combined heat & power generation from biomass mcbride project/phase 2 data/mcbr… · and...

Combined Heat & Power

Generation From Biomass

McBride Energy Corporation(Project)

British Columbia March 2008

ecoPHASER Energy Corp.Head Office & Laboratory:

Unit 101 - 26633 Gloucester Way, Langley,British Columbia, Canada, V4W 3S8

Tel: +1 604 755 9363 Fax: +1 604 357 1363 e-mail: [email protected] Web Site: http://www.ecophaser.ca

Copyright: C. Victor Hall & ecoPHASER Energy Corp, March 2008

The statements made in this presentation may contain forward-looking statements that involve risks and uncertainties, which may prevent expected future results from being achieved. Forward- looking statements include, without limitation, any statement that may predict, forecast, indicate or imply future results, performance or achievements, and may contain the words “believe”, “anticipate”, “expect”, “estimate”, “project”, “will be”, “will continue”, “will likely result” or similar words or phrases. Forward-looking statements involve risks and uncertainties, which may cause actual results to differ materially from the forward-looking statements.

The Company cautions that actual future performance could be affected by a number of factors, including technological change, competitive factors, the success of research and development programs, our future ability to fund our operations and become profitable, competition, securing and maintaining corporate alliances, our ability to increase our customer base, the services that we or our customers will introduce and the benefits that end users will receive from these services; the impact of entering new markets, market acceptance of the Company’s products, the strength of intellectual property, financing capability, reliance on subcontractors and key personnel and other risks detailed from time-to-time in the Company’s financial statements and other information provided to shareholders. Forward-looking statements are made as of the date hereof, and the Company disclaims any intention and has no obligation or responsibility, except as required by law, to update or revise any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events, or otherwise. Therefore, future events and results may vary substantially from what the Company currently foresees.

DisclaimerThis is a DRAFT document intended only as a brochure to advise the potential for a thermal combined heat and power (CHP) energy generation facility in the region described herein. It is not a feasibility study and ecoPHASER Energy Corp. staff have not yet audited the regional data provided. All representations are made on management’s best understanding of the facts.

Designer C. V. Hall discusses performance of a 40,000,000 BTU gasifier unit that has been in service in Wynn Michigan for 19 years, providing energy for a large industrial plant.

Contents

A dying Pine Tree, photographed Trout Lake, Kootenay Region30th October 2005.

Item page

Disclaimer and reader notice prefaceSite location maps & McBride information 2Features of this project 4McBride Community Forests information 4Introduction 5McBride contact information 6Current economic position of the Village of McBride 6History of the Mill at McBride 7McBride Project data file 8Strategic & Site Advantages 9Fuel for the CHP generating station 10Developer's scope of work 12Capital requirements 13Construction time frame 13Socio-economic impact 13Build and operation tasking 13Technical description of the thermal energy system 14Client heat & power uses with CO2 mitigation 19Northern Pine Beetle impact & description 22Proforma performance forecasts** 26

Notes to pro-formas 26Capital costs summary 27

Staffing requirements 28Operating forecast 10 years 29

Operating analysis 30Economics model 31

Material (fuel) movement analysis 32Energy Balance 33

Detailed operating forecast year 1 34Detailed operating forecast year 2 36Detailed operating forecast year 3 38

** see disclaimer opposite

Power Station

SiteLocation

FACTS & FIGURESVillage of McBride:

Population: 740 & growingRobson Valley: > 2,500 elevation: 722m / 2,350’latitude: 53 degrees 22 minutes Nlongitude: 120 degrees 15 minutes Waverage annual rainfall: 490mm / 19.5”average annual snowfall: 189cm / 6’January average temps: max: -3.5C, 26F min: -11.0C, 12FJuly average temps: max: 22.3C, 72F min: 7.8C, 46Feconomic base: forestry, agriculture, tourism

Features of the MBride Energy Project

• LargeCHPuseforVeneerProcessingplannedforthesite.

• Plannedgreenhouserequiresheatandpower.Highregionalsunshine index for greenhouse.

• CarbonDioxidetobeutilizedbygreenhouse.

• BCGovernment recentlyannouncedCarbonCredit tradingwillcommence.Thisprojectwillqualifyforcredits.

• Onsiteheavyequipmentfabricationandassemblyplantcanprovide structural items at reduced cost.

• YTO subsidiary Dong Fang Electric can supply discountedhighqualityturbines&generators.

• Mill will operates year round and will be controlled by asuccessful group of companies. Savings from the costs of heatandpowerwillensureongoingviability.

• Themillalreadyuseddeadstandingpine.

• Nofueltransportationcosts.

