As illustrated by the 78 thousand pound shipment that departed from Par Piping and Fabrication, LLC. grounds this past Friday morning, the recession has not affected all businesses equally and the Granite Falls manufacturer has fared better than most.
“We’re very fortunate for what is out there to have [the business] we have,” said Par Piping General Manager Lee Parliament.
Looking up at the hulking 14 foot in diameter, 72 foot long metal cylinder, Parliament commented that Par Piping has fabricated pieces equal of height, but never of such length.
Resting atop a 10 axle semi-trailer, the piece traveled to the upper peninsula of Michigan near Marquette, where it will serve as a rotary kiln dryer in a $19 million biomass fuel production facility owned by renewaFUEL, LLC. of Ohio.
Once complete, the kiln will dry wood for the facility that is engineered to create biofuel cubes, which generate as much energy as coal mined from the western United States and are about the size of a coal briquette.
According to information located on the website of the Marquette County EDA, the cubes will emit 90 percent less sulfur dioxide, 35 percent less particulate matter and 30 percent less acid than coal. Approximately 150,000 tons of the cubes will be produced per year.
Had spring not started hinting at an arrival, Friday morning’s shipment would have been about 100 thousand pounds heavier as a finished product. However, Par Piping was forced to ship the kiln incomplete before Monday, when road weight restrictions became more scrupulous because of ground thaw. As a result, the construction of the rotary dryer will be wrapped up on site.
Par Piping was commissioned to manufacture the rotary kiln dryer by Ronning Engineering of Kansas. Parliament estimated that the Granite Falls company’s portion of the $19 million facility was about $3 million and said the project has been in development – from initial negotiations to the present – for approximately three years. Had gas prices not dropped, it might have been completed earlier, he added.
Expectations are that the economy will only become more favorable for biomass fuel facilities relative to that which is currently under construction in the Wolverine state. That is good news for Par Piping who has a solid chance of being involved in future plants commissioned by renewaFUEL so long as Ronning Engineering remains involved.
Rumors are that the company may be building 17 to 20 such plants, Parliament said.
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As illustrated by the 78 thousand pound shipment that departed from Par Piping and Fabrication, LLC. grounds this past Friday morning, the recession has not affected all businesses equally and the Granite Falls manufacturer has fared better than most.
“We’re very fortunate for what is out there to have [the business] we have,” said Par Piping General Manager Lee Parliament.
Looking up at the hulking 14 foot in diameter, 72 foot long metal cylinder, Parliament commented that Par Piping has fabricated pieces equal of height, but never of such length.
Resting atop a 10 axle semi-trailer, the piece traveled to the upper peninsula of Michigan near Marquette, where it will serve as a rotary kiln dryer in a $19 million biomass fuel production facility owned by renewaFUEL, LLC. of Ohio.
Once complete, the kiln will dry wood for the facility that is engineered to create biofuel cubes, which generate as much energy as coal mined from the western United States and are about the size of a coal briquette.
According to information located on the website of the Marquette County EDA, the cubes will emit 90 percent less sulfur dioxide, 35 percent less particulate matter and 30 percent less acid than coal. Approximately 150,000 tons of the cubes will be produced per year.
Had spring not started hinting at an arrival, Friday morning’s shipment would have been about 100 thousand pounds heavier as a finished product. However, Par Piping was forced to ship the kiln incomplete before Monday, when road weight restrictions became more scrupulous because of ground thaw. As a result, the construction of the rotary dryer will be wrapped up on site.
Par Piping was commissioned to manufacture the rotary kiln dryer by Ronning Engineering of Kansas. Parliament estimated that the Granite Falls company’s portion of the $19 million facility was about $3 million and said the project has been in development – from initial negotiations to the present – for approximately three years. Had gas prices not dropped, it might have been completed earlier, he added.
Expectations are that the economy will only become more favorable for biomass fuel facilities relative to that which is currently under construction in the Wolverine state. That is good news for Par Piping who has a solid chance of being involved in future plants commissioned by renewaFUEL so long as Ronning Engineering remains involved.
Rumors are that the company may be building 17 to 20 such plants, Parliament said.
