Making Pellets, a solution

Brad_S. · February 20, 2007, 07:40:34 PM

How many threads have we all seen asking how to make pellets? Someone finally appears to have tapped the small generator market.
http://www.pelletpros.com/

dail_h · February 20, 2007, 11:05:43 PM

Thanks Brad,kool site

Jeff · February 20, 2007, 11:33:40 PM

Man, if they could just drop a zero off that price...

dail_h · February 20, 2007, 11:40:42 PM

Two wouldn't hurt. Still if you figure it over the lifetime of the machine ,it ain't "so" bad.We alreadt got the sawdust ,make pellets once a week,free fuel,plus sell the extra--------------free machine.
'Course that don't help none at the start does it?

Jeff · February 21, 2007, 12:36:25 AM

Ya gotta wonder how long the dies last as the replacements are right there front and center to buy.

slowzuki · February 21, 2007, 08:19:54 AM

Even the large commercial mills wear out dies, a fellow was saying they start them on grains so the dies last longer. Something to do with heat.

twobears · February 21, 2007, 08:48:57 AM

i,de wanta see it work thur the whole process before i bought one.
you might find out a pellet mill was just a start to what you really need.
the northern logger magazine had a good article on a plant there planning on building south of me in central ny.it showed a plant and told how they made wood pellets
the sawdust had to be ground into a fine dust and it had to be heated to i believe 140 degree.then,it was feed into the press to make pellets.the heat is what helps the dust stick together it releases a glue thats in wood.
the plant burned part of the incoming sawdust to make hot air which was blown into a 64 foot long tube that had sawdust running thur it to dry the sawdust down to 4%.
that site is intresting tho.

delbert

Dale Hatfield · February 21, 2007, 08:54:52 AM

Im gonna give them a call today . Just so i can get more info on the process. The start up cost for the mill i can handle, but what else do you need.
Dale

Brad_S. · February 21, 2007, 08:55:32 AM

There was a question in the Q&A section that caught my attention and raised a yellow flag.

QuoteQ: If I purchase a pellet mill, will you show me how to make pellets?
A: We are like many of you, wanting to make our own pellets for heating. Now that we have a mill to make pellets, we are experimenting and testing and will be happy to pass on what we learn, good or bad. We will have a page posted later on for tips on making pellets, as we have info to share from our own testing.

It sounds like they don't have the process perfected yet. ???

Warren · February 21, 2007, 09:34:01 AM

Just got an email response back. Sawdust has to be dried down to 25% moisture or lower to be pelletized. Pellets then have to be dried down to 10% moisture to burn properly in a pellet stove. Kinda like owning a sawmill. The mill is only part of the equation...

slowzuki · February 21, 2007, 10:00:51 AM

Its had my thinker turning for the last few weeks since I saw the first ads. I was thinking a solar dryer for the sawdust then batch dry the pellets in a kiln. I've been wanting to build a kiln anyways so load it with pellets when it would be idle.

Brad_S. · February 21, 2007, 10:12:33 AM

A question I would be interested in knowing the answer to is whether planer shavings can be used right from the dust collector or whether they need to go through the hammermill and become powderized? I would think that if you mix planer output from dried lumber with raw sawdust, you should come pretty close to the 25% value needed. ???

Dale Hatfield · February 21, 2007, 10:23:41 AM

well after reading that post . The mill isnt even a 1/3 of the system. The production of the pellets seams to be pretty easy. the after facts my be hard to achieve.

Something just came to mind Based on their backgrounds. I would have to believe that this equipment is all based out of the AG world. For making pellets for livestock feeds.

The machine itself is going to need a way to load material into it. as well as needing a way to handle unfinished product. Besides that how do you handle pellets to dry and keep from making a more fines than a pellet stove can handle. Can you make a bin dryer like they use for grain on the small scale?
Brad a would say the mix might work. but everything that goes into the pellet mill must be granular.

twobears · February 21, 2007, 10:44:36 AM

BRAD:the way i understand it the sawdust must be like flour before it,s pressed into pellets.in that northern logger article they said the sawdust came from woodwiorking shops mostly.they fed it into the pellet plants and it was screened according to how fine it was.only the finest sawdust was ran right into the process.the other sawdust was seprated out and ran thur a grinder to make it fine enough.from,that i would think shaving would have to be ground up into dust first.

delbert

low_48 · February 21, 2007, 11:07:07 PM

I called those guys as well. They are only about 45 minutes from here. Nice guys, very easy to talk to. They say the material must be run through a 1/4" screen in a hammer mill if is bigger than that. They are just getting there business started. They have been selling corn furnaces and now the alky business is driving the cost of corn up. They needed a cheaper fuel again. It is there idea that any bio material; sawdust, planer chips, corn stalks, leaves,etc..... will be able to be used. They have there first machine arriving any day now by the brown guys, a container is on the way. These machines have been used in Europe for the past couple of years. New to the U.S.A. They are also able to get dies that will make a 1/2" diameter pellet. That is what they intend to use in their furnaces with a 2 1/2" auger. I don't think loading the hopper will be that tough. Should be able to get some cheap augers from a used ag machine dealer. A junk combine unloading auger would be my first choice. Just wish I didn't have to buy a pellet stove as well to make this all work.

twobears · February 22, 2007, 06:30:24 AM

i did a search on ebay last night for pellet plants and hammer mills.there was two pellets mills.lets just say the pellet press is a small part of the whole picture.
that being siad,if i had the time and money i,de buy a press from theses guys and try making pellets.

delbert

PS:moving the sawdust around and into the press is no big deal,but,i think drying the sawdust and pellets would be.the one mill on ebay had a 23 foot long dryer to run the sawdust thur.

