Overview / Challenge

A customer makes a granular, organic wood-based product used to replace rubber infill used for artificial turf fields. The customer had been marketing and installing the product in the United States, but wanted to expand to Europe. In order to market and export this product to Europe, an additional heat treatment process was required to destroy invasive species such as insects and plant pathogens and sterilize the product to meet international regulations.

Requirements

• Heat wood granules to >133°F and hold for 30 minutes
• Meet international guidelines for exportation
• Economical and efficient processing equipment
• Must fit in a small footprint
• Achieve a process rate of 8 tons/hour