Coffee Pellets?

[shtrdave]

In one of the pellet grill forums I am in this was brought up, they apparently make them also for use in pellet grills.
(broken link removed to https://sustainableresourcesgroup.com/a-new-era-in-home-heating-is-here/)

 

[Montecarlossfan]

I just bought 10 bags.. waiting for colder weather to try but local stove shop guy said they burn hot .. disclaimer on the bag even to lower feed rate lol.. I guess if you have a manual feed rate stove that could be important.

 

[Montecarlossfan]

 

[EbS-P]

Wonder what they smell like burning? I roasted my own coffee for a while and really like the Smokey smell.

 

[Montecarlossfan]

Wonder what they smell like burning? I roasted my own coffee for a while and really like the Smokey smell.

I was told they really don’t smell like coffee burning but I’ll be the judge of that … the pellets themselves give off a already brewed cup of coffee grounds smell if that explains it. Once it gets cold I’m definitely going to do a test run , I’m sure on ignition there is a coffee smell at minimum. If they are as good as they are said to be , I’ll definitely get a ton or 2 next year. I’m sure I could in theory cook with these on the pellet grill haha.

 

[johneh]

Can I ask what you paid per bag?

 

[Montecarlossfan]

Can I ask what you paid per bag?

More than I would consider reasonable but I couldn’t resist lol $9.99per bag .. by the ton if I recall is 425-450 … still high but better than the pricing on Douglas fir this year.

 

[EbS-P]

But if you believe their marketing heat content is 37% more per bag…..

 

[Montecarlossfan]

But if you believe their marketing heat content is 37% more per bag…..

I believe they have decent btu but 37% may be a stretch , local stove shop guy burns them and he said he’s been mixing as they produce a lot of heat and essentially low ash output . I guess I’ll see when I try running them straight and see how fast they burn on stove temp mode with my harman… if I use quite a bit less overnight that would infer they in fact pack more btu per lb.

 

[johneh]

found this about a local company from a few years ago in idea what happened

Efficient Pellet Stove Project​

Posted on August 12, 2016 by Brad
Friendly Fires has been working on an efficient pellet stove project with St. Lawrence College and Green City Initiatives. Just recently at a SWITCH meeting, we were approached by Green City Initiatives as they have been experimenting with pelletizing coffee grinds.

Essentially, burning pellets is replaced with an alternative. Their concept was to see if we could use the waste coffee grinds from restaurants from landfills to produce a fuel source. We wanted to see if these coffee grind pellets could work in a regular pellet stove and if they could sell for less then regular pellets. If so, there could be a market for them!
After collecting some samples of coffee grinds, they started working with Foreman Farms to pelletize the first batch for independent testing. Their results came back fairly positive. The coffee grind pellets had a slightly higher BTU rating per pound, but the ash content was lower than traditional wood pellets.
In August of last year, approximately 80 pounds of these pellets were brought in to our Friendly Fires Kingston Store to burn in an Enviro Meridian Pellet Stove.

The results were great! They burned well, resulting in little ash and good heat.

With these results in mind, Green City Initiatives contacted the local Tim Horton’s and MacDonald’s to begin discussions with St. Lawrence College in order to set up a testing facility for the new coffee pellets. They started collecting 4 tons of coffee grinds a day from the Kingston Tim Horton’s alone! Our Friendly Fires installers were quick to professionally install two pellet stoves at St. Lawrence College late last year. We are hopeful to see some positive results soon so stay tuned for our next post!

 

[scajjr2]

East Coast Lumber in Hampstead NH shows them in their products, $8.80/bag, $440/ton but says call for availability.

sam

 

[Washed-Up]

Very curious about these, hopefully some detailed reports back on how good they are, don’t see them in Calgary Alberta…yet

 

[Montecarlossfan]

I just started my first bag last night .. so far so good and they are hot as advertised. It seems to burn less over time on the same settings which means it must have more btu per lb than what was in there as harman’s regulate feed on stove temp settings.

I will need a bit more time and bags through to truly say but so far they seem like a winner in my book based on how clean they are burning . I don’t even get a lip of ash burning all night/day.

 

[SpaceBus]

I wonder how hard these would be to produce with a pellet mill. Since coffee grounds are already sized appropriately for pelletizing, it seems like a fairly low cost way to make DIY pellet fuel compared to using sawdust or other forestry products. I think drying the grounds could be a tricky process to achieve without using additional energy to drive out the water.

 

[Montecarlossfan]

I wonder how hard these would be to produce with a pellet mill. Since coffee grounds are already sized appropriately for pelletizing, it seems like a fairly low cost way to make DIY pellet fuel compared to using sawdust or other forestry products. I think drying the grounds could be a tricky process to achieve without using additional energy to drive out the water.

I imagine if it’s spread out for a few days to evaporate water it may not be as bad as we think …. I bet it takes quite a bit of used grounds , but it doesn’t keep me from eyeing the 30lbs of grounds at the local coffee place that are free for the taking 😂

 

[EbS-P]

I wonder how hard these would be to produce with a pellet mill. Since coffee grounds are already sized appropriately for pelletizing, it seems like a fairly low cost way to make DIY pellet fuel compared to using sawdust or other forestry products. I think drying the grounds could be a tricky process to achieve without using additional energy to drive out the water.

How about coffee logs??? How many tons would it take to make a solid 3”x15” log.

 

[stoveliker]

Is the pressure needed to make large logs not larger than for pellets?

 

[SpaceBus]

Is the pressure needed to make large logs not larger than for pellets?

I have no idea, but I'm sure my local dunks goes through tons of the stuff, so could make an economical fuel source with a pellet mill/log press. I assume the pressures are the same, but the surface area is obviously much larger on the log requiring more mechanical force.

 

[stoveliker]

Yes, I was imprecise.
My main concern would be whether that would make it hard for a "do it at home" log-maker as compared to a pellet press.

 

[3650]

I would venture to say that the pressing process eliminates the moister.

 

[johneh]

I would venture to say that the pressing process eliminates the moister.

I would also say the moisture would be displaced and the pellet dried
by the heat of pressing the grounds into pellets

 

[3650]

I would also say the moisture would be displaced and the pellet dried
by the heat of pressing the grounds into pellets

i bet all they do is screen the debris out and run it through the press. They’re getting material for the price of fetching it. Processing it and charging $100 more a ton. 😆

 

[tebenhoh]

Hopefully they smell the same as when the coffee guy here in town fires up the bean roaster!

 

[3650]

I wonder if you sniff the smoke you get a caffeine hit?

 

[stoveliker]

Only if combustion is poor... A caffeine carbon monoxide mix might dull the senses too quickly to get a hit...


Caffeine decomposes near 300 degrees or so, I thought.