Biomass Boiler

Biomass is a general term used to describe any organic based material which can be used as a fuel source. Oil and gas are made from organic based life forms from thousands of years ago, and are not part of the current carbon cycle, they are therefore not regarded as biomass. One of the most common materials used for biomass energy today is wood and waste wood resources. For example is developing countries wood is still heavily used as the main source of energy to cook food and boil water.

One of the most practical and efficient ways to convert woody biomass into an efficient fuel source, is to upgrade the wood into pellets, to be used in a wood pellet boiler. A wood pellet is a highly compressed form of wood, which contains very little water. The wood pellet boiler automatically feeds the pellets from a hopper into the burn pot. Currently the pellet fuel and pellet boiler market are dominated by wood pellets, however there are many other forms of biomass which can be used. For example, here at PelHeat we have a biomass boiler which burns a variety of pellet fuels. Currently we burn a majority wheat straw pellets. Wheat straw pellets contain almost the same amount of energy as wood pellets, however are much cheaper to produce. The reason wheat straw pellets are cheaper to produce, is because the raw material is still regarded as an inconvenience. Also it takes much less energy to compress wheat straw into pellets, compared to wood. The disadvantage with wheat straw pellets is the increased amount of ash that is produced. Straw pellets also produce an ash which melts at a lower temperature. Melting ash turns into a hard clinker formation once cooled. We specifically purchased our biomass boiler with a burn pot and auger designs which could remove the clinker away from the combustion zone. However most pellet stoves and pellet boilers cannot deal with clinker formations. 

Due to our research of how different biomass pellets burn, and the knowledge that we gathered we have complied into a guide called the pellet stove and boiler guide. The various features which are more crucial for efficient combustion. These include burn pot designs, auger feed mechanisms and many other features.

At PelHeat we also research and develop pellet production solutions. There are various pieces of pellet equipment used to produce wood and biomass pellets. However before a pellet can be formed, the raw material must be dried to around 15% moisture. Virgin wood resources usually contain around 50% moisture, so drying is commonly required. However many other biomass materials including many straws, grasses and energy crops can be harvested at the correct moisture content. As these resources do not require drying, the energy used to produce the pellets is much less. This means that they are not only cheaper to produce, they are also better for the environment, developing a lower carbon footprint.

Once the material has been dried, it is now ready for pellet compression. This usually takes place in the pellet mill, also known as a pellet press or pellet machine. After compression strong durable pellets are produced to be used in the biomass boiler.