• Waste-derivedfuelisveryeconomical.

• Environmental clean up with replacement of beehiveburner.

• Firmpowercontractpossibleduetoequipmentredundancyandmodularenergygenerationequipmenteaseofswapping.

• Equipment redundancy reduces module duty cycles andguaranteeslongerequipmentlife.

• StateoftheartnearzeroNOxcombustionsystem.

• Powerdemandshortagesensurepotential for long termviablecontracts.

• Fuelavailableformanyyearsbeyondthe“beetlekill”glut,asthearea has diversified mixed species feedstocks.

• Local Village Executive and McBride Community ForestCorporation have already been approached to participate in biomassdisposalviathisproject.

• NoFirstNationorpublicconsultationissues.

• Beehive burner permit will be traded for permits for the lowemissionnewthermaloxidationsystems.

• WiderangeoffuelspossiblewithecoPHASER.

• CHPPlantisforecasttobeprofitable.

McBride Community Forest Information Capsule

Contact: Mike Frazier, Mayor of McBride.

On Oct 25, 2000 the Village of McBride’s proposal was chosen as the province’s ninth community forest pilot site.

The McBride pilot site covers 32,000 hectares and has an allowable annual cut of about 50,000 cubic metres. McBride works closely with companies in the small business forest enterprise program. As well as timber harvesting, the village hopes to encourage business and recreation.

The Corporation of the Village of McBride, located in the Robson Valley, has long sought an opportunity to provide the village and surrounding community with a greater socio-economic diversity within the scope of a healthy enviromnent.

The McBride and District Community Forest Corporation is designed to serve the social, environmental and economic needs of the community. In general terms, we will be managing the forest for all of its product potential rather than just timber.

Objectives include generating the following products from the forest:

1. Timber2. Water3. Recreation/Tourism4. Education/Research5. Healthy Living Environment

6. Botanical/Wildlife/Mineral/Spiritual

McBride Community Forest Corporation has a 99 year tenure from the BC Ministry of Forests

Introduction

This short-form summary describes an initiative that is still in the planning stage, but essential to the development of the subject village economy and the industrial plus horticultural operations currently in the community and planned for installation during the next two years.

Recent emphasis on tackling the resulting hazards and forest damage brought about by an unchecked infestation of Yellow Pine by Northern Pine Beetle has resulted in recommendations for government to assist the installation of facilities that utilize the damaged trees and thereby assist the removal of hazardous dry standing timber in British Columbia forests.

McBride was one of the communities that fell victim to the holocaustal forest fires in 2003 that were spawned from the great Barrier crown fire that engulfed and severed the British Columbia electrical transmission lines that feed McBride fro the south east via Valemont BC. The village and the local industries were without grid power for three weeks.

As with several communities in British Columbia that have traditionally been centres for and dependent on the forest services and wood products industries, the Village of McBride today finds itself in a situation where the largest employer, a veneer mill, is shut down, pending a restart following negotiations with a major Washington State-based plywood products manufacturer that is looking to ensure future supply of veneers via vertical integration of a Canadian subsidiary that is planned to operate the Mill.

The mill at McBride has been in operation for over 20 years. Now pending the new ownership and management of the Mill, the Village Executive has adopted a progressive approach to the problems of diversification from the reliance on one or only a few major employers into a more.

However, the village, which is the only large community on the Yellowhead Route between Jasper, Alberta and Valemont BC, in to the south east and Prince George, BC to the north west, is serviced by a small spur(25 kVA) transmission line emenating from the 138 kVA terminus some 10 km from Valemont. Accordingly , the Village of McBride, despite its strategic location in the centre of scenic Robson Valley, equidistant from Valemont and Prince George (each approximately 200 km. distant), cannot expand its

industrial, commercial or recreational facilities until a greater supply of energy is available.

Therefore, the success of this venture depends on the expansion of the British Columbia Transmission Corporation’s 138 kVA power line that currently terminates near Valemont BC.

The Project is also dependent on firm fuel supply of a minimum of 70,000 tonnes of biomass fuel per annum for at least 20 years. The Village has an arrangement with McBride Community Forests to cut fuel for energy if there is a downturn in the forest products sector, or the mills in the area are not operating.

The existing mill at McBride has a large beehive burner for residue disposal. There is three years supply of fuel stockpiled at that site.

The Existing Beehive Burner at McBride Forest Industries is permitted for use. Replacement with our state of the art (Near zero NOx) ecoPHASER systems in our Energy Systems meets the mandated criteria of BC Hydro and the BC Ministries of Energy, Forestry & Range and Environment.

