How to Make Pellets

For people who want to use wood pellets instead of coal, gas, oil and electricity, what they concern most is how to make pellets. In fact, the process is quite easy.

Steps to make pellets:

1. Prepare raw materials. For making pellets, raw materials can be any kind of biomass, including sawdust, wood shavings, waste wood, leaves, stalks, straw, etc. Since the pelleting process require raw material to be smaller than 5mm, those raw materials larger than this size need to be pulverized by hammer mill or wood crusher. In addition, if the moisture content of raw material is too high (>15%), it need to be dried; if lower than 8%, it need to be added some water and stir evenly.
2. Feed the raw material into the pellet machine. In this process, the raw material must be fed steadily into the pellet machine hopper, in case of blockages. When the roller or the die inside the pelletizing chamber rotates and press the material, it will generate high temperature (over 70 centigrade). The high temperature will cause the lignin contained in biomass to soften and be adhesive. Then together with the high pressure, the pellets are pressed tightly to go through the die holes. Then biomass pellets are formed. There is a pellet cutter to cut the pellets to a certain length.
3. Cool the pellets. The biomass pellets just made out have high temperature, in this case, they must be cooled to room temperature to be used or packed.
4. And finally, you can enjoy the biomass pellets.

Having learnt about how to make pellets, you may have found it is such an easy task. And surely it is. Although you will spend some money purchasing the pellet making machine, but considering it will be used for several years to make fuel pellets from costless biomass, you will find it worthwhile!