The University of Idaho will receive a grant from Advanced Trailer, which operates in Georgia and Texas, to study the application of Advanced Trailer's agricultural crop drying trailer for biomass.

"Advanced Trailer is recognized as revolutionizing the peanut industry with its semi trailers that dry peanuts; now Advanced Trailer hopes to revolutionize the biomass industry," according to a press release from Advance Trailer President Randy Hill.

Hill explained in Thursday's announcement his company began exploring the possibilities of using its drying trailer to remove moisture from woody mass by providing a trailer to the Herty Advanced Materials Development Center in Savannah, Ga., nearly two years ago. This revolutionary application will remove moisture from wood chips which are used as fuel for the University of Idaho's steam boiler plant located at their campus in Moscow, Idaho. The results of this new research at the University of Idaho will benefit biomass plants in other cities, Hill said.

"The prior testing has shown that the trailer works and it does the job," Hill said. "But we were looking for a facility or institution that had an actual application where we could daily see the benefits of lowering moisture in biomass products used to fuel a plant. The University of Idaho was eager to put the trailer to work and we are excited about finding an educational institution with a direct and specific application."

A video of Randy's press release discussing the grant and its potential impact on the biomass industry can be found at the website, www.advancedtrailer.com, and at the Advanced Trailer Youtube channel at http://www.youtube.com/user/AdvancedTrailerTV.

Work on the project already is underway.

In December, Advanced Trailer met with representatives at the University's steam boiler plant located in the heart of the university's campus. After touring the facility and seeing the similarities in handling wood chips compared to peanuts, plans were made to provide equipment to the school's steam plant. In late January 2009, a trailer and dryer were transported from Advanced Trailer's plant in Vienna, Georgia 2600 miles to Moscow, Idaho. The initial 12-month testing period is expected to begin within the next few weeks.

The grant will provide written research on lowering fuel (wood chips) cost while reducing carbon emissions by lowering the moisture content in woody mass products.

"This is a very exciting day for the University of Idaho," said Darin Saul, Sustainability Coordinator at the University of Idaho. "This is a win-win situation for everyone. Thanks to this donation of both funds and equipment from Advanced Trailer, the University of Idaho will be able to evaluate the economic and environmental benefits of drying biomass before burning it in a boiler. This fits into UI's efforts to increase the efficiency of its biomass boiler as part of ongoing energy conservation efforts."