How to compare fuel quotes without being fooled by price per ton
Two quotations. One is 300 baht per ton cheaper. The cheaper one may cost you more. Here is how to work out which is actually cheaper.
Photo: Jakub Żerdzicki on Unsplash
The only formula you need
Cost per 1,000 Kcal = price per kg ÷ (calorific value in Kcal/Kg ÷ 1,000)
A fuel with a lower price per ton but a lower calorific value can cost more per unit of heat, because you have to buy more of it to raise the same steam.
Put your own numbers on both sides. Do not use an average someone quoted you.
Costs that are not on the quotation
Freight. Ask whether the price is delivered or ex-works. For biomass, freight is a major share, not a rounding detail.
Weight lost to foreign matter. If the fuel carries 5% soil and sand, you pay fuel prices for 5% dirt — then pay again to dispose of the extra ash.
Moisture that swings. The weighbridge counts water. If moisture runs above what was agreed, you are buying water at fuel prices.
Operator time spent re-tuning. Fuel with a drifting spec means constantly adjusting air and feed rate. Nobody invoices for that, but it is real.
Ash disposal. Varies with the ash content of each fuel.
The cost of running out. A cheaper supplier who misses deliveries stops the line. That costs many times the price difference.
Questions that belong in your RFQ
- Calorific value and moisture — the average and the range, not just the average
- Ash content as a percentage
- Is the price delivered to our gate?
- Where is the weighbridge, and who operates it?
- What happens if a batch is off spec?
- Do you produce this yourself, or buy and resell?
That last one matters more than it looks. A producer controls the spec. A reseller controls only what they could source that month.
Do not decide on paper alone — order a trial batch
Before signing anything long, run a trial load and record three things.
- Steam raised per ton of fuel
- Ash actually collected
- How many times the system had to be adjusted while burning it
Those three numbers tell you more than a stack of quotations.
Ask us for real figures
We can give per-batch specs from actual production, not theoretical values. Send your boiler spec and monthly consumption and we will calculate the cost per unit of heat against what you burn now. Call +66 92 392 2292.
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