Wood Chip Fuel

Quality, Sustainability and Reliability

Midlands Wood Fuel Ltd has earned a reputation for quality and reliability in its wood chip fuel supply.

Here, we explain our quality and sustainability standards.

TIMBER SOURCES

All of the round timber MWF purchases are grown locally, usually within a maximum of 30 miles from one of our many depots situated throughout the Midlands and North West. Most is conifer because this is the most cost-effective source of wood-fuel. We aim to purchase species which have naturally low moisture content as this reduces the seasoning time which helps to keep costs low. We avoid certain species which have high bark content as this creates more ash or fibrous bark which can create problems with the fuel feeding through the boiler. The wood is sourced from both private and publicly owned (Forestry Commission) woodlands. We have procedures in place so that we can specifically cross reference every single delivery of timber against the woodland it has come from and can therefore verify that it has been felled legally and sustainably within accordance with a Forestry Commission felling licence. We also buy a proportion of ‘slabwood’ from sawmills. Slabwood is the sides of a log which are cut off during milling. We do this because slabwood dries very quickly. Again, the sawmills are all within around 30 miles from the nearest depot which ensures that the timber is locally sourced from sustainable and traceable sources. We have a large network of timber and forestry contractors, as well as woodland owners and managers, so we are not reliant on any one single source of supply. We also have timber contracts directly with the Forestry Commission who operate 1/3rd of the managed woodland in the UK. This all helps us ensure that we always have enough supply of wood-fuel for our rapidly growing customer base. We do not use any ‘waste’ wood, anything which has been pre-used, or any wood which has been chemically treated in any way. This type of material is not suitable for conversion into high quality wood fuel because of contamination, inconsistency and potential damage that this may cause to the boiler.

DRYING

We produce all of our chips, regardless of their destination, to a dry standard, that is at 30% moisture or below. This ensures that the chip is fully compatible with the boiler moisture requirements and prevents excessive smoke, tar formation and ultimately in-ability to burn at all. Both round timber and slabwood are stored outside at our depots for up to one year to allow for natural seasoning to below 30% moisture content.

PURCHASING and STOCK CONTROL

MWF has, over the last six years, developed a very sophisticated system for purchasing forecasting and stock control.

Purchasing requirements are informed by our future sales forecast for the following year. This has detailed monthly analysis of every customer’s historical usage, anticipated usage of new boilers, and a sales forecast.

We make provisions for exceptionally cold weather by planning for over-stocking during the winter months.

Our stock control system can tell us exactly what stock of timber and chips and specific moisture content we have at any of our depots at any time.

This means that we are always able to deliver high quality chip to all of our customers to meet their requirements throughout the year. This process was proven during the unusually long and cold winter during 2010/11 when we were able to deliver to all of our customers throughout this period.

CHIPPING

We produce all of our own chips. None are bought in from third parties which means that we can ensure the traceability, sustainability and quality control for every chip we supply. Our chipper is a high capacity mobile industrial chipper, manufactured in Austria – the home of wood chip heating.

It is designed specifically to produce chips for use in

small to medium heating boilers. It has in integral screen which ensures a uniform chip size. Although the screens are interchangeable to produce different sizes of chips, we only use the screen for fine chips. Other factors, such as good maintenance, blade sharpening, skilled operators, quality feedstock and adherence to the very fine tolerances help ensure that we achieve the highest quality.

To see pictures and videos of our chipper in action or if you interested in hiring our chipper the please click here.

CHIP FUEL STORAGE

We only store our fuel chips inside good quality agricultural type buildings, never outside. This is the only reliable way of keeping the fuel dry. The storage barns have concrete floors so that the soil and stones are not picked up during loading contaminating the fuel and causing problems such as jamming within the boiler. To find out more about our depots  and where they are located then please click here.

SAMPLING AND TESTING

Every time we chip a batch of timber, moisture content is tested both with a high specification portable moisture meter and by accurately weighing and fully kiln drying samples of the chip. Each batch is regularly re-tested to ensure that every delivery we make is within the moisture content specified.

A sample of every delivery is taken and stored for a time which is appropriate to the consumption rate of the boiler to allow us to retrospectively analyse chip quality and provide independent analysis of moisture content if required.

DELIVERY

Scheduling fuel deliveries to our customers is really important to ensure continuity of supply and we are aware that for some customers it is often difficult to tell how much chip there is in their hopper.

For this reason, we take a pro-active approach to scheduling customers deliveries based on our experience and detailed analysis of historic consumption rates. This also helps us optimise vehicle use and reduce unnecessary mileage which helps us to deliver high quality chip at sensible prices.

To find out more about the different delivery options then please click here.

CUSTOMER SERVICE

At MWF we take customer service very seriously. Any customer concerns are dealt with immediately and directly by both our Production Manager – Andy Grundy and our Commercial Director Ewan Bent. We encourage customers to keep in touch with us, and make regular visits to our customers to discuss every aspect of our product and services.

NOT ALL WOOD CHIP IS THE SAME

The quality control process’s we employ stretch from the timber in the forest through to our customer relationships and cover every step in-between. This ensures that our customers enjoy all the benefits of wood fuelled heating in the knowledge that their fuel supplier is consistently delivering high quality chip from sustainable and traceable sources, local to them. Choosing a wood fuelled heating system is an important decision but choosing your fuel supplier is absolutely critical to the on-going enjoyment of your system for many years to come.