Mr Mom · February 22, 2007, 08:30:24 AM

twobears...The pellet mills on e-bay arer for making 100,000 bags or more a year. Talked a nice guy about a small plant and then dropped the idea.

Thanks Alot Mr Mom

mur · February 22, 2007, 12:11:41 PM

I have been doing pellet research for my own situation plus also for a commercial venture relating to a Community Forest. There is a huge difference in the two realities. The commercial venture needs millions of dollars of capital. The dryer alone is almost a million bucks USD. Then, the pelleters and other infrastructure. Then, you have to market tons and tons of pellets every day - year round.

For my personal situation, I generate about a ton or two a week of kiln dry sawdust (6-9% moisture content) and shavings when I was last working. The shavings/sawdust I was putting into my outdoor boiler two years ago - shovelling them in - a hassle. So, my new plan is to "shake" the shavings out of the mix and bale that for the animal folks - because the animal folks don't want sawdust/wood dust. The sawdust, now I am looking at one of this company's pellet machines. A ton or two of pellets a week, make a part time job for a worker, sell the pellets local, get rid of a waste problem, looks good to my customers as I'm using all my fibre, no mess around the yard. Guess what I am trying to say is that the small pelletters make excellent sense in some circumstances. I do not want to set up a "pellet factory". I just want to make pretty boards and mouldings and deal with my waste in a responsible manner. This gets rid of my waste and generates income. Works for me in my personal situation. My dealings with the PelletPro's folks so far has been good. I'll keep you posted. The head accountant (the wife) even thinks I'm making sense. Now that's scary.

twobears · February 22, 2007, 12:21:24 PM

MR MOM:i know theres a diffrence between the mills on ebay and theses.but,the way i see it nomatter how many pounds or tons of pellets you wanta make you still need the right materal and equipment to do it.your not going to buy a mill and start making good pellets.
i am very intrested in the whole small scale process.i plan on running my sawmill alot in the future and using my waste in a good way has been on my mind alot.if i could make one of thoes pellet mills and a outdoor stove work right i,de love it..but!!

delbert

KGNC · February 22, 2007, 03:03:39 PM

About 10 years ago I had the big idea of collecting old pallets and scrap from some of the furniture factories and turning them into pellets. But it did not take a lot of figuring to see that transportation cost would be about the same as the market price for pellets. And once I saw the capital required for equipment I dropped it completely.

slowzuki · February 22, 2007, 03:39:42 PM

The small scale only makes sense in my calcs if you have equipment already, a source of material already and time to run it. I can't make it work small scale spending money on drying or trucking whole logs.

My friend is trying to set up a larger mill, 5 tons an hour I believe and the $ involved is unreal. He was looking to hire me but I don't know how they will get the money together.

My other idea is from the haying we do, we generally have junk hay that sells for very cheap at the end of hte year. If it doesn't sell we compost it for 0$. I would love to pelletize it. Probably could sell as gerbil feed too hehe.

Ron Wenrich · February 22, 2007, 06:21:41 PM

So, how hard is it to dry sawdust on a small scale? I saw 2 operations that were drying shavings and it didn't take too long. The one used heat lamps over a conveyor belt. It didn't move that fast, and he had wire that would turn the shavings. He then baled it for bedding. The drying was so it wouldn't mold, more than anything else. But, he could get it skin dry in a relatively short amount of time.

Another guy had a salamander that he used for heat. He used a drum to put the shavings in, and had the salamander putting heat right in the middle of it. He had a small electric motor to turn the drum. The design was similar to a clothes dryer, which is what he used before he made the drum. 5-10 minutes was all that was needed.

We're only talking about taking out some moisture. Sawdust has a lot of surface area. When put in suspension and heat added, it shouldn't take that long.

As for the dies, the FAQ says about 100-160 hrs/set.

twobears · February 22, 2007, 07:11:36 PM

RON:thats what i was looking for..how to dry sawdust..i wasn,t saying it wasn,t worth it or anything other then it had to be done and i was looking for how it could be done on this scale?? i wonder if a guy could use the hot water heat from the outdoor stove to dry it.maybe,a rotating drum deal with a radiator type deal blowing hot air into it as the sawdust works it way thur the drum.kinda like a cement mixer..but open on both ends.the finished pellets could be on a slow moving convoyer going thur another drum with heat blown into it.

delbert

Dana · February 23, 2007, 06:32:37 AM

Slowzuki, If you cant sell the junk hay, burn it in an outdoor wood furnace.
Two bales last about 12 hours.

slowzuki · February 23, 2007, 09:07:33 AM

Interesting, does it stink the same as regular burning hay?

Quote from: Dana on February 23, 2007, 06:32:37 AM
Slowzuki, If you cant sell the junk hay, burn it in an outdoor wood furnace.
Two bales last about 12 hours.