No major problems to prevent installation are envisioned. The Mill is the largest employer in a 200 kilometer radius.

McBride Village Commitee Members pledged unanimous support.

Contacts at McBride:

Mayor Mike FrazierVillage of McBrideBox 519McBride BC V0J [email protected] 569-2229

The Current Economic Situation

McBride has been hit hard by recent downturns. Since the effects of the fire in 2003, the local cedar mill closed and a series of events, (listed next page), brought about the closure of the major mill employer, McBride Forest Industries Inc. and the sale of its timber harvesting rights

to a Valemont operator, effectively damaging the socio-economic fabric of the community by removing the money benefits of the employment and revenues.

The community has therefore expanded its Community Forests efforts and now looks to its strengths as a rail town with existing skills in a workforce that must soon be back in production. The Village retained Mr Gordon Murray, a noted mill expert and forestry industry financial consultant, to garner new interest and business and perhaps revitalize the Mill with McBride Community Forest timber feedstock.

Mr. Murray has a major Washington based ply producer committed to operate the Mill, if creditor arrangements can be met. If that is successful, a 24mW CHP plant can be placed adjacent to the Mill, thereby creating the energy to revitalize the community by attracting industry to the area, which is restricted by the small power supply service in place. The economics of providing heat to the mill and power to the electrical grid (which does not service the Yellowhead Robson Valley route adequately to support industrial growth), are such that ecoPHASER Energy Corp are satisfied that the CHP plant will be a profitable venture.

Initiatives for run-of-the-river hydro power generation from sources less than 20km south east of McBride have prompted requests to BCTC to extend the 138 kVA line fro Valemont. Whereas, the ecoPHASER initiative offers firm power with a minimum 95% up time (100% target), the hydro generators will be subject to the typical seasonal flow fluctuations, peaking at 80 mW.

Marc von der Gonna, RSPGeneral ManagerMcBride Community Forests100 Robson CentreP.O. Box 519McBride, BC V0J [email protected] 569-2229

The Current Economic Situation (continued)

The hydro system developer has offered to build the line extension from Valemont to the hydro generation site. This will leave the line 20 km short of McBride. The challenge for BCTC is to balance the seasonal (freshnet) burgeoning of an 80 mW hydro-electric generation supply with a

steady, 24 mW firm thermal power output from ecoPHASER McBride.

ecoPHASER Energy Corp is satisfied that it can garner continuous fuel supplies for its operations for 30 years, working with the community. The power generating imnitiative will bring 25 new (directly employed) jobs.

The USA based operator in negotiation for the Mill (which in our opinion should be a community-owned asset) is interested in long term supply of plywood component veneers due to the volatility of supply in their home region, is expert in running veneer plants very profitably and has capital available for long term operations and the necessary modernization upgrades for the plant at the former MFI site. They are not interested in owning Canadian real estate, but are capable of providing the necessary jobs and socio-economic benefits needed in the McBride community. They have researched the project for two years.

Additionally, ecoPHASER can provide the process heat for the MFI Mill, kiln drying heat for product and district heating for potential new industries in McBride.

However, the future of the MFI site is entanged with the former West Fraser Stakeholders who have already received a large sum from the sale of the timber rights.

Notwithstanding the MFI debacle, a stategically placed CHP plant in Mcbride, (an area not serviced adequately by the BCTC power grid) is a sensible next step for the Province to be able to stimulate regional growth. The project is feasible and will help generate not only power, but community stability.

History of the Mill

Short point-form history and data of the former McBride Forest Industries Inc. (MFI) mill.

Founded as a profitable satellite operation of Zeidler Forest Industries Ltd. of Alberta, 1972.•Zeidler sold the mill Oct 1999 due to consolidation back into Alberta.•McBride community (population: 700) organized takeover.•West Fraser ran the business without success until June 2000.•Local forest industry, silviculture and environmental logging expert made CEO, June 2000.•Minority controlling ownership with residual West Fraser stakeholders.•Different agendas of stakeholders make strategic management political & difficult.•MFI team turned the business from loss to small profit.•The profit margin was restricted by $2,000,000 per year by the inability to dry finished product.•Undercapitalized expansion to achieve modernization, by installation of a new production line 2005.•Before the drying system was intalled, the expansion effort ran out of capital.•Lack of confidence in management caused creditor moves to foreclosure.•

The MFI site has a huge beehive burner that is permitted for the site. The plan is to replace the beehive with the minimum emission CHP plant from ecoPHASER.

