Biomass drying for high‑value bioenergy
As global energy demand rises, so does the need for reliable, efficient, low‑carbon solutions that drive a sustainable energy future. Our superheated steam biomass dryer transforms wet feedstock into high‑value fuel, cutting emissions and boosting efficiency.
As energy demand grows, the need for efficient, low‑carbon solutions rises. Our steam biomass dryer turns wet feedstock into clean, high‑value fuel.
What is biomass and bioenergy?
Biomass is renewable organic material derived from plants or animals that can be used directly as fuel or converted into liquid or gaseous biofuels. Typical biomass resources include wood and wood‑processing residues, forestry residues, energy crops, agricultural residues, algae, municipal solid waste, urban wood waste and food waste.
Bioenergy produced from these biomass resources plays a key role in replacing fossil fuels and reducing greenhouse gas emissions. However, most biomass needs to be processed and dried before it can be used efficiently in energy conversion plants.
Why biomass drying matters
Wet biomass has low energy density, is difficult to handle and store, and leads to higher transport and processing costs. For applications such as pyrolysis, gasification and torrefaction, the biomass must usually be dried to around 85–95% dry solids before feeding into the process.
Drying is often the most energy‑intensive step in pellet and biomass fuel production, significantly affecting operating costs and carbon footprint. Choosing the right biomass dryer is therefore critical for both profitability and sustainability.
Drying biomass with superheated steam and our ExergyPSSD® biomass dryer offers a combination of product, energy and safety benefits.
- Product quality and pellet performance
- Steam‑conditioned product with improved physical properties.
- high durability pellets with precise and uniform final moisture content.
- open fiber structure that improves combustion and process performance.
These properties help you increase pellet quality, reduce fines, and achieve more stable performance in downstream processes.
Swedish Exergy has designed and delivered biomass dryers since the late 1980s, including some of the world’s largest biomass drying installations, and our dryers are engineered for long lifetime, high reliability and excellent energy performance compared to conventional drying technologies.
Today, our biomass dryer technology is used in a wide range of applications including:
- wood pellets and black pellets production.
- Forestry residues and thinning material.
- Agricultural residues such as straw and husks.
- Municipal solid waste (msw), urban wood waste and food waste.
- Residuals from pulp and paper, biogas and biofuel production.
Combining high energy recovery, low emissions and long equipment life results in the lowest total life cycle cost for biomass drying, while the oxygen‑free, closed‑loop design reduces safety risks and air emissions compared to conventional dryers.
- Oxygen‑free drying atmosphere with no need for complex fire or explosion protection systems.
- No air emissions from the dryer, reducing the need for dust and odor treatment.
- Robust design with low risk of fouling and excellent uptime in demanding industrial environments.
- Continuous operation and easy integration into new or existing biomass production lines, helping many customers achieve lower operating costs and better environmental performance.
Together, these factors contribute to very competitive total lifetime costs compared to conventional belt, drum or flue gas dryers.
In our ExergyPSSD® superheated steam dryer, the moisture removed from the wet biomass is turned into steam and reused as the drying medium in a closed loop, allowing very high energy recovery while keeping the process oxygen‑free and easy to control.
The superheated steam is compressed, recirculated and partly recovered as usable process steam, so only a relatively small amount of electricity is needed to evaporate the water, and up to around 80–95% of the energy input can be recovered and reused, dramatically reducing fuel consumption, operating costs and thermal CO2 emissions compared to conventional hot‑air or flue gas dryers.
Drying biomass with superheated steam and our ExergyPSSD® biomass dryer offers a combination of product, energy and safety benefits.
- Product quality and pellet performance
- Steam‑conditioned product with improved physical properties.
- high durability pellets with precise and uniform final moisture content.
- open fiber structure that improves combustion and process performance.
These properties help you increase pellet quality, reduce fines, and achieve more stable performance in downstream processes.
Swedish Exergy has designed and delivered biomass dryers since the late 1980s, including some of the world’s largest biomass drying installations, and our dryers are engineered for long lifetime, high reliability and excellent energy performance compared to conventional drying technologies.
Today, our biomass dryer technology is used in a wide range of applications including:
- wood pellets and black pellets production.
- Forestry residues and thinning material.
- Agricultural residues such as straw and husks.
- Municipal solid waste (msw), urban wood waste and food waste.
- Residuals from pulp and paper, biogas and biofuel production.
Combining high energy recovery, low emissions and long equipment life results in the lowest total life cycle cost for biomass drying, while the oxygen‑free, closed‑loop design reduces safety risks and air emissions compared to conventional dryers.
- Oxygen‑free drying atmosphere with no need for complex fire or explosion protection systems.
- No air emissions from the dryer, reducing the need for dust and odor treatment.
- Robust design with low risk of fouling and excellent uptime in demanding industrial environments.
- Continuous operation and easy integration into new or existing biomass production lines, helping many customers achieve lower operating costs and better environmental performance.
Together, these factors contribute to very competitive total lifetime costs compared to conventional belt, drum or flue gas dryers.
In our ExergyPSSD® superheated steam dryer, the moisture removed from the wet biomass is turned into steam and reused as the drying medium in a closed loop, allowing very high energy recovery while keeping the process oxygen‑free and easy to control.
The superheated steam is compressed, recirculated and partly recovered as usable process steam, so only a relatively small amount of electricity is needed to evaporate the water, and up to around 80–95% of the energy input can be recovered and reused, dramatically reducing fuel consumption, operating costs and thermal CO2 emissions compared to conventional hot‑air or flue gas dryers.