The new CSA standards apply to the storage and handling of solid biofuels, such as pellets, like those found on this truck waiting to catch a ferry over to Nanaimo, B.C.Toronto, ON — The CSA Group adopted new standards to support the handling and storage of solid biofuels used in residential and other small-scale applications, and commercial and institutional applications.
In the production of Canadian dimension lumber and cross-laminated timber panels, low-value residues are products. In the past, much of the residual resource was sent to pulp mills and to wood pellet manufacturing plants, or simply burned outdoors. According to the Heating, Refrigeration, and Air Conditioning Institute of Canada (HRAI), there has been a growing trend in converting this resource into solid woody biofuels (including wood pellets).
To assist those that might have not had exposure to the usage of biofuels in the past, CSA Group’s Mirror Committee to ISO Technical Committee 238 has adopted the ISO 20023 and ISO 20024 standards. The standards provide principles and requirements for the safe handling and storage of solid biofuels. This can include single building heating (such as in an apartment or condominium), district heating, warehouse, schools, hotels, or combined heat and power applications.
The CSA ISO 20024 standard applies to solid biofuel storage facilities from 100 tonnes to 1,000 tonnes but includes principles that can be used in smaller commercial and industrial applications as well. This includes solid biofuel products plants, commercial distributors from the receiving station until loaded for transportation to the end-user, or at the end-use facility receiving station up to the final utilization. It takes a risk-based approach to provide guidance to facility owners, logistics providers, equipment suppliers and manufacturers, consultants, authorities, and insurance providers. The document also includes guidelines on a variety of safety measures.
The CSA ISO 20023 standard provides principles and requirements for the safe handling and storage of wood pellets in residential and other small-scale applications. It covers the supply chain from the loading of the delivery truck, requirements of delivery trucks, connections to the end user’s store and the delivery process, according to the ISO. It covers the design and construction of pellet storage systems and addresses risks of fires, dust explosions, off-gassing, oxygen depletion, damage to appliances and buildings through swelling of pellets, and other health risks. It is applicable to wood pellets according to ISO 17225-2.