McBride Data File Point form Executive SummarySite Size: 2 options:86 acres & 40 acres Current use: Sawmill / unused Future use: Industrial Mall includes Olympic Panel, ecoPHASER & TS2000-Star

Future expansion: Immediate- High quality veneer production

Industrial operations planned for site: • Sawmill operations currently suspended • Oil Rig Mat production (TS2000) currently in operation elsewhere • Heavy construction, oil field & transportation equipment assembly (TS2000-Star) 2009 on • Gasification & Power Equipment Manufacture (ecoPHASER Energy Corp) 2009 on • High Quality Veneer production (Olympic Panel candidate) 2008 on • W2E CHP Power Generation (Consortium) 2009 (heat) 2010 on CHP)

Adjunct operations planned • 8 acre greenhouse: Organic crops, Aquaponics ecoGROW Corporation (CHP client) • Server farm & Internet hub/communications relay station (PSD Shorebridge) 2009 Information sites: http://www.ecophaser.ca http://www.mcbride.ca/ http://www.ts2000-star.com http://www.etwm.ca http://www.ecogrow.ca http://www.shorebridge.ca/

CHP: Phase 1 - 2009 • 3 ecoPHASER initial setup 66% redundancy • 3 x 52,000,000 BTU units • 1 x 6 mW DongFang Steam turbine & switchyard • Hot oil circuit to veneer dip, steamers, kiln & buildings heat requirements per attached diagram

CHP: Phase 2 – 2010add: • 2 x 6 mW DongFang Steam turbines • Cooler circuit to server farm • Oil circuit expansion + power feed to greenhouse.

McBride: Strategic & Site AdvantagesSummary of benefits offered by proposed McBride cogeneration facility:

√ WoodbasedbiomassfuelsupplyavailablelocallyfromCommunityForestsCorporation.√ Largestockpileoffuelavailable.√ Majorpartof infrastructurealreadyona localsite toallowprocessingofbiomass togasifier feed

requirement √ ExistingMinistryofEnvironmentemissionspermitstransferable.√ LocatedalongsideRoute16YellowheadHighway.√ Highwayaccesswithturnoutsandsafetymarkinginplace.√ CanadianNationalrailspursonsite.√ Safehelicopterlandingsitealreadyestablished.√ Substantialwaterreservoirandlicencesinplace.√ Firehydrantsandfireprotectioninfrastructureinplace.√ Surplusheatuseonsiteavailableanddevelopingnewprojects.√ AmplespaceforenvironmentallyacceptableCO2useproject..√ Rurallocation.√ Localitydesignateda‘depressedarea’.√ Dependablelocalworkforcewithdiverseskills.√ Largenumberofyoungerworkerswishingtoremaininareaandkeen

to enroll in apprenticeship training programmes at all levels from maintenance engineers to certified steam and electrical engineers.

√ Workforcehasverylowturnoverrate.

Fuel Supply Potential.We list opposite the strategically viable fuel supply potential for forest related biomass available to us at this time and in the foreseeable future.

Projected Volumes Available.

McBride Community Forest Corporation’s biomass consisting of forestry debris & byproduct. Bark and sawdust from existing milling operations within an economic radius. The Project is focussing on utilising the much publicised pine beetle attack trees as well s old growth and partially decadent hemlock and fir common to the area. McBride is currently negotiating for a further 55,000 cubic metres per nnum cut from nearby Crown holdings.

Single shift production of waste is forecast at 90 tons per day and will increase to approximately 150 tons if extra shifts are introduced.

There are other mills in the area who are currently open burning their waste. When a gasifier is on line they will be pressured by the Environment Ministry and will need to direct their waste to the gasifier for disposal. Estimated volume will be 60 tons per day from the Valemont Mill alone.

Beetle kill, Fire damaged and salvage wood biomass which is unacceptable for sawmilling operations is currently open burned. Again the Environment Ministry could redirect the material to a gasifier operation for safe clean disposal with near zero NOx emissions.

Average volume local to McBride would equate to 250 tons per day. There is 300,000 tonnes stockpiled and under MOE order to dispose of.

There is a significant further volume of over mature timber available on an annual basis in the area. This consists of trees dropped during harvest operations but left in the bush by contractors as being of too low a value to be worth transporting. If the Ministry of Forests can be convinced to allow extraction of this wood at a nominal price per tonne and without affecting the contractor or license holders annual allowable cut volumes, a considerable annual tonnage could be used commercially and with considerably less emissions than if left to rot in the bush. Estimated volume could easily be in excess of 200 tons per day.

TS2000-Star/Yto/Heromin loader moving Yellow Pine (blued Northern Pine Beetle-kill) chips:February 2007

Robson Valley timber operations often leave the lower value hemlock and much residual waste as unwanted debris. In another example, The Burns Lake Community Forest offers 200,000 tonnes of residuals per year, never before taken into account.

