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Posts Tagged ‘Wood Pellets’

Today the compensation of material densification are becoming more well known. By increasing the bulk density of raw materials with using a pellet mill has a range of positive aspects. Firstly the reduced size technique it is more efficient as well as cheaper to haulage pellets instead of the raw material. In terms of energy pellets and combustion, the compensation incineration a matter by way of a high density are increased incineration efficiency. The most common use of a pellet mill to manufacture pellets today in addition to for the past century have been to manufacture animal feed pellets. The pellet manufacture process allows the manufacturer to make exact blends of feed and vitamins and then process the feed mixture in the pellet mill to create feed pellets specifically for certain animals. Within the last few decades, pellet mills have also being used to make wood pellets. Biomass pellets can be used for fuel, though there are other uses such as animal bedding. As biomass has a higher density than animal feed ingredients, wood pellet mills are diverse than feed pellet mills. The Wood Pellet Construction Guide provides details on these differences plus reward and disadvantages.

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Recently there has been a increasing interest in using the pellet mill to produce other wood pellets, for case in point for energy pellets. Biomass simply refers to any cellulose natural material than can be used to create energy. This obviously includes wood, on the other hand other materials such as straw along with grasses, miscanthus, reed canary grass, switchgrass in addition to hemp to name but a few. With using a pellet mill to upgrade these raw materials into fuel pellets, these fuels will play an important role in our fuel future. Pellet mills are also often referred to as a pellet press for obvious reasons. Pellet presses do press the raw materials into a pellet shape. Using a pellet mill and pellet construction process to turn unlike raw materials into pellets can give value plus provide a use to many materials which today are regarded as waste.

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There is a variety of other pieces of equipment other than the pellet mill that is required in pellet construction. The Biomass Pellet Manufacture Guide provides detail on the potential equipment options in addition to why they are required. Pellet production is a combination of the correct equipment, process set-up plus operator knowledge along with skill. The Wood Pellet Construction Guide provides a concise, straightforward to understand guide to the principles of the process and the factors that require to be restricted in addition to adjusted to create quality pellets.

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There are a variety of dissimilar designs of pellet mills. The two core designs that most pellet machine revolve around is either the flat die or ring die design. The flat die design was the first design of pellet mill to emerge at the beginning of the 20th century.

Pellet mills were originally focused on the animal feed industry, plus this was the case up until the 1970′s, when the first experiments generating wood pellet energy were conducted. However it is only within the last decade that biomass pellet fuel has been taken seriously as a heating choice, due the rising costs of oil as well as gas, in addition to their effects on global warming plus climate change. Flat die pellet mills are the simplest design of pellet mill, and as such have certain reward in addition to disadvantages.

Flat die pellet mills work on a vertical design, using gravity as the main force for feeding the material through the machine. Flat die pellet mills have a horizontal die, by way of a series of rollers above the die. As material falls in from the top, it is compressed between the rollers along with die.

There are a mixture of diverse designs of flat die pellet mill, by two key differences. Some designs of flat die pellet mill have a rotating die by means of stationary roller shaft, along with others have a stationary die with a rotating roller shaft. The later design being more in style for larger flat die pellet mills. In general on the other hand due to their uncomplicated design as well as lower weight, flat die pellet mills are normally used in small scale pellet production. By means of ring die pellet mills used in larger scale construction.

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Biomass is simply any form of unrefined matter which can be used to produce fuel. This obviously includes wood, along with biomass waste, on the other hand it also includes agricultural residues such as straws as well as grasses.

A different growing wood fuel area is purpose grown energy crops such as miscanthus, switchgrass as well as hemp. All of these biomass materials can be converted into wood pellets. Making pellets is a skilled process, it needs the right equipment plus operator knowledge. To create quality durable pellets, the material must have a certain moisture content, and the necessary binding qualities. Lignin is the organic binder contained within all biomass. Yet some materials during pellet construction need an additional binder.

