Today, the need for renewable energy sources is clear. Our faith on fossil fuels is no longer sustainable or affordable. There is a limited resource of fossil fuels, plus as the global population continues to increase at an accelerating rate, those supplies cannot meet the demands of a mounting population. Also, fossil fuels are now known to be a key contributor to climate change plus carbon emissions. Therefore the require for alternative fuel sources such as wood is driven on energy reserve, fee as well as environmental concerns. The issue is how do we capture the energy from biomass. Wood in its natural form is not an ideal fuel source. Wood generally has a low bulk density and therefore also a low energy density. Also the moisture content of raw wood is generally too high to provide efficient incineration. Therefore the biomass requires processing into a more useable form of fuel. Pellets are part of that wood solution.

Learn more about Making Pellets

As discussed, biomass in its raw form is not ideal as an energy source through its low density in addition to high moisture content. One of the simplest ways to turn wood into a highly proficient along with cheap form of energy is to compress the wood matter into pellets. Pellets are in the shape of small cylinders, which for energy pellets are usually 6 or 8mm in diameter. Pellets have a much higher bulk as well as energy density compared to the raw material as well as also a much lower moisture content below 10%. This enables the pellets to burn much more efficiently than raw biomass. There are also developments to make biomass pellets even more proficient, plus have a higher fuel density. One interesting practice is torrefaction. Torrefaction is where the biomass is heated to between 200 plus 300 degrees, along with a lot of the unwanted volatiles which diminish incineration efficiency are burnt off. What is left is a much purer form of carbon which not only burns much more more efficiently than standard wood as well as biomass pellets, it also have several supplementary payback. This benefits include being hydrophobic, which means the pellets are not susceptible to moisture as fuel pellets at present are. Torrefied biomass and biomass pellets are gaining ground, and are the future.

Read more about Biomass Pellets

Converting wood fuel into pellets brings home heating by means of solid wood energy away from high maintenance log stoves into the 21st century. Modern pellet stoves along with boilers have a mixture of automated features which reduce the work load of the owner. For case energy hoppers on pellet burners usually hold at least a days worth of energy. Though some have large external hoppers which hold a years reserve. Due to the demand for fuel from wood and a greater demand for pellets, interest in pellet construction has also grown significantly. Generating quality fuel pellets requires quite a few pieces of apparatus from chippers, hammer mills, dryers in addition to pellets mills also known as pellet machines in addition to pellet press. Operating this equipment requires a specific knowledge of what each matter requires to make quality pellets.

More information on Pellet Maker

• «Previous Post
• Next Post »

---