It is ecoPHASER Energy Corp’s belief that at least the same amount can be gathered from gleaning regional operations in the McBride catchment.

Investigations into fuel sources are ongoing. The plant may be a 36 mW CHP if this data proves the case.

Wood Supply: McBride Community ForestsSuppliers include: Major licensees, BCTS, community forests, woodlots, NRFL’s, unallocated volume, undercut, private land.

Total AAC (allowable annual cut)from TSR 3, net of woodlots and MCFC is 536,000 m3

Apportionment Aug 4, 2006 as: 283,930 m3 forest licenses, replaceableCarrier (former MFI)186,428 m3VFP 75,018 m3Bell Pole 11,112 m3Hauer Bros 11,372 m3

81,468 m3 forest licenses, non-replaceable

Baggett 10,000 m3MCFC 10,000 m3108,980 m3 BCTS55,000 m3 Community forests (Valemount & Dunster)5,360 m3 forest service reserve1,262 m3 forest service reserve (salvage)

Based on this, there is unallocated NRFL volume + approximately 700,000 m3 of undercut. MCFC has 50,000 m3 AAC on 25 year CFA 7 woodlots 6,377 m3 Total area 1,458,548 ha Total Crown forested land base 562,727 ha or 38.6 %Net total THLB 210,691 or 37% of CFLB or 14% of total land area

Constraints – parks, environmentally sensitive areas, inoperable, riparian, caribouOther tenures – grazing tenures, guide outfitters, commercial recreation, trappers, water users

Almost 50% of THLB is in ESSFmm1, also ICH and SBSAbout half of THLB is spruce leading, balsam and pine about 18% each, cedar hemlock and Douglas fir about 5% each, also 3% deciduous leading.TSA is dominated by older stands with over 50% of the stands greater than 140 years of age, and 30% greater than 250 yearsTimber is of variable quality (some really exceptional spruce in valley bottoms good for tone wood but poorer quality, tapered wood at higher elevations).Older Douglas fir vets yields some good clear wood for flooring but also prone to rot. Younger 80 year old (2nd growth) stands better for veneerPine good quality but being hit by pine beetle, therefore needs to goBalsam OKCedar highly variable and poor. Shows good color. Highly suitable for post and rail fence productionHemlock also highly variablePrimary value in deciduous is in birch – historically under utilized

Raw logs can be purchased from woodlots, community forests, NRFL’s, BCTS (approximately 300,000 m3 annually) and from forest licensees – currently very little volume is processed in the valley (only Hauer Bros, small sawmills and cedar post and rail mill)

Technical Brief Courtesy of: Marc von der Gonna, RSPGeneral Manager, McBride Community Forests

Scope of Work to develop the Project

ecoPHASER Energy Corp (“ecoPHASER”) will manage the Project development & installation. The scope of consultancy and service work by ecoPHASER as Project Developer is as follows:

• Liaison with Civil Engineers (etc.) and City/Country/Provincial Officials.• Research and planning for environmental compliance.• Research and planning for operational logistics.• Structuring applications for permits.• Structuring applications to meet BC Hydro sustainability enviro-power compliance.• Structuring applications and service cycles to meet Prevention of Significant Deterioration (PSD) and performance degradation mitigation CCME compliance.• Executive overseeing of geotechnical survey and planning of site and leachate mitigation reference groundwater compliance.• Design of site landscaping, (plus soil remediation and gas extraction/capture system if required) to provide aesthetics plus habitat repatriation.• Architectural design of all site buildings to an aesthetically appealing standard, that meets the demands of mountain weather patterns.• Design of the biomass sorting systems, materials handling, recycling, fuel storage, power generation and emission control systems.• Procurement of all components, systems and services/sub-contractors for the Project.• Recruitment, screening and training of local personnel for construction and operation of the project.• Run up and debugging of the Project.

ecoPHASER Energy Corp (“ecoPHASER”) will also undertake the following optional executive and management work.

• Surplus heat capture for thermal industrial or local heating requirements.• Carbon Dioxide capture and liquefaction for greenhouse use.• Design and delivery of a greenhouse if required.• Transpiration carbon (GHG CER) credit creation and placement.• CO2 lift avoidance carbon (GHG CER) credit creation and placement.• BC Hydro, provincial or federal financial assistance,

grants, subsidized loans,environmental adder accreditation or tax credit applications and placements.

• Grants and job assistance credit applications for indigenous personnel.• Expansion phased management.

