2009 Supreme Award Winner - Radford Yarn Technologies

Radford Yarn Technologies won the 2009 Supreme Award and the Renewable Energy Award for installing the first specialist wood pellet boiler for an industrial process heat application in New Zealand.

Radford Yarn Technologies Limited is the world's largest manufacturer of premium felted woolen yarns. The factory has two areas that use a lot of energy - the felting plant and the yarn drier. Prior to the installation of the boiler, these energy hungry applications used electricity. Now the boiler is used to heat water to 90°C which is stored in a 3,000 litre buffer tank. Heat exchangers draw heat from the tank, which provides hot water for the felting process and hot air for yarn drying.

The use of a buffer tank improves the boiler efficiency by minimising start-ups and allowing the boiler to run at full capacity while it is running. The ready heat from the tanks has improved drier performance resulting in a greater ratio of heat input to dried yarn output. This results in a lower overall energy use per kilogram of yarn produced.

The benefits of the wood pellet boiler

The change from electricity to a wood pellet boiler has resulted in operational efficiencies and increased output. Annual energy savings are over 50,000 kilowatt hours a year and an ongoing reduction in carbon dioxide emissions of 350 tonnes a year.

A contract ensuring price stability for wood pellets that places this fuel below the comparative cost of electricity has underpinned the financial benefit of the conversion. This benefit increases as the cost of electricity rises.

The use of a renewable fuel enables Radford Yarn Technologies to back up its reputation for "world class innovation", marketing its products as completely natural and environmentally friendly. And this is in keeping with New Zealand's global brand and reputation for products that are pure, natural and of the highest quality.

Supreme Award winner, Mick Ingram General Manager Radford Yarn Technologies and Minister of Energy and Resources Hon. Gerry Brownlee