Grass Pellets on CL. Gasification video too.

has anybody tried the grass pellets in a Harmon?

with Harmon's design, I think it would be able to tolerate a higher ash pellet better than most stoves

macman said:

Anton Smirnov said:

has anybody tried the grass pellets in a Harmon?

with Harmon's design, I think it would be able to tolerate a higher ash pellet better than most stoves

Click to expand...

It's not an issue with "tolerating" the higher ash....my stove, Jay's, & Schoondog's all are burning the pellets fine...it's just a matter of having to clean the stove MUCH more often. Why would a Harman be any better at that? Maybe there's something I'm missing???

Click to expand...

I don't think you missed anything. He still would be scraping daily and empting the ash pan weekly. I wish he would try them and tell us his thoughts. The only harman that is in our multifuel class is the PC45. IMHO the operator with a standard harman would be the mixer-stirrer or agitator in the burn pot. They would be tending to the mess more than they think.

just me 2cents worth!

I read here that some folks clean their stove daily. If you have a multi fuel stove and clean each day well... maybe these pellets will do it for ya. I shut the stove down tonight after 4 bags and am going to give it a quick clean and go back to wood pellets. My buddy at work tried to burn grass with his Country Winslow and could not get through the first bag, so I have more now but will need to clean first. Mac and Jtakeman have very good points in that more monetary saving would need to be realized due to the added amount of maintenance these pellets will require. I'm willing to do more work to help environment, but I don't know. Can't be cleaning the stove each day. I will see what happens. Now that wood pellet prices are dropping, makes these pellets even harder to deal with. Still love the idea and they are close to being good, but the ash is pretty bad. I'll try to take some photos and post , but not tonight.
Schoondog

jtakeman said:

macman said:

Anton Smirnov said:

has anybody tried the grass pellets in a Harmon?

with Harmon's design, I think it would be able to tolerate a higher ash pellet better than most stoves

Click to expand...

It's not an issue with "tolerating" the higher ash....my stove, Jay's, & Schoondog's all are burning the pellets fine...it's just a matter of having to clean the stove MUCH more often. Why would a Harman be any better at that? Maybe there's something I'm missing???

Click to expand...

I don't think you missed anything. He still would be scraping daily and empting the ash pan weekly. I wish he would try them and tell us his thoughts. The only harman that is in our multifuel class is the PC45. IMHO the operator with a standard harman would be the mixer-stirrer or agitator in the burn pot. They would be tending to the mess more than they think.

just me 2cents worth!

Click to expand...

I was referring to the fact that harmon uses a sloped burn pot, so ash is automatically pushed out by the new pellets.
Though an agitator in a traditional burn pot is another solution to the same problem.

I forgot that your stove had one when I originally posted.

Anton Smirnov said:

jtakeman said:

macman said:

Anton Smirnov said:

has anybody tried the grass pellets in a Harmon?

with Harmon's design, I think it would be able to tolerate a higher ash pellet better than most stoves

Click to expand...

It's not an issue with "tolerating" the higher ash....my stove, Jay's, & Schoondog's all are burning the pellets fine...it's just a matter of having to clean the stove MUCH more often. Why would a Harman be any better at that? Maybe there's something I'm missing???

Click to expand...

I don't think you missed anything. He still would be scraping daily and empting the ash pan weekly. I wish he would try them and tell us his thoughts. The only harman that is in our multifuel class is the PC45. IMHO the operator with a standard harman would be the mixer-stirrer or agitator in the burn pot. They would be tending to the mess more than they think.

just me 2cents worth!

Click to expand...

I was referring to the fact that harmon uses a sloped burn pot, so ash is automatically pushed out by the new pellets.
Though an agitator in a traditional burn pot is another solution to the same problem.

I forgot that your stove had one when I originally posted.

Click to expand...

Anton,

I wish you could try some and give us a report on them. There are a few other Harman owner would like to also hear your results.

jay

Hi everyone Hope you don't mind if I join in conversation. As for Harmon users yes I do know of some people burning these pellets in Harmon stoves I have not heard any complaints about ash. Most people burning these pellets are emptying the ash pans at 2.5 to 3 day intervals. DJ

DJ said:

Hi everyone Hope you don't mind if I join in conversation. As for Harmon users yes I do know of some people burning these pellets in Harmon stoves I have not heard any complaints about ash. Most people burning these pellets are emptying the ash pans at 2.5 to 3 day intervals. DJ

Click to expand...

DJ,

Welcome to the forums.

Thanks for joining in with us. I am sure there are a few that really want to pick your brain. Fellow members "DJ" is the one making these pellets for us.