Capital Requirement for CHP Plant

This is a preliminary proposal. The feasibility study and business plan have been commissioned by not yet commenced. Accordingly all data in this section is from management estimates based on experience, but not derived from in-depth analyses.

Estimated Capital Cost • $ $51,257,030

Time FrameThe following is from date of finance confirmation (dependent on time of year):

Estimated Build Time 18 months (allows for a winter season)•

Economic Benefits of CHP PlantThe economic benefits fall into several categories that will be analyzed in detail in the feasibility study, but in essence, we believe the following will occur:

Socio-economic: • McBrides’s new power plant will create 25 direct permanent jobs for operations and maintenance, but its main effect will be the indirect creation of at least 100 new permanent positions between mill expansion, the heavy equipment assembly plant and the veneer mill. These are conservative estimates. Spin off wealth creation and sub-contract supplier opportunities will also occur in line with standard typical models.

Design, Construction, Installation and Operation of the CHP Plant

ecoPHASER Energy Corp. will manage all aspect of the development and installation of the CHP plant. Once the plant is commissioned, we recommend that an independent firm is appointed for operations, backed up for service of equipment by ecoPHASER trained contractors.

Firebox

Log Soak Tank

Debarker

Oil RadiatorOil Radiator

Peeled Logs

Solid to Gas Phase Reactor

CombustionVenturi & Burner

Oil-HeatedWater Boiler

Steam Storage

Drying Kiln

Screw Feed

Wood Waste Fuel

OIL Heat Exchanger

Waste Wood & bark

Hot Thermax Oil675 o F

P-4

Oil RadiatorOil Radiator

Hot Oil Hot Oil

Hot OilReturn

Hot Oil

Humidifier

Small BoreSteam Feed

Large BoreSteam Feed

To VeneerSteam Processes

Hot Oil ReturnOptional Mini Turbine

Power System

RamJet

PHASER

The reader is cautioned that the coal cleaning technologyisproprietarytoecoTECHWasteManagement Systems (1991) Inc. and the thermal technology is proprietary to ecoPHASEREnergyCorp.Thisdataispresentedinthestrictestconfidence,undernon-disclosureandnon-circumventionconditions.

The ecoTECH “ThermaxR” Process Heat Delivery Circuit System: Thermax is a registered trade name of Royal Dutch Shell Corporation

Thermal biomass fuel gasification for industry: Veneer Mills

ecoPHASER Energy Corp. offers a complete system for waste-to-energy thermal preparation, steam processes and

finishing, log soaking and product drying for softwood lumber and veneer mills.

The cost of energy using fossils fuels is escalating to a point where many industries are finding the use of these fuels uneconomic. However, softwood producers, especially veneer peeling and processing operators are blessed with a waste fuel from bark, limbs and off-cuts that, with the right system, can provide clean, economical, sustainable energy for heat and in some cases, combined heat & power (CHP) opportunities.

The usual problems with handling these grit laden and sometimes soaked fuels are overcome by use of the ecoPHASER system. The ecoTECH Veneer Mill System is described in this addendum.

The Company designs every system to suit client needs. Thermal devices from 6 million BTU to 52 million BTU heat output can be deployed. The System utilizes a Thermax™ oil circuit for heat transfer, so small bore, safe heat transfer pipes deliver heat to strategically placed heat exchangers for localized heat. For example the log soaker has a recirculating pump and sand filter for a closed loop water system and the heat is provided by superheat radiators that are thermostatically controlled, located under the lip of the water pit to prevent damage when the logs are loaded.

ecoPHASER is able to utilize an enhanced version of the combustion system to dry wood products to industry accepted levels for “kiln or enhanced naturally dried” standards for veneer and softwood lumber.

This results in wider market opportunities for the products and an anticipated 27% reduction in the weight of shipped product, resulting in a huge reduction in shipping costs, which also are escalating due to fuel price increases.

The primary (veneer) product, if shipped “green” (>35% moisture) is transported by road and rail in stacks that do not fill the available per car or per trailer load space, because the weight of the stacks reaches maximum legal weight load limits at lower volumes, so more cars or trailers are needed than if the available space on these vehicles could be filled; hence the high cost of shipping.

This needed saving is so critical in these current times of low profitability in the industry, it can ensure fiscal survival of marginal operations.

Mk 7 52 MBtuecoPHASER

Fuelfeed

Ash Augur

See-throughoperation

Sonic Standing Wave400HzNear-zeroNOxBurner

Solid to gas phase reactor

The thermal solid fuel gasification reactor

Overview

When looking at the requirements for thermal processes, where wood is the prime ingredient and fuel, the variances of specifications for

wood and the actual make up of the received fuel is of paramount importance in calculating throughput and volumes of fuel required. The local sources type and thermal yield, plus both the passenger inert materials and tramp contaminant content (coastal timber, for example has a high salt content that can contribute to air contamination from dioxins and furans) are factors that affect the throughput volume, efficiency and combustion gas quality/yield.

