Technical Note SB76: Wood fuel quality assurance

Heat plant owners converting to using biomass fuel and who traditionally have used coal or gas as fuel are looking for the level of assurance of fuel quality and consistency of supply that is similar to that which they are used to when purchasing coal and gas.

Some types of biomass fuel can be very variable as to their quality and characteristics.  As a result heat plant owners are seeking assurance that the potential variability can be managed by their suppliers.  Suppliers can provide this assurance by having a quality management system

Quality Management

A Quality Management System (QMS) shows how an organisation operates. The QMS includes the organisation's policies and procedures, and is written with supporting attachments, such as forms, templates, flowcharts and training manuals.  The policies and procedures should be complete, applied, understandable and consistent with actual practice.  A well-developed QMS describes how policies and procedures are:

• developed
• documented
• approved
• implemented
• regularly re-assessed through self-review.

The QMS should be auditable by an independent external party.