I have a question about pellet manufacturing

[Jlp4ydb]

I am part of an association that is exploring deconstruction of some of the City of Detroit's older housing stock. Some of the properties have been open to the elements and have very little reclaimable material. Is there any reason we couldn't chip the wood (some of it burned out) and make into pellets. It obviously would be mixed depending what was in the house.

 

[JustWood]

End product wood be too dirty/abrasive to use in pellet manufacturing equipment. As long as there are clean chips available , I highLEE doubt there wood be any interest. Waste to enegy plants are becoming more common. Demolition is something that wood be of interest for W-E.

 

[jtakeman]

This site may be of interest. Sounds like they maybe using similar material to manufactor pellets. There is a list of exceptable and unexceptable products. But like Lee is saying probably easier to send to a W-E plant.

http://www.arborpellet.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=52&Itemid=63

 

[Trickyrick]

I think above all else the issue of LEAD paint will trump the use in home burning

 

[Jlp4ydb]

The lead we are conscious of. But if we only used non-painted wood that shouldn't be an issue.

 

[mascoma]

There are several pellet mills in MI. I would contact them to see if it's anything they want to get into as I doubt you would have a large enough supply of material over a period of years to justify building your own multi-million $ pellet mill.

Again the Waste to Energy option seems a more likely option. Why get hung up on pellets, Burn it in an industrial setting, instead of sending the unknown into peoples homes.
I for one will never knowingly buy a pellet made of reclaimed materials, too many question marks for me about what may have found its way in there.

I would be more concerned with what to do with all the asbestos, PVC, and lead coming out of the homes

 

[cms0553]

My neigbor has an outdoor wood burning funace.
I bring him old pallets from work.
We bust them up and toss them into the furnace.
Someone like that might like some of that lumber.

 

[hoverfly]

Think twice before you go any further, and do a search on burning, incineration Construction and demolition debris. It's a hot topic.

 

[preacherbiggin]

There are several pellet mills in MI. I would contact them to see if it's anything they want to get into as I doubt you would have a large enough supply of material over a period of years to justify building your own multi-million $ pellet mill.

Again the Waste to Energy option seems a more likely option. Why get hung up on pellets, Burn it in an industrial setting, instead of sending the unknown into peoples homes.
I for one will never knowingly buy a pellet made of reclaimed materials, too many question marks for me about what may have found its way in there.

I would be more concerned with what to do with all the asbestos, PVC, and lead coming out of the homes

TIMES 2 ON THAT!

 

[peakbagger]

Many areas have banned the burning of wood wastes such as you describe. They are generally defined as C&D. If michigan hasnt banned it, the best use would be for fuel for a biomass power plant. These plants are all over the midwest but its important to find one within 50 miles, as the cost to haul the fuel starts to exceed the value of the BTU content of the fuel. Most if not all of New England states has banned the burning of C&D so with the excepton of some grandfathered biomass pants and trash incinerators, it has to be landfilled. The cost to landfill is high so it then makes sense to truck it farther away to offset the landfill cost.

By the way, a lot of lead associated with C&D comes into the system via the nails in the wood. Galvanized nails can contain lead.