Family Member doesnt burn pellets but is going to be making them.

[FireManDan]

So i heard from my Dad that my Uncle and Cousin who have there own Contracting Company , with business slowing down and upcoming cold weather. There are looking into making pellets to sell, they are wood burners and only know of me and another friend that burns the pellets. I went over to there house to see what they have set up so far ,
they have the hammer Mill for now and are looking for the pellet mill to make the pellets. They hammered a bunch of hardwood chips and seem to be correct size. There will
be plenty of trial and error for them along with moisture control and getting the process down. But heck as long as the finished product looks/smells good and is dry ill try some and be a tester haha. They dont know about bagging them yet or what to store them in but time will tell. In our area we have a couple of Hardwood Lumber Mills that have piles
of sawdust it would be ideal to get in with those companies!

Anyone have any pointers for these two on do's and dont's, there also aware of the little profit for now just something for them to do.

Dan

 

[jtakeman]

Pellet making is a tricky process. Moisture content has to be high enough at the start for good lock up, But yet not to high as you will have to dry them. The lower the moisture in the finished pellet the more BTU's produced. Starting with saw dust is most likely the best possible. Smaller fiber compresses better yielding higher BTU content. If chips are to be hammer milled. Use the smallest screen possible. They might want to mix in fine saw dust with the millings.

Bark is a killer and should be removed because bark is high in ash content. The cleaner the fiber the better the end result. Ash also effects BTU content of the pellet. Clean wood fiber will contain more BTU's per pound than a fiber that has high bark content. If they can acquire softwood fiber they could also make softwood pellets. Once the fiber is compressed softwood fiber is just as good if not better than hardwood fiber. Many pellet mills mix both softwood and hardwood fiber.

I'm not sure where Scotland is but would love to try their pellets once they get going. Have them look me up if they are close to Northwestern CT area.

 

[FireManDan]

Scotland is eastern ct over in Windham county. Pm your contact info if you'd like and once they get some made I can notify you.

 

[jtakeman]

Will do! PM sent.

What kind of volume are they looking to achieve?

 

[FireManDan]

Im pretty sure small scale for now. They don't know what to do for bagging I may give them my empties to use.

 

[tjnamtiw]

http://www.buskirkeng.com/ makes some pellet mills that look quite nice. Judging from the frequent emails I get from them asking if I am still interested, you may get a deal from them. Of course, you can purchase a Chinese diesel powered mill very cheaply if you deal directly with them rather than purchase from a US reseller. A few years back, I had a formal quote from one for $4000, which included the hammer mill with 20 hp diesel and 2 extra screens, a pelletizer with 20 hp diesel, 3 extra sets of rollers and plates, customs broker fees, importation/dockside fees, and trucking to my door.

One of the biggest things to success besides the moisture content is a binder to hold the pellets together since you won't generate enough heat to fully engage the lignin. A source for this binder was http://www.mataminc.com/woodfuel.php

Hope that helps and keep us informed.

 

[jtakeman]

Small scale could lead to large scale. We need a pellet maker in CT IMHO. Then I could also support a local producer too!

 

[FireManDan]

Im hoping they get on this and make a good product. That way I could get free pellets Haha

 

[kinsmanstoves]

Let us know how that works for them. I wish them the best. Pictures do help.

Eric