Thousands of tons of wood chips are produced yearly during the production of wooden pallets. Instead of selling this waste for a pittance, the Croatian pallet manufacturer Košc`al has found that investing in wood briquetting systems has increased the value of its wood residuals tenfold. Its first system was sourced from German briquetting equipment manufacturer RUF about 10 years ago. More recently it has invested in two modern RUF Lignum R6 presses.
This means that briquetting now makes up around one third of Košc`al’s total revenues.
This of course is a major change for the manufacturer, which was established in 1994.
Today it is a medium-sized company with 80 employees and annual revenues of about €2.5m per year.
“We are a typical family company that was established by my father and in which I was already integrated in my youth,” said managing director Marko Košc`al.
“My father is still active in a consultancy role today and my wife and I look after the commercial aspects. All of us are completely committed to the company.”
Logs are sawn with band saws and multi-blade saws, with standardised pallets produced in two automated lines. Special pallet sizes are manufactured on a third manual line.
“We deliver an average of 40,000 units per month”, explained Mr Košc`al.
Wood Residues
During the cutting process of the individual wood elements, a huge amount of wood chips are produced – around 7,000 tons every year. However, what could be a burden has turned into a significant revenue stream.
“Previously, it was a case of getting rid of the wood residues and having them collected as soon as possible,” said Mr Košc`al. “We received a maximum of €20 per tonne. It made no financial sense. And so we came up with the idea of processing the chips sensibly.
“We checked the outlet market for briquettes and it became instantly clear that a lot of fuel traders were convinced by RUF briquettes”.
A few comparisons, a trade fair visit and some test pressings later, the company opted for a RUF briquette press solution.
Revenue generator
The briquetting business now generates €800,000-900,000 annually, with the product purchased all over Europe and sold via an agent’s network.
Additional capacity was recently needed to keep up with demand, so RUF replaced the previous system with two new Lignum R6 presses and commissioned them on-site.
In the peak times of autumn and winter, the hydraulic machines run around the clock operating on a small footprint – a space of between 2m-3m.
Throughput is 670kg/hour per individual press. An engine output of 37kW means the Lignum R6 has a maximum specific pressing power of 1,700kg/cm_.
The RUF solution allows differing types of wood with different grain sizes to be pressed automatically into briquettes without the machines having to be adjusted in advance. Briquette dimensions are 150x60mm.
The packaging is carried out by one employee per shift, who only needs 60% of his working capacity dedicated for this task.
Increased Capacity
The newer RUF presses have led to a 30% increase in briquetting production capacity, which now allows the company to take sawdust from nearby sawmills to augment its own wood waste.
“Even though this is mostly damp, it poses no problem for us,” explained Mr Košc`al.
The wet and dry chips are mixed together and put into a drum dryer from where they are transported via a suction pipe into chip silos. Screw conveyer mechanisms then bring them to the hopper of the briquetting system.
“The investment was absolutely correct," said Mr Košc`al. “I am convinced that we can significantly increase our annual capacity in briquette production from its current figure of 7,000 tonnes. The sales revenues are a bit dependent on when winter comes and how severe it will be. But I am assuming that the two systems will pay for themselves after 16 months, at the latest.”
RUF, now managed by the second generation of the founding family – sons Roland and Wolfgang Ruf, is based on a 13,000m2 production site in Zaisertshofen, Bavaria.
More than 100 employees develop and manufacture modular briquetting machines and solutions to produce briquettes from wood, metal and other residues.
The smallest unit manufactured by RUF is the RAP (RUF integration press) featuring a 4kW motor and a throughput rate of 20-150kg per hour.
More than 10,000 pressing tests have been conducted at RUF's production site and more than 5,000 briquetting machines have been manufactured. These are in use in more than 100 countries.
