My local Farm market were i get my Corn has "Grain Pellets" Has anybody seen or tried them? Thay are $5.05 for 50lbs. they look just like the wood pellets
Grain Pelletts ????????? ever seen them???
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seaken
Minister of Fire
I have found some more info on them here
> http://forum.iburncorn.com/viewtopic.php?t=356
I may pick up a few bags to give a try, I will post my findings
> http://forum.iburncorn.com/viewtopic.php?t=356I may pick up a few bags to give a try, I will post my findings
seaken
Minister of Fire
Harman claims to support such pellets but I haven't seen them burn yet. I wonder what the differences are in BTU's and storage when compared to corn? I'm thinking we may have a better chance with grass pellets as a substitute to wood pellets when compared to corn.
The Envirotec 5775, is a grain burning stove too. I'm wondering why most pellet stoves couldn't burn them?
Who knows, pretty soon Dylan's may be manufacturing cardboard pellets.
Who knows, pretty soon Dylan's may be manufacturing cardboard pellets.
seaken
Minister of Fire
BeGreen said:
Can't tell if your just being facesious but it is my understanding that cardboard or paper are viable raw materials for pellet fuels. Anyone?
stoveguy2esw
Minister of Fire
seaken said:
we played with some recycled paper pellets , but found them to be long , like 3 inches long , and they wouldnt chop up in the feed system, burned well , more ash, but biggest problem was ya had to sit and cut them up into <1' pieces to get them to feed
Yes, it was a friendly poke at Dylan's cardboard operation. But with all the junk mail we receive and recycle, turning it into fuel would be great.
seaken
Minister of Fire
stoveguy2esw said:
Mike,
I have seen some candy or pasta making operations that use a cutter at the end of the extruder. Why couldn't that be done with pellets? Seems to me the equipment currently being used for hardwood pellets could be modified to be more suitable for paper pellets. That would be a beter solution than trying to manufacturer an auger system for a paper pellet stove. Of course, that's assuming that length of the pellet is the only issue that would prevent using a standard pellet stove.
With Paper pellets, you have to be carefull that you are getting clean paper - some of the paper pellets have glue residue mixed in. There is a company in Washington state that makes them (search Hearth.net for the link - it was up 6-12 months ago)
As for grain pellets - could work, could form one giant clinker, like sawgrass (According to Cornell U, a Harman will get clogged after 48 hours of burning 100% sawgrass). Never know until you try it.
As for grain pellets - could work, could form one giant clinker, like sawgrass (According to Cornell U, a Harman will get clogged after 48 hours of burning 100% sawgrass). Never know until you try it.
Gooserider
Mod Emeritus
Don't know about pelletizing, but the grain part makes sense... They have to process the grain by malting (getting it to just short of sprouting - this turns the starches into sugars and produces an enzyme that makes more sugar) and drying it, then it is mixed with water to make the wort that is fermented into alcohol. There is quite a bit of stuff left at the end of this process that has to be disposed of, it might be real easy to turn it into pellets. (I've also heard of it being used for animal feed)
Gooserider
Gooserider
A company in Larned, KS is making a corn/wood (cedar?) pellet blend. It is sold as a "Standard" pellet, i.e. less than 3% ash.
If you read the "fine print" on many pellet stoves, they are required to burn "Premium" pellets, i.e. less than 1% ash. Therefore, a standard pellet may not work.
I found that I had to substantially decrease the feed rate in order to allow the pellets to burn without overfilling the burn pot. Other than that they burned fine. They burn REALLY well in a Harman PC45 corn stove.
My only real problem is that these pellets are made in an alfalfa pellet mill, so there is alfalfa residue on the bags and the pellets. I am allergic to alfalfa, so I guess I'll have to burn something else.
SMK
If you read the "fine print" on many pellet stoves, they are required to burn "Premium" pellets, i.e. less than 1% ash. Therefore, a standard pellet may not work.
I found that I had to substantially decrease the feed rate in order to allow the pellets to burn without overfilling the burn pot. Other than that they burned fine. They burn REALLY well in a Harman PC45 corn stove.
