The job of a wood pellet machine is to transform raw wood materials — sawdust, wood waste, or roundwood — into finished wood pellets. And as mentioned in a previous post (check out videos of both versions here), there are two basic wood pellet machine configurations. The flat plate die pellet machine, and the ring die type pellet machine. Each of these machines has their own set of benefits and drawbacks, but for a commercial pellet production venture there’s only one choice — The ring die type pellet mill.

This machine is the workhorse of the wood pellet industry. If you’re considering setting up a commercial wood pellet production facility and producing large quantities of wood pellets, the ring die type pellet mill is what you’ll use. It is an extremely heavy duty piece of industrial equipment that’s the driven by high horsepower electric motors in the 40 – 800 horsepower range.

Along with chippers, grinders, driers, hammer mills, coolers, and packaging equipment, the ring die pellet mill can produce wood pellets at rates that are measured in tons per hour. Typically these mills come equipped with a feeder screw and conditioner as an integral part of the pellet mill skid.

As the name implies, the feeder sets the rate at which the raw material is metered into the mill. It’s a variable speed screw conveyor that accurately moves the raw material into the conditioner section.

Once in the conditioner, the raw material is agitated continuously as it is moved towards the pellet mill. Often, auxiliary heat in the form of steam is added to the raw wood material. This preheating of the wood is done in order to soften the lignin within it. The lignin in the wood is essentially the glue that holds the wood pellet together, and if it’s not at the correct temperature wood pellets will not form properly.

It’s essential to do thorough research if you want to make wood pellets on a commercial level. Keep in mind that these are highly energy intensive processes that require a great deal of money to operate — a wood pellet mill is extremely energy hungry. Not only that, but they require skilled maintenance people to properly maintain and repair them, and skilled operators to run them. While demand is good, any disruption in the price of raw materials or operating costs can be disastrous. Wood pellet production has very thin margins, be prepared!

Ever since their introduction as a response to the energy crisis of the 1970′s, wood pellet fuel has gained considerable momentum in the alternative energy marketplace. Today, millions of households around the world either use wood pellet fuel as their primary fuel source, or at the very least as a supplementary heating source. In either case, these homeowners typically experience substantial cost savings and benefits that conventional fuels can’t provide.

The first big advantage of using wood pellet fuel is the fact that wood pellets are made from a renewable material – wood. What’s nice about this is that high value wood isn’t needed to make them. In fact, a large advantage of using wood byproducts or wood waste for pellets comes from the fact that it is already reduced in size. Smaller size raw material means less processing time and labor needed, and in turn lower final cost.

Another advantage is that they’re extremely efficient and clean burning. They owe this to the fact that the moisture and ash levels are very low. Moisture content is held to 4%-6% in commercially manufactured pellets, and the ash levels are limited to 1% for premium pellets, and 3% for standard pellets. Because of these low limits, the efficiency of the wood pellet is high — almost all of the pellet is burned and converted to heat.

One of the most profound advantages of wood pellet fuel comes from their effect on the environment. Pellets are very environmentally friendly. They can be made from a wood waste product that otherwise may have ended up in the landfill, and they are carbon neutral.

With all the talk of global warming and climate change, it’s in everyone’s best interest to move away from a carbon based fuel source like oil, to one that’s carbon neutral or carbon free. In the near future, there’s a strong likelihood that some kind of carbon emissions limit will be legally mandated, i.e. cap and trade. When this happens, we’ll be forced to move away from carbon based fossil fuels, and use alternative energy sources that don’t add to carbon dioxide emissions. Wood pellets fit this requirement nicely.

So as you can see, there are many advantages to using wood pellets as a fuel source. In fact, there are many others that weren’t listed, but these are the main benefits that have led to their wide acceptance, and are helping to ensure their viability in the future.

There are a number of benefits of using wood pellets. As you may know, wood pellets are gaining in popularity again, driven in large part by the sharp increases in fossil fuel prices, and also the uncertainty associated with a stable supply. Even though ‘peak oil’ may or may not be here, it doesn’t change the fact that many people are spooked by the possibility, and in turn market prices have become extremely volatile. And it doesn’t look as if the situation will resolve itself anytime soon. So in the meantime, thousands of people are moving towards a more sustainable and stable fuel choice – Wood Pellets.

It doesn’t take very much research before you start to realize just how many benefits there are to using wood or biomass pellets as a fuel source. One of the most important advantages is that wood pellets make use of waste byproducts from the wood industry. The raw material for wood pellets is typically sawdust, wood chips, or ground up wood waste. Not only does the use of wood byproducts help to keep the cost of the wood pellets low, it also helps by reducing the need for more landfills.

The second best benefit of using wood pellets is that they are a carbon neutral fuel source. With all the talk of carbon credits, and proposed legislation limiting carbon emissions, i.e. cap and trade, wood pellets have a distinct edge over fossil fuels. And while this may not be important today, with global climate change gaining in acceptance, it’s almost a sure thing that carbon emissions will be limited by legislation in the near future. And when it does, you’re likely to see very large increases in the cost of your heating fuels. Unfortunately, the government doesn’t want you to think of it as another tax on energy but it will be. The large companies that will be required to buy carbon credits will pass these costs on to the consumer, and you’ll end up paying for it. So be prepared.

So as you can see, these two main benefits of using wood pellets should be enough to convince you of their potential, and that’s not even taking into account using other types of biomass for pellet manufacture. If you happen to have access to a supply of wood or biomass wastes, you could realize even more savings by making your own pellets instead of buying them. In either case, it pellet fuels are a great source of heat that are here for the long rung.

Click here to get the guide on How to Make Pellets