A pellet is a pellet is a pellet - what makes a good pellet?

[Alternative Guy]

I don't use a pellet stove, I'll admit that. But I have TWO pellet plants within a few miles of me (Treecycle and Great American (aka Keystone) - under construction), and they appear to use completely OPPOSITE philosophies.

Treecycle - website says 100% recycled materials
Great American/Keystone - website says 100% cut trees

I was at the Great American plant today, and there it was - a raised structure that will convey trees to a debarker, then into a chipper, etc etc
Treecycle gets mountains of chips from a supplier (composition unknown), supplemented by pallets it grinds up.

Obviously consistency if very important. Treecycle is battling that problem, and per reports here it remains an issue. Some of the pallets on Treecycle's current heap appear to be hardwood, but a significant portion are not (maybe 25%).

You would have to have a consistent supply of either recycled materials (Treecycle) or trees (Great American) to produce a consistent product. Treecycle loads its trucks up somewhere and they are filled with chips/pallets. The control of raw materials is in the hands of the supplier of these chips, and the operator who selects pallets to process.

Great American will possibly have greater control, down to species of tree if they desired, through inspection. If pine trees come in on a truck they could be rejected. Or might they be used (can hardwood pellets have softwood in them?)

I've read a lot of reports here on consistency, and it just got me thinking. These companies invest millions and millions into their facilities, they tweak their processes to get the right moisture content, etc, but to what extent are the results under their control? How much variation in ingredients can be tolerated before people start complaining about ash, etc? Is Treecycle unique in the industry in that it uses 100% recycled product? Might this be an Achilles heel?

 

[SmokeyTheBear]

...Is Treecycle unique in the industry in that it uses 100% recycled product? Might this be an Achilles heal?

I'm going to answer this question by asking a question, ever hear of Cubex?

If so, you are looking at a pellet that is made of recycled material.

You have to have control of the raw materials used or you are already behind the eight ball.

 

[Alternative Guy]

...Is Treecycle unique in the industry in that it uses 100% recycled product? Might this be an Achilles heal?

I'm going to answer this question by asking a question, ever hear of Cubex?

If so, you are looking at a pellet that is made of recycled material.

You have to have control of the raw materials used or you are already behind the eight ball.

I don't use pellets, but I have become interested in the production of them. These plants, located near each other, use different raw materials. That intrigued me, and I was wondering what the advantage of one might be over the other. Thanks for the info.

One site had a bunch of reviews of Cubex. 90%+ were very positive. Interesting. They probably have a lot of control over the raw material - I believe it is a byproduct of their flooring operation.

 

[jtakeman]

My 2 beans worth!

The majority of the pellets are made from recycled materials. The chips and dust from the lumber industry are the backbone of it. As long as the material is clean and bark free, The pellet quality should be good. Chips and saw dust seem to make a pellet with more density. Density creates more heat for the end user.

Chipped trees also have to watch for bark in the mix. If the bark isn't removed completely the quality will suffer. Chipped trees also offer another hurdle with a extra step of hammer milling the chips into something that can be pelletized. If the millings are to coarse the density of the pellet will suffer.

There is a market for both types and both have there pros and cons.

Recycled material pellets are using fiber that is from by products so no actual trees are cut just for this process.

Chipped tree pellets are less prone to fiber shortages we see from time to tiime.

 

[Meneillys]

Chipped tree chips have a big problem when put into a pellet mill. When something is dry and chipped up the fibers break apart easier thus making a chip that is more uniform. When something is wet and chipped the fibers tear more than break so you get things that look like sticks that can help make long pellets that don't like to break apart. Think about ripping a newspaper up easy when dry sloppy when wet. As for pallets I would not want to buy a pellet that has been made from pallets as a dealer. People complain about bits of nails in there auger! Yes we have had this complaint. That's my thoughts on the matter.

 

[SmokeyTheBear]

...Is Treecycle unique in the industry in that it uses 100% recycled product? Might this be an Achilles heal?

I'm going to answer this question by asking a question, ever hear of Cubex?

If so, you are looking at a pellet that is made of recycled material.

You have to have control of the raw materials used or you are already behind the eight ball.

I don't use pellets, but I have become interested in the production of them. These plants, located near each other, use different raw materials. That intrigued me, and I was wondering what the advantage of one might be over the other. Thanks for the info.

One site had a bunch of reviews of Cubex. 90%+ were very positive. Interesting. They probably have a lot of control over the raw material - I believe it is a byproduct of their flooring operation.

That is correct they are made from the waste from Lauzon's hardwood flooring operations http://www.lauzonltd.com/ .

 

[Snowy Rivers]

Now understand very well that I am not an enviro freek by any stretch of the wildest imagination.

I dont want to see our forests wasted or tons of crud dumped into our waterways either.

My only reason for owning a pellet stove is that I can use an alternative fuel that is damned cheap. (Hazelnut shells)

The absolute best pellets come from a plant that has extremely tight controls on what its using for its base stock.

If the company grinds up top notch wood products to make their pellets, you will have the best and the cleanest burning fuel.

Now to get to the idea that the pellet stove is supposed to save trees and use waste products then you must deal with all the issues that plague those who burn the crap that comes from pelletizing pallets, ground up bark (laced with dirt) paper products and anything else that will burn

I jump for joy at being able to use a totally renewable resource, one that comes every year and is a total waste product.

The environment does not suffer any loss of its resources by me burning nut shells for fuel.

