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The process of generating biomass pellets is not as uncomplicated as may seem. The core process is compression of the biomass into pellet form, on the other hand the raw matter requires certain characteristics plus features for the wood to be able to be compressed into pellet form. The gear its self also needs definite abilities, that not all pellet manufacture apparatus has. The reason for this is the majority of pellet manufacturing tools was formed to process straw and other low density materials into animal feed pellets. On the other hand there is still a large quantity of animal feed equipment promoted for the use of biomass pellet manufacturing. The simple fact is without changes to the raw material or equipment it is simply not possible to manufacture durable and quality wood pellet fuels. For starters, generating biomass pellets puts much more load on pellet manufacturing gear, therefore many pellet mills designed to make animal feed pellets cannot cope.

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Other general differences between a biomass pellet mill and an animal feed pellet mill is rotation speed as well as compression temperatures. Animal feed pellet mills rotate at much higher speeds, in addition to are geared as such to purchase the highest productivity figures probable. A animal feed pellet mill can rotate at higher speeds as the raw matter is easier to compress, and generates less friction through the die. A wood pellet mill on the other hand has to rotate slower, for two reasons. The first reason is because of the increased density of the biomass fibre, it requires more force to push the wood owing to the die. Placing biomass into a animal feed pellet mill will not manufacture quality pellets, in addition to more than likely will confront as there is not sufficient power because of the gearing. The second reason for the lower rotation speed is to melt the organic lignin within the biomass to bind the pellet together, the biomass needs to remain in the hot die for a longer period. If the wood is pushed owing to the die too quickly, the lignin will not melt along with the biomass will simply leave the pellet mill as dust not in pellet form. To help to enlarge the flow of the biomass because of the pellet mill as well as get the wood up to the required temperature, a steam conditioner is often used in large scale construction before the pellet mill. This reduces the resistance of the wood as it passes through the pellet mill while still achieving the required pellet compression. Steam conditioning is very energy intensive, yet the reduced load on the pellet justifies the energy input. In small scale manufacture, steam processing is not practical through the expense in addition to the danger of high temperature steam. If pellet quality is an issue the biomass fibre can be mixed by means of binders as well as lubricants such a modified corn starch.

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From the above information, it should be clear that there are quite a few variables that are not commonly considered in pellet manufacturing. One more important point is the characteristics of every biomass species along with wood feed stock behave slightly differently. For instance a sample of sawdust by means of as well as without bark will perform differently in the pellet mill. The reason is the lignin within the bark melts at a lower temperature in the pellet mill along with helps to bind the pellet together. However most wood fuel pellets do not contain bark, as the bark will enlarge the ash content of the pellets, and many pellet stoves and boilers are not designed to be able to burn higher ash content biomass energy pellets.

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