Removal of the unwanted, (non-hydrocarbon) content of the fuel, prior to thermally processing it to release its entrained gases, is a necessary action that must be performed to get optimum, uncontaminated, reliable quality gas for the production of heat. Usually a soak bath will dissolve out any salt and precipitate most of the grit, soil and large stones, prior to hopper storage.

Method: Using the normal arrangement of gasifying hog fuel where all of the feedstock undergoes solid to gas phase conversion by direct starved air (sub-stoichiometric) combustion, will result in variances in the released gas stream, due to uncontrollable factors such as ambient temperature fluctuations and moisture content variances from climatic influences in storage or transit.

Accordingly, we design a systems that mitigate all the aforementioned performance detractors.

In theory, typical sawmill waste wood maximizes at about 7,200 BTU per pound. On the other end of the scale, rotted wood or partly composted biomass has already partially

oxidized (“burned”) through the digestive actions of microbes and insects and has an average energy content of circa 2,000 to 3,000 BTU per pound. All the types of wood contain volatile hydrocarbons in varying percentages. The higher the hydrocarbon content, the greater the heat index of the fuel, so you may have by now perceived that good quality, fresh “hog fuel” has the greatest percentage of hydrocarbons.

Ipso facto, the balance of the material in the raw fuel types is made up of non-combustibles, some of which are potent pollutants. This "passenger" or "tramp" material content includes ash and grit, mud-clay, bentonite, combined and complex mineral salts, etc.

The ecoPHASER System: (System Heater)

A Solid Fuel-to Gas Phase Reactor Combustion System (Phaser) embodies a starved-air thermal primary stage solid fuel to syngas/biogas phase

conversion reactor/generator (gasifier) and a second stage maelstrom-venturi air/gas carburetor coupled to a high temperature sonic pulse-flame burner.

The solid fuel (usually waste biomass or low-rank hydrocarbons), is fed into this system via augur into the updraft gasification chamber and the burner is fueled by a combination of the gases contained in the fuel, which can be augmented by injection of liquid fuels or micronized coal into the upper zone of the primary chamber or by natural gas, process gas residues, landfill gas, or biogas injected into the secondary chamber venturi ports.

In the primary stage of the gasifying reactor/generator, the auger fed combustion medium (e.g. "hog fuel", coal, leonardite, peat or shredded wood waste) is fired in an oxygen-starved environment at a temperature circa 1250 degrees Fahrenheit (680 degrees Celsius), where it releases combustion gases. The temperature is high enough to gasify the medium, but not high enough to burn these gases and/or tramp heavy metals, or melt steel components. The ash and possible scrap are conveyed out for mass-gravity or magnetic segregation treatment. The image above depicts the lazy burn which is kept elevated above the temperature threshold where creosote and lignin/complex sugar deposits would precipitate from the gas stream, whilst allowing full phase change occurrence.

The unit simply feeds enough fuel and air to achieve temperature, not withstanding the moisture content of the fuel medium

In other words, the speed of the auger feed, and therefore the input of combustion medium and air, is regulated by a feedback control linked to the specified

first stage combustion gas temperature.

Thus, the gasifier performance is essentially unaffected by variances in the weight or the moisture content of the input fuel (which, in the case of wood or garbage combustion) may vary from 3,500 BTU/lb. wet to 8,500 BTU/lb. dry). This "sub-stoichiometric" process can actually be enhanced by the high moisture content of green wood waste or processed solid waste fuel.

This first stage process releases a combination of incomplete (unburned) combustion gases, (the combination plume is termed “producer gas”), which include, in the case of a wood waste fuel, Steam (65-70%), Carbon Monoxide (20%), Methane (8%) and other complex hydrocarbons (7-2%). This process is called solid-to-gas phase conversion.

Due to the smouldering, almost air-less slow burn and the prolonged residence time of the combustion medium, complete reduction of the fuel medium mass, down to a small ash volume, is achieved.

The ecoTECH Phaser System: (System Heater)

Potential Site Energy Consumer Clients:

ecoGROW Aquaponic Greenhouse

Modelled on the Southern Alberta Crop Diversification Aquaponics System, that was pioneered by Dr. Nick savidov, the ecoGROW greenhouse will have in phase 1 two acres of Talapia tanks and six acres of high value organic produce.

