Off-grid air curtain burner powers sustainable waste-to-energy

Air Burners held a demonstration event in Palm City, Florida, to showcase the BioCharger, an innovative machine that burns green waste into green energy. 

Following the recent destructive wildfires affecting several areas in the U.S., the company has seen an immense need for more efficient forest management and land clearing in wildlife-prone areas. Developed in collaboration with Volvo Construction Equipment and Rolls-Royce Power Systems, the BioCharger directly addresses the need while reducing black carbon emissions compared to traditional disposal methods.

The BioCharger air curtain burner system 

The BioCharger is a fully portable air curtain burner system that converts radiant heat into electricity, stores the generated power, and then charges electric vehicles and equipment on-site.

The machine utilizes an Organic Rankine Cycle system to generate electricity, which is then stored in the attached storage module's 600 kilowatt-hours battery, allowing the operator to charge their machinery locally. This power storage system offers potential for forest management, land clearing, and wildfire mitigation services.

Live demonstrations at the event 

The event took place at an Air Burners demonstration site where attendees listened to a presentation that explained the current landscape of vegetative and forest waste management and the technology behind this new product while receiving exclusive access to see the machine in action. As part of the demonstration, a Volvo compact electric wheel loader was used to show the capabilities of the BioCharger to recharge 48V equipment. 

"Electric machinery is the logical next step in the fight against climate change and concerns over air quality," said Brian O'Connor, president of Air Burners. "We saw a need for off-grid power generation and charging in the forest and vegetative management space to accommodate that shift. The BioCharger is our response to filling that need."