Project · Energy
FIG 01 The assembled line, in front of the power plant's biomass building, 2026 · Argentina
A leading renewable energy producer in Argentina, with two biomass power plants totaling about 80 MW, installed a new line to turn logs into wood chips for its plant. ProHolz developed the basic and detailed engineering and brought into a single design the equipment of three manufacturers, the chipper the client had already purchased, and the operating plant.
ProHolz engineered and integrated the line; equipment procurement and construction stay with the client.
The pine and eucalyptus logs arrive with bark. The line was designed to receive them by wheel loader and by crane on a receiving and metering deck. From there they pass over the impact deck, the roller deck and a belt conveyor with a metal detector to the chain conveyor that feeds the disc chipper.
At the chipper outlet, a twin screw conveyor and a truss belt conveyor carry the chips to the conveyor that already fed the power plant.
The chipper, from a manufacturer in the United States, had already been purchased by the client. The decks, screws and belt conveyors came from a Brazilian manufacturer, and the chain conveyor from a German one. ProHolz combined the engineering of all three with the model of the existing plant into a single 3D model, covering equipment, structures, foundations, electrical systems and piping, and used it to compare three layout options before freezing the arrangement.
At ProHolz's request, the client replaced the log receiving deck with a longer one, purchased from the same manufacturer.
Foundations for the line equipment, pits, and bases for the pipe rack and for the knife grinding and control rooms, plus the technical specification the client used to tender the civil works.
A 55.9 m pipe rack between the existing substation and the line's electrical room, designed to ABNT NBR 8800, along with stairs, platforms, guardrails and the chipper enclosure.
Electrical layout, grounding grid, cable trays, cables, lighting and 14 local lockout switches next to the motors. On the automation side, coordination of the chipper's integration with the line and plant controls, including remote control of the medium-voltage cell, developed with a partner electrical engineering firm.
12 lines for compressed air, process water, hydraulic oil and fire protection, with 19 isometric drawings and the pipe supports.
Specifications for equipment bids, comparison of the proposals, an integrated schedule for manufacturers, civil works and erection, and technical site visits with inspections, such as the check of the chipper base reinforcement before concrete pouring.
The first logs went through the line in tests at the end of September 2026. In October, with the final engineering package delivered, the line is in commissioning.
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Contact
A technical conversation defines the scope, the disciplines and the engagement model: EPCM, owner's engineering or value engineering.
