What you Wanted to Know about the Pellet Press

A pellet press is a machine that takes products and compact them into pellets. There are two main end products; fuel and animal feed. The pellet press takes the ingredients used, mashes them down to ‘dough’, and then feeds the dough through different shaped dies, to produce pellets. Animal feed usually contains grass, molasses, flour and sawdust, but this will vary according to the animal type to be fed. Sawdust and wood pellets are made for economic and ecological fuel purposes. Since the beginning of production of wood and biomass products for fuel, the trend has risen quite sharply in the US, in Sweden and Italy. There has been controversy about whether polluting emissions from the manufacture of pellets is safe, and whether the burning of pellets adds to global warming.

Pellet press range from industrial size ring die pellet mills for use in sawmills or feed manufacturing organisations, to small diesel or electric flat die pellet mills machines for individuals’ usage. There are many different types available for sale on-line, especially from China, where this is a large industry. For the individual who, perhaps, has a small-holding and wants to mix his/her own feed, or someone wanting to reduce wood piles to small, easy-to-handle packs for heating, there are simple machines to be found, new or reconditioned.

The pellet press can be as unsophisticated as a simple screw or hydraulic compacter with a ring die, or a highly complicated machine taking the bare materials, mashing them down, feeding, rolling or compacting, and cutting the pellets. It obviously depends upon the purpose and scale of production as to how expensive the press is.

It is even possible to make one’s own press and, if the production of pellets is simply for personal fuel use, it can be as primitive as one likes. However, do be aware of the dangers of machines when designing it and use all necessary safety devices and protection. Pellets are very hot when they are ejected from the machine, so care needs to be taken that no combustible materials are nearby. Consider children and animals when choosing an area to place the press.