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To help more people understand the pellet construction process, plus to encourage more individuals as well as organizations to consider making pellets, we have developed the Wood Pellet Manufacture Guide. At PelHeat we develop small mobile pellet manufacture units, plus we are generally interested in wood fuel. The Biomass Pellet Construction Guide has been broken up into a ten step process, with concise points and illustrations to explain the core details of the process, plus equipment required.

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Wood pellets are the main energy pellet, by grass pellets purely being a product of the animal feed industry. On the other hand there is now a lot of research being carried out into grass fuel developments. There are quite a few reward to generating grass energy pellets, though there are also challenges in using grass as a fuel. Grass is a form of wood, biomass is simply any cellulose raw matter which can be used as an energy source. All forms of grass can be turned into pellets. However research focuses mainly on using grass species such as Switchgrass, Reed Canary Grass as well as Hemp. These grass species are seen as the most practical technique to generate grass wood fuel, as they have very high yields.

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Switchgrass has a lot of interest in the US as a potential energy to be upgraded into pellets to be burnt in pellet stoves plus boilers. The idea is to promote the process of local fuel loops. Where the whole process of crop cultivation, pellet processing along with pellet distribution as well as consumption all happens within the local area. Reed canary grass is more of a cooler climate fuel crop. Both switchgrass and reed canary grass have certain combustion issues that call for to be addressed before they can be used in a pellet stove or boiler. Only certain designs of pellet burner can burn the pellets without serious complications. To learn more about suitable pellet stove along with boiler designs. Hemp is an extremely useful wood matter, it can be used for paper, clothes, rope, plastics, oil, food along with then the waste residue can be processed into hemp pellets. Hemp pellets create less incineration issues, in addition to they also make mush less ash.

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Below is a video of our wood pellet boiler at PelHeat burning a selection of biomass pellets, including some Reed Canary Grass pellets. Grass pellets can generate a higher ash content than wood pellets, in addition to can also make other burning related issues. Issues such as clinker along with slag formations are common when using grass along with straw pellets. Although these features can cause issues. The savings in fuel costs can be substantial. An additional issue that much be acknowledge is the issues associated with boiler as well as stove corrosion. Pellet such as grass and straw pellets can generate high levels of chloride. Chloride is a high temperature corrosive, as well as can destroy some pellet stoves in addition to boiler in a very short time.

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Biomass pellets refers to a collection of unlike pellets produced from a range of unlike biomass raw materials. As the need to replace existing fossil fuel fuel sources increases. There will be a greater selection of wood pellets used to produce energy. Biomass simply refers to any organic material which can be used to generate energy. In terms of climate change in addition to global warming, the significant fact about biomass is that it is carbon neutral. What this method is that wood combustion does not place any additional carbon dioxide into the atmosphere, as new biomass growth absorbs the carbon released. Wood pellets are currently the most common in addition to most widespread form of wood pellets. Wood pellets are at present shaped predominately from timber processing residues. These residues are used to produce premium grade wood pellets. Premium grade wood pellets produce the least ash of all biomass pellets. Premium grade pellets due to their high heat value plus low maintenance are the most expensive type of biomass pellets.

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Other biomass residues can also be processed into wood pellets. However bark for case will amplify the ash content, so the pellets may not be suitable for some pellet burners. Also there is only a limited supply of biomass resources to produce biomass pellets. This is where other wood resources must be considered for energy pellets. Grass pellets are still a very new area of wood pellet production. Using grass as a fuel source has many advantages. Grass produces much higher yields than woody biomass, in addition to can be grown in more locations, and from season to season. Also during pellet production less fuel is required to form grass into a pellet, also by higher productivities. There are though issues in addition to challenges in combustion grass pellets as there are with straw pellets.

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Straw pellets can be created from waste agricultural residues. This includes for case in point wheat as well as barley straw, plus even other wastes such as corn cobs. Burning straw in addition to grass pellets does create challenges in terms of a higher ash content, in addition to possible clinker and slag formations. Straw pellets are at this time most commonly used to generate electricity in coal fired power stations, biomass pellets are also used

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Pellet manufacture characteristics change depending on the raw material being processed, and the equipment used. Many raw materials contain enough unrefined binding properties because of their lignin content. Lignin is is the organic carbohydrate, which gives biomass its strength.

