Project Overview
In 2020, Highland Pellets decided to remove four process lines from its 600,000 TPY wood pellet plant in Pine Bluff, Arkansas after the existing drying and hammer mill systems were not performing as intended. The broader plant remained in operation while Highland prepared to replace the equipment with an alternate process.
Phoenix Equipment purchased the equipment outright and covered the removal costs. The approximately $1.75 million project included dismantlement, equipment recovery, rigging, removal, and recycling across four stand-alone process lines. Each line was rated at approximately 20 tons per hour and included a drying island and hammer mill loop.
The Challenge
The project began during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, when Phoenix was unable to travel to the site to prepare its bid. Instead, the project was evaluated remotely using photographs, drawings, and available technical information.
Phoenix submitted its proposal based on that material, won the project, and then carried out the dismantlement inside an operating wood pellet facility. The work required removal of major process systems while the broader Highland Pellets operation remained active.
Four-Line Process Dismantlement
The removal scope covered four individual process lines, each built around a drying island and hammer mill loop. Each line included a 65 MMBTU gas burner, combustion chamber, Convectec heater, soot blowers, an air-heated pre-dryer, hot baghouse, oil-heated tube dryer, heater oil loop, and associated conveying, collection, and duct systems.
Phoenix also removed the dry-end hammer mill equipment, associated structural steel and piping, Victaulic water piping, six Schutte hammer mills, and two screeners with conveyors.
Equipment Recovery & Steel Recycling
Phoenix evaluated the dismantled assets for continued industrial use before directing material to scrap. Approximately 20 pieces of equipment were preserved for resale, including hammer mills and other marketable process equipment. Material that did not justify continued recovery was recycled, with the project generating more than 3,000 tons of steel.
Project Highlights
- Client: Highland Pellets
- Location: Pine Bluff, Arkansas
- Year: 2020
- Facility: 600,000 TPY Wood Pellet Plant
- Process Removed: Four Stand-Alone 20 TPH Drying and Hammer Mill Lines
- Reason for Removal: Existing Process Not Performing as Intended / Replacement Process Planned
- Operating Condition: Broader Plant Remained Active During the Work
- Project Value: Approximately $1.75 Million
- Phoenix Scope: Equipment Acquisition, Dismantlement, Rigging, Removal, Equipment Recovery and Scrap Recycling
- Major Recovered Equipment: Hammer Mills and Other Process Equipment (See Liquidation)
- Steel Recycled: More Than 3,000 Tons
- Safety: Completed With Zero Incidents
- Owner Outcome: Underperforming Process Equipment Removed at Phoenix’s Cost / Area Cleared for Replacement Process
Clearing Four Process Lines Inside an Operating Plant
Phoenix evaluated and won the Highland Pellets project without a site visit, then completed a major removal program inside an operating facility. The work cleared four underperforming process lines for replacement while recovering reusable equipment and recycling more than 3,000 tons of steel with zero incidents.