The best thing that could happen, is if a plant were set up to pelletize as much scrap and waste paper that could be processed.

If this material was not sent to the landfills to rot, a lot of folks could heat their homes without depleating an already stretched resource.


Good pellets equal a wood source thats clean and free of non burnables and other poor burnables.

Second class or lower pellets are made from just about all the rest that can be processed.


When I do buy pellets, I buy the cheapest stuff I can find.

Just means a little more clinker to clean out of the pot is all.


Snowy

 

[slls]

Softwood.

 

[littlesmokey]

The critical issues for good pellets are size, density and control over the basic product. Recycled wood or new wood doesn't really determine the "Best", but the way they are handled is very important. If you followed an individual "chunk" of wood in a new or recycled plant it would go through a similar process, but not the same. New wood chips have to be dried, for example. Used wood needs to be cleaned of contaminants, especially metal. Wood species is a component of the heat derived, and the amount of ash, but does not, in my opinion, place hardwood over softwood, or vise/versa. I burn two locally made pellets, one is a recycled wood based pellets tended to my a pellet-mister, much like a brew-mister. The second is from a plant that uses the waste from their lumber mill, new fresh wood and chips/sawdust. Both burn well, but different settings.

In our region we are being ravaged by pine bark beetles. They are killing of vast forests and would go to waste except for the pellet and firewood industries. The processing of these trees can take both the route of new wood, if the down tree is fresh, or of standing dead, whole trees, but very dry like processed wood. Pellets from these sources are taking a larger share of the market. In the East, things may be different, but even the new wood pellets are a form of recycling. They are not cutting good trees for pellets, as far as I know. Even in the NW and MidWest, new wood comes from slash and unusable wood from foresting operations. Usually wood too small in size, or wrong species to be used for lumber. Pallets come from the same sources. It is called "pallet grade" wood, not good enough for building, or manufacturing and so finds its use in cartage. There are not forests where this is grown, so it is cosmetically and structurally defective, not "combustibly" defective.

So for me the bottom line is, make them dense, the same density, and make them the same diameter and length. By adjusting your stove you can get a good consistent burn. And quit worrying about the ash. You have to clean your stove anyway, so it comes a little more frequently with some brands. The hottest and easiest to burn pellets I have ever used were also the ashiest.

 

[jtakeman]

Here is a video of Hassle and Hughes pellet mill.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=duVj6D0pUBw&feature=related

And I though NEWP was bagging the cleanfire hardwood blend. Hmmmm!

 

[jtakeman]

Here is the whole tree process!

 

[smoke show]

even the best pellets have bad years as we are finding out by the recent postings.

 

[richg]

What makes a good pellet?

-Consistency of raw materials, whether it is whole trees or sawdust from a flooring manufacturer.

-Consistency of pellet length: I have burned some brands that were totally inconsistent within the same bag, with pellets ranging from 1/4 inch to 3.75 inches. Some stoves such as top feeding Quads are very prone to jamming with long pellets. On the other hand, I burned Fireside Ultras from Energex and it seemed like every pellet was exactly the same length.

-Minimal fines in the bag; problems with fines can be due to execessive bag handling or raw material issues, but either way, they are a nuisance.

-"pureness" of the raw materials. Taht means little or no bark, dirt, rocks or nails. I've had rocks and nails come out of bags of pellets. Trust me, augurs do not like rocks and nails.

-Quality packaging, including both the pellet bag as well as the amount of weatherproofing they use to protect the pallet.

 

[jtakeman]

As far as ash amount. If I were purchasing a cheap pellet well, I could care less. But If I was paying the big bucks, One would expect as little as possible. As for heat, The more I spent the more I would expect.

Or is this just me?

 

[jtakeman]

even the best pellets have bad years as we are finding out by the recent postings.

Seems the high density stuff is getting a bad rap here! Are we really sure its not lack of stove adjustment? Many burners have opted for the high heat stuff and may not be used to what you need to do to comp for ultra dense pellets!

 

[smoke show]

even the best pellets have bad years as we are finding out by the recent postings.

Seems the high density stuff is getting a bad rap here! Are we really sure its not lack of stove adjustment? Many burners have opted for the high heat stuff and may not be used to what you need to do to comp for ultra dense pellets!

maybe.

 

[littlesmokey]

even the best pellets have bad years as we are finding out by the recent postings.

Seems the high density stuff is getting a bad rap here! Are we really sure its not lack of stove adjustment? Many burners have opted for the high heat stuff and may not be used to what you need to do to comp for ultra dense pellets!

maybe.

Thought the idea here was to get the biggest bang out of the buck. Or simply, maximize the heating. Density or marginal increases in ash are not the criteria I use to pick my pellets.

 

[chris288]

What makes a good pellet ? The one that is the cheapest to buy. I won't spend 289.00 a ton for Dry Creek, when I can buy Stove Chow at HD for 189.00 a ton, the extra few BTU's or a tiny bit less ash just isn't worht the extra cost. I can buy 3 tons of Stove Chow for what 2 tons of Dry Creek costs.

 

[Taperbill]

My take..

Cost ..Cost ..cost.

The initial cost is important.but so is being able to get it to the stove without the bag breaking.
Stove Cleaning is like brushing teeth..do it or else.
Do you brush less when eating fewer calories or everyday after meals?

As important is a steady reliable source..unless you want to haul semi loads and pay the freight.
So what makes a good pellet ?

Companies that care and dont pollute making them..and charging us for that pollution.