Some biomass materials have more lignin that others, for case biomass compared to grass. On the other hand depending on the density of the raw material, along with the type of equipment used, influences if the lignin can be properly utilized to form pellets. Where there isn’t adequate lignin, or the lignin cannot be utilized, supplementary binders can be used. Water and vegetable oil, among other oily waste wood can be used as binders, on the other hand their inclusion rate has to be quite high, for case up to 30%.

They also generally do not produce a pellet of ample density along with durability, low inclusion industry standard pellet binders are more suitable. Industry standard low inclusion binders usually need only a 0.25-1% inclusion rate. Wood pellet production compared to grass pellet manufacture for example, is a far more fuel intensive process. The biomass generates increased resistance as it passes due to the die, through its increased density.

Therefore industry standard binders can also be used to lubricate the die during wood pellet construction. Lubricating the die has multiple benefits in the pellet mill. Lubrication can increase productivity, reduce wear on disposable parts in addition to enlarge wood pellet quality.

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Using low inclusion binders to also lubricate the pellet mill die during manufacture has multiple benefits. One of the advantages is increased productivity owing to reduced resistance because of the die. Even yet resistance is related to compression, pellet quality can still be maintained due to the additional binding properties of the binder. The lubrication can also amplify die in addition to roller life within the pellet mill. Also the reduced resistance also reduces fuel consumption during production. By way of an increased productivity plus reduced fuel demand and increased life of consumable parts, the additional charge of the binder is easily recovered.

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As stated many raw materials do have adequate natural lignin to act as a pellet binder, however releasing that potential in a small pellet mill can be difficult. Utilizing lignin as a binder relies on sufficient heat along with pressure generated in the process. This may not be an issue in the small pellet mill when processing grass, as it much easier to heat the lignin to the required temperature as most grass has a low density. Generating pellets from wood though can be much more difficult, as well as therefore requires a binder.

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Pellets come in a variety of dissimilar diameters, for instance biomass pellets for stoves are generally 6mm in diameter along with pellet boilers can take larger diameters, including 6mm in addition to 8mm pellets.

Power stations also use wood and straw pellets in co-burning by coal, they use pellets between 10-12mm in diameter. Diameters larger than this are regarded as briquettes. Briquettes are similar to logs, yet they are not as suitable for automatic feed hoppers. Pellet making is a skilled process in addition to different raw materials behave differently. Therefore how to make biomass pellets depends partly on the equipment used plus the raw material. One of the first things to consider is the source of the biomass residue. It must be free from contaminates such as stones as well as metal, as these can cause serious damage to the equipment, particularly the pellet mill.

The raw material must now be reduced to a small uniform size for the pellet mill or pellet press. The size reduction required depends on the diameter of the pellet produced. The general rule is to reduce the size of particles to less than the diameter of the pellet. The type of die used in the pellet mill will affect the compression ratio, plus thus the quality and density of the finished pellet. The matter must also be fed into the pellet mill at a controlled rate, if the feed rate is too fast, the slipping force can be exceeded or a build up of resistance could cause the motor to stall.

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Depending on the type of matter being processed unlike pellet machines have different attributes. For case in point the speed of the pellet machine as well as rated power, change depending on the application. For case in point materials with lower densities along with high oil contents need less power during construction. So rape cake for instance which is a by way of-product of oil seed pressing has a low density plus high oil content. Rape cake can therefore achieve a high productivity along with low energy consumption. Wood pellet construction yet requires much more power, as well as in general much lower productivity.

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Biomass pellet production is a exact process, it requires the correct equipment as well as process knowledge, therefore PelHeat have developed this guide on how to manufacture wood pellets. The guide covers the equipment required in addition to basic process knowledge to over come potential issues along with amplify quality.

