Wood Pellet Equipment

The wood pellet industry is evolving to become one of the fastest growing alternative and renewable energy forms. The wood pellet equipment used to produce pellet fuel is similar to the equipment used in the animal feed pellet industry which has existed for over a century. However there are significant differences in wood pellet equipment which will be discussed.

Wood Pellet Manufacturing and Details

The process of wood pellet manufacturing with wood pellet equipments depends on the type of woody biomass used. Some materials require more size reduction, where other require drying. Currently the market leader in wood pellet fuel is the premium grade wood pellet fuel. Consumers prefer this fuel due to the fact that is produces a very low moisture content, and therefore requires less maintenance. This type of wood pellet fuel is produced from the sawdust from timber processing. As the particle are already fairly small, the particles are just passed through a hammer mill to guarantee a uniform particle size for the pellet mill. If the sawdust is from kiln dried timber, drying is not required. In this case the moisture content can even be too low for the pellet to form effectively. Therefore water maybe introduced into the process. Alternatively with large scale production steam conditioning is used to released the natural lignin to aid pellet binding. High temperature steam is used in the conditioner prior to the pellet mill. As the material enters the pellet mill the material is pre-heated. This aids pellet quality and also reduces load on the pellet mill and lowers energy consumption. There are also specific differences a wood pellet has over other pellet mills.

Wood Pellet Press and Biomass Presses

Wood pellet equipment is often known by several different names. For example the wood pellet mill is also known as a wood pellet press. As described a wood pellet press has specific differences when compared to an animal feed pellet mill. Firstly one of the most important differences is the speed at which the equipment operates. Animal feed pellet mills process low density materials such as grasses and straws. These materials are much easier to compress into pellet form compared to wood. Due to the increased density of the wood fibre, a wood pellet press operated at a much lower speed than an animal feed pellet mill, generally half the speed. This is achieved through a much lower gearing of the wood pellet equipment. This produces the lower rotation speed and much more torque to the pellet mill.

Wood Pellet Fuel and Pellet Fuel Grades

As stated, premium grade wood pellets currently dominate the wood pellet fuel market, however there is only a limited number of resources suitable for premium pellets and the price of the fuel is quite high. Lower grade wood pellet fuel can provide an equal value of heat, however may generate a higher ash content. These pellets will be significantly cheaper however, and be able to use a wider range of woody biomass resources. Not all wood pellet stoves can burn lower grade wood pellets and other biomass pellets. The design of the burn pot creating issues.

The Wood Pellet Production Guide © PelHeat Ltd - Wood Pellet Equipment