The facility will consume heat and CO2 captured from the power station exhaust system to maintain a 16 ppm level in the botanical section. (see www.ecogrow.ca)

CO2to O2Although only16ppmofCO2t r ansp i r a t i on will occur in the greenhouse, an 8 acre unit will mitigate 54.25 tonnes of CO2 per annum.

Pine Beetle Killed TreesThe Magnitude of the Damage and the Rapidity of the Epidemic’s Growth

It has become apparent that the problem of pine tree destruction from infestation of the Northern Pine Beetle is of much greater magnitude and has spread faster than any Government Department commissioned studies have forecast (due in the main to unforeseen warming resulting in the absence of the extreme cold of a Pine Beetle culling winter, as in previous

decades, which requires several weeks of temperatures below -35o Celsius during the months of October and November).

What is emerging from recently disclosed calculations is that approximately 80 – 90% of the susceptible Pine trees, (mature or not) will be dead in the next 10 years. This applies to the whole of the North West of this Continent.

However, the timber from the mature trees has a significant commercial value from the onset of symptoms (yellowing leaves, etc.) prior to complete necrobiosis and within three years of the tree dying.

The problem is a direct effect of “Global Warming” and it will continue until all the trees are dead. Similar problems have occurred with Dutch Elm Trees several times in recorded history, resulting in the loss and destruction of all the affected trees in the affected European Zones.

Dead Standing Trees: the Potential if Harvested

Due to current politics and reluctance from the USA to deal with softwood problems equitably, we cannot address this problem on a continental scale. Therefore if we concentrate

our efforts in Western Canada, a solution is possible.

The total area affected equates to hundreds of times the annual harvest and will require Federal and Provincial acceptance and approval to harvest these trees, and to process and store the softwood, with a subsequent controlled release into the market place.

The storage and marketing should be carried out by private enterprise under the direct control of the Provincial Forestry Ministry with Federal assistance, where possible.

Dead Standing Trees:the Potential Dangers if Left in Forest.

British Columbia was ravaged by forest fire holocausts in 2003/4, at a scale unprecedented in living memory. The fires reached the scale of 2000 o crown fires in many areas, a

frightening sweep of destruction that moves at terrifying speed, leaping from tree to tree, across firebreaks that would normally provide containment, and from house to house with the same apocalyptic agility. Thanks to the unchecked infestation of a tiny beetle, more crown fire fuel, in the form of drying dead trees, are in our forests than ever before. British Columbia and Alberta are suffering from this threat.

Beetle Killing Cycle

Beetle Biology

* The Latin name for the mountain pine beetle is Dendroctonus ponderosae.* The life span of an individual mountain pine beetle is about one year.*Pinebeetlelarvaespendthewinterunderbark.TheycontinuetofeedinthespringandtransformintopupaeinJuneandJuly.* Adult mountain pine beetles emerge from an infested tree over the course of the summer and into early fall.*Themountainpinebeetletransmitsafungusthatstainsatree’ssapwoodblue.*Comprehensivetestinghasconfirmedthatthebluestaincausedbythebeetlehasnoeffectonwood’sstrengthproperties.

Beetle Impacts

* The mountain pine beetle affected about seven million hectares of B.C. forests in 2004.*Themountainpinebeetleinfestationwillhaveeconomicimplicationsinthefuturefor30communitiesaroundtheprovince.* 25,000 families in British Columbia are having their livelihoods impacted by the beetle infestation.

ThePinespeciesareeasilyidentifiedintheBritishColumbiaInterior:theyellowtreesarethedyingPines.nextyeartheleavesanddrybrancheswillbewind-blowntotheforestfloor,creatingtinderdryfuelforaholocaustasinthe2004photographfromoneofmanydozensoflife-threateningcrownfiresinBritishColumbia.[Insetabove:PineBeetleFungus(blue)stainedstump.]

Pine Beetle (fungus stained) Bluewood Products

TerrifyingCrownFirein British Columbia

TheecoPHASERcanusepost-burnsalvagedcharredwood.

Removal of forestry debris is a critical safety concern

McBride Combined Heat & Power Generation Project

Proforma Performance Forecasts

Wood Residue Fuelled (W2E) CHP 36 mW

36 mW Electrical Power3+ mW equivalent (10.5 Mbtu, or 11.75 GJ) Process Heat

© Copyright C. Victor Hall & ecoPHASER Energy Corp

823008

ecoPHASER Energy Corp.HeadOffice&Laboratory:Unit101-26633GloucesterWay,Langley,BritishColumbia,Canada,V4W3S8

Tel:+16042888263Fax:+16048567345e-mail:[email protected]:http://www.ecophaser.ca

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