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Wood is a general term used to explain any organic material which can be used as a energy. For instance wood, wood waste, energy crops and farming waste such as straw. A biomass pellet mill has variable features that make it feasible to process a variety of biomass resources. For case in point the pellet mill be obliged to have ample power to treat woody biomass, and in addition the ability to control features such as die velocity. At PelHeat we develop small mobile wood pellet mills to treat a wide range of biomass materials. The uses for these pellets could be as energy, animal feed, animal bedding and still cooking pellets. A wood pellet mill is a all-purpose term to portray a pellet mill, however some pellet mills have particular features for processing certain materials.

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Grass pellet mills are used chiefly in the animal feed industry. Grass pellet mills usually have a higher die speed than wood pellet mills for instance. Also power consumption is much lower, due to the reduced resistance of the grass. One of the key differences with wood pellet mills is the differentiation in die rotation speed. Wood has a greatly higher density than grass for example, and so is further difficult to deal with into pellets. More electricity is required to process wood into pellets, as a result traditionally a lower gearing is required to condense the wood through the die. Also to gelatinise wood into pellets, higher construction temperatures are essential. Raw substance temperature can be enlarged by processing the raw material through a steam conditioner. Though another way to amplify pellet quality is to increase resonance time through the die, hence a lower die rotation speed. Manufacture pellets is a process that relies on quite a few factors with regards to the raw material and the apparatus used.

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The raw material must have a steady moisture content, generally within the reach of 15%. The material must also be free from contaminates such as stones and metal, as these can cause severe damage to the equipment. Pellet making apparatus requires a high energy input, usually requiring a three phase electrical supply. The core piece of gear is obviously the pellet mill. Correct operation and maintenance of the pellet mill is the key factors in producing quality pellets proficiently. As stated there are quite a lot of variables which need to be controlled to produce quality biomass pellets. Each raw matter behaves differently in the pellet mill, and only by comprehension the results can the process be adjusted to produce suitable quality pellets. However many people interested in how pellets are made, and possibly building their own set-up are not familiar with the details of the process.

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A pellet production machine is a meaning used by a number of to illustrate either a pellet mill or pellet press. The use of a pellet making machine can take numerous forms, from generating animal feed pellets to wood fuel pellets, and even cooking pellets for wood pellet grills. Each pellet production machine has different characteristics depending on what type of pellet they are producing and from what kind of raw material. Particle size and material density impact on which apparatus are appropriate and the energy essential. A wood pellet appliance has specific features which facilitate a wood pellet mechanism to produce timber pellets more competently.

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Wood is a elevated compactness biomass, it consequently requires more energy to squash the wood into pellet form. Consequently wood pellet machines usually have more power, or a lower gearing to increase torque to the pellet mill. Also to gelatinise wood requires more temperature than many other wood raw materials. In many cases dry steam is used to heat the raw material to the necessary temperatures, this another time requires an extra source of energy. Pellet manufacture is a skilled process, several variables and factors have to be restricted to produce an proficient process in producing quality pellets. Moisture control is a key feature of pellet making. To produce pellets, most raw resources require an average moisture percentage of between 10-15%. However the consistency of the batch in terms of moisture is also important. Poor consistency within the raw material will create poor consistency in pellet quality.

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Depending on the end use of the wood pellets, the raw substance used must be chosen carefully. For case in point premium fuel pellets demand a specific quality of raw material to produce an ash content below 1%. This means the wood sourced must contain nearly no bark, and be from a pine or spruce residue. Now the premium fuel pellet market is dominant, however in the future more standard grades of pellets will appear.
As confirmed making wood pellets demands a superior amount of energy during production. Production wood pellets also puts a greater demand on the bearings of the machinery and reduces the life of consumable parts such as dies and rollers. On the other hand many other biomass resources can also be upgraded into pellets for numerous uses, such as fuel pellets. On the other hand there are issues with other biomass pellets in their burning uniqueness.
Pellet making as described is a skilled process, which is dependant on the raw material having the correct features and qualities to produce a class pellet. At PelHeat we develop small scale mobile pellet production units, and we also developed the Wood Pellet Production Guide.

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