My only real problem is that these pellets are made in an alfalfa pellet mill, so there is alfalfa residue on the bags and the pellets. I am allergic to alfalfa, so I guess I'll have to burn something else.
SMK
stovemanken said:
how much do these cost (and how much are premium pellets in your neck of the woods?)
When we checkeked at a local feed store, they were actually priced slightly higer than wood pellets. The corn/wood pellets were about $249/ton and travelled 250 miles or less. The wood pellets were about $239/ton and had travelled about 800 miles. Not sure what the advantage of the blend might be at that price.
SMK
SMK
HarryBack
New Member
in Salt Lake City last year at the convention I seem to recall an unmodified Harman burning raw oats.
stoveguy2esw
Minister of Fire
[[/quote]
Mike,
I have seen some candy or pasta making operations that use a cutter at the end of the extruder. Why couldn't that be done with pellets? Seems to me the equipment currently being used for hardwood pellets could be modified to be more suitable for paper pellets. That would be a beter solution than trying to manufacturer an auger system for a paper pellet stove. Of course, that's assuming that length of the pellet is the only issue that would prevent using a standard pellet stove.[/quote]
actually i dont know if they meant them to be that long or just didnt know that it was too long , but they kinda bend and twist instead of break so they really didnt go through the auger as well as wood pellets.
as for alternitive sources for pellet mediums, i would think nut hulls , macadamia, walnut etc, hard shells not like peanuts or such, would probably make a good hot burning pellet. and there has to be a lot of it around. question is can that be ground up and extruded into a pellet that will hold up to being fed through an auger system?
Mike,
I have seen some candy or pasta making operations that use a cutter at the end of the extruder. Why couldn't that be done with pellets? Seems to me the equipment currently being used for hardwood pellets could be modified to be more suitable for paper pellets. That would be a beter solution than trying to manufacturer an auger system for a paper pellet stove. Of course, that's assuming that length of the pellet is the only issue that would prevent using a standard pellet stove.[/quote]
actually i dont know if they meant them to be that long or just didnt know that it was too long , but they kinda bend and twist instead of break so they really didnt go through the auger as well as wood pellets.
as for alternitive sources for pellet mediums, i would think nut hulls , macadamia, walnut etc, hard shells not like peanuts or such, would probably make a good hot burning pellet. and there has to be a lot of it around. question is can that be ground up and extruded into a pellet that will hold up to being fed through an auger system?
Harry,
Oats are IMHO one of the nicest fuels we have ever burned. Our test PC45 has burned oats, milo, wheat, varietys of corn, barley and anything else we can lay our hands on. With the DIP switches on the current models, I swear we could burn anything. The problem is cost. Buying grain at a feed store is far more expensive than pellets, even with the current high prices. More than likely, each of the grains is 7500 Btus per pound compared to 8300 for wood pellets.
Good to hear from you.
SMK
Oats are IMHO one of the nicest fuels we have ever burned. Our test PC45 has burned oats, milo, wheat, varietys of corn, barley and anything else we can lay our hands on. With the DIP switches on the current models, I swear we could burn anything. The problem is cost. Buying grain at a feed store is far more expensive than pellets, even with the current high prices. More than likely, each of the grains is 7500 Btus per pound compared to 8300 for wood pellets.
Good to hear from you.
SMK
HarryBack said:
The oats didn't jam the auger? I would have thought anything that fine would gum it up.
If you imagine oats to be fine, you should see milo (sorghum) it looks like red bird shot and augers very well. (Doesn't burn all that well, but that's another story.)
I like oats because the chaff on every kernel acts like paper and make it iginite within seconds in the PC45. I also like them because they don't clinker like so many of the biofuels. They are also on the ashy side like most biofuels, but not objectionably so.
SMK
I like oats because the chaff on every kernel acts like paper and make it iginite within seconds in the PC45. I also like them because they don't clinker like so many of the biofuels. They are also on the ashy side like most biofuels, but not objectionably so.
SMK
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