Very glad that you join us here!
jay

Thanks for warm welcome. Grass pellets are a new fuel you first users are probably some of the first people in the US to use the fuel outside a university research center. Hopefully through use we will all learn about the fuel and how it is best burned. I have experience using the fuel in just a few stoves not all. So I am always looking for feedback in how it performs in other stoves. I will gladly answer any questions.DJ

Does anyone know of a source for grass pellets in either Nova Scotia or New Brunswick? I'd love to try some in my Harman Accentra. I've also wondered how my stove would handle the increased ash typically associated with grass pellets given I noticed a substantial reduction in ash with the Harman compared to my old Enviro pellet stove when burning wood pellets.

And thanks to all of you for posting on this topic - I am reading each one with great interest.

DJ,

Way back on post 18, tinkabranc asked about the moisture content. Do you have any info on that?

Thanks.

DJ Welcome to the forum. Many good folks were. You may get busy answering all the questions. Anyone burning these in a commercial application i.e boiler or large furnace ? Mark
Schoondog

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NK3O6GBr4Ho
I don't know if you guys have seen this vid about commercial use. As far as boiler use only use is experimental at universities or state level. DJ

Jay sorry for mixed up replies, as far as pellet MC feedstock is close to 12% mill when hot will flash off 5-6% so pellet is 6-7% probably picks up some moisture from atmosphere so pellet is probably around 8% I will check some pellets that are too wet I send back through mill to flash off extra moisture. We always run old stock through mill to keep MC in pellet less than 10% so it is burnable. Getting to the post about device ash handling . Stoves that have roots in burning coal have the ability to burn high ash fuels . Ie stoker underfed burners and big ash storage capacities . See vid in previous post DJ

Thanks DJ!

Here are a few more pics I took after 4 bags of burning. I could have gone a little more, but ran out of grass. Also with low temps . on the way I wanted a little hotter pellet. One nice thing is no hard carbon in burn pot, as matter of fact I didn't have to clean it at all. Usually after a week (8-12 bags or so) I have a pretty decent build up of carbon in the pot that I have to bang outand soak in hot water. Worst part of the weekly/bi weekly clean I think. Usually though my pan has enough capacity to go for 2-3 weeks. Grass would be a 4-7 day empty. Man I wish these things had a little less ash.

Schoondog

Looks like a lot of ash.

macman said:

Yep Schoon, that looks just like mine after the 4 bags i burned. The "pebble" ash in the pan is kinda weird, right?

Click to expand...

Yep! same for me too! I didn't have to touch the burnpot as far as chipping out the carbon goes. I just had to brush out them pebbles. But I think my vac got the beating of its very long life time(same vac for the last 10 years)! Wood fiber must have more slag in it or something. Almost every pellet I tested had some slag I had to chip out with a chisel.

As schoon said, Just wished it had a bit less ash, I really want to burn it myself. I may also get some more to play around with too!

Schoon, DJ said he wood mess around with other stock a while back. I dumped my email and forgot the exact statement he made. You are the closest. Maybe he can play around and you try them. You guys figure out something, I will test it and post result here. I really would like to see something work.

DJ, I have heard of some fiber that may interest some of us. It is used coffee grounds. I have no idea where we could get any. But from what I hear it make a very good pellet that burns very hot. Something to think about or mull over? I posted something here a while back but it died quickly. I know they are making fire logs from them out west and experimenting with pellets too.

jay

Macman'
Yea I see what you are saying. As I remember it was very late night and I told wife to shut down stove so I could clean real quick before changing back to wood pellets when I got home. I was in a hurry and banged the sides a few times then remembered to take a few pics. Thats why the ash on top of the pellets. I'm not sure why there is so many pellets in the pot. Auger still full of pellets and my stove will move auger slowly during shutdown to alleviate chance of hopper fire, or so I read. I guess thats why the unburned pellets.

Schoondog

Hi guys: Ash looks good no big clinkers only small balls fused silica. I have seen some clinkers fused in the shape of the burn pot from some unretted switch grass. Ash content at 3.1% what Jay tested is as good as it gets with grass pellets, maybe the pure goldenrod pellets will be a little less in the 2% range because stem to leaf ratio is high. leaves and seed pods are responsible for most of the ash in grass pellets. You really want only stems. The black slag that schoon is talking about could be from dirt see any blue in it?. Jay you could add to your testing a simple water test. put pellet in water does it sink? then let pellet dissolve some don't. Then shake up dissolved pellet let settle see what floats and what sinks. Doing this gives you a good idea what the pellet is made from. I will run off some pure golden rod this week . DJ

Dj , I would like to try the all golden rod pellet. I thought about that, the higher the golden rod the hotter the burn and less ash dueto no leaves. I was reading on one of the grass websites yesterday that most of the ash is from leaves and something else that is part of or left on the stem of the grass. I thought about a higher % of golden rod would make a better pellet, but thought that it would be too hard to produce or seperate from the grass. But if you can do it I would love to try it. Let me know.

Schoondog