Maine Medical Center showcases new biomass boiler

More than 100 people attended an open house at Northern Maine Medical Center on Feb. 11  to view the hospital’s new biomass-fueled boiler system.

The Chiptec furnace, which came online in December, will save the hospital roughly $200,000 a year using wood chips sourced from a sawmill in Portage, Maine.

The furnace includes features that make managing the equipment more convenient for the hospital. Unlike other biomass furnaces, the NMMC furnace has a gravity-fed storage system that feeds a conveyor to minimize jamming and reduces the number of augers needed to deliver fuel.