Biomass-fired bread oven

Traditional bread oven with biomass burner

Säätötuli Canada has supplied a biomass burner for a bread oven that will run on wood pellets from now on. This project was made for the bakery/mill Les Vraies Richesses at 11 rue Léger, Sherbrooke, QC.

Bread from the Les Vraies Richesses bakery

The bread oven is a traditional French-type masonry oven. It is a heavy construction made with thousands of bricks that allow for a quality bake of the bread. That kind of oven heats usually with firewood. Many hours are necessary with firewood to heat the oven before the first bake. That is a lot of work to throw all those logs inside.

Even if it is traditional, firewood in modern bakeries is difficult to manage. Quality of the logs must be closely monitored to avoid any insects that may contaminate the place.

Wood-pellets is a quality fuel that is easy to find anywhere. It is clean and arrives in easy-to-handle and to store bags. Pellets have also a high energy-content, meaning that you need to transport less fuel than with logs.

The biomass burner shoots its flame inside the bread oven

The Les Vraies Richesses bakery has opted to use wood-pellets as fuel for their newest traditional bread oven. Säätötuli is happy to have been selected as the supplier for the burner technology on this project. Säätötuli’s STRONG biomass burner was selected to be the main heat source for this application.

Säätötuli Strong burner with 420-liter biomass silo connected to a bread oven

To optimize space, the STRONG was equipped with a second auger with a 90° angle. The 420-liter fuel silo allows for a small footprint while providing enough fuel storage capacity when running the burner with wood pellets. The whole setup is mounted on wheels for easy maintenance.

The burner is driven by the bread oven’s thermostat which tells the control automation to run or idle. When no output is required by the thermostat, the burner will idle, meaning that it will only keep embers on the combustion grid. The embers will allow the burner to climb back to full power fast.

The C110 control automation regulates the quantity of fuel that is sent to the burner and thus its output. This is essential for example during the first heat up of the bread oven as it requires a smooth gradual heat-up to avoid damaging the cold bricks inside the oven.