boiler parameters need to be adjusted accordingly
• Heating up of a boiler can be 2 to 3 times longer when using grain as opposed to wood pellets or coal
• Burning of grain is more demanding than pellets, however, it enables utilizing of a raw material that would otherwise end as waste without economy benefit
• Burning of grain is suitable especially for companies or people, who are involved in agriculture. Due to necessary handling of fuel, protecting of fuel against humidity or rodents, etc. it is not usual that grain would be used by people, who would have to buy it externally
• We cannot assume that burning of grain would become a matter of course, but in certain localities and under certain conditions it can be an interesting alternative to gas or other expensive fuel heating
• Boilers suitable for burning of grain are BENEKOV pelling 27, BENEKOV R 15, BENEKOV R 25, and BENEKOV R 50
• The most sold energy grain boiler made by BENEKOV is the type pelling 27 that we manufacture and sell in this version for the last 7 years to more than 10 European countries

Alternative pellets and alternative fuels

• Beyond standard certified wood pellets the market offers tens of different alternative ones (straw pellets, grass pellets, rape remnant pellets, etc.)
• The uncertified alternative pellets have very different properties, and it is impossible to guess how well and even if they are going to burn
• If standardized fuel, for which we know basic parameters (ash content, heat output, chlorine content, etc.), is not provided, then it cannot always be guaranteed that the boiler reaches required parameters
• If a customer decides to burn alternative “homemade” pellets in his/her boiler, than it is akin to using "homemade" diesel fuel or oil in his/her car. Who wants his/her car to last, uses brand name oils and diesel fuel, where the manufacturer guarantees required parameters of the delivered product. Using of “no-name” oils and fuels is cheaper; however, it usually means shorter life of a car or a boiler
• The alternative pellets may burn, and it is possible to achieve the nominal boiler output with them, but this cannot be guaranteed by the boiler manufacturer in advance
• In our Company we are able to test delivered fuels and express our opinion as to in which boiler and with what results this fuel can be used (what output can be reached during burning, how often ashes will have to be removed, and how often the boiler will have to be cleaned).
• We warn our customers against using various alternative fuels, because than can burn, but they also may not
• Definitely nobody should think that anything that is “just handy” can be thrown into an automatic boiler. If someone thinks that a boiler can burn anything, than he/she is usually bitterly disappointed.
• In general with all alternative fuels it is necessary to count on more frequent cleaning of a boiler (cleaning burners from clinker), and service life is lowered (alternative fuels usually contain higher amounts of minerals that cause corrosion during boiler operation)