I came across a strange video the other day, of a pot of wood pellets burning away, and then a collection of fuel sells are placed on the fire. The heat energy is then converted into electrical energy to charge the phone. Interesting stuff, and in the future such technologies may be able to be integrated into the pellet stoves and boilers so they can run without main supply.
Pellet Stove Reviews , Pellet Stove Parts
Wood pellets maybe seen only as a type of home heating fuel for pellet stoves and boilers. However developments are now taking place to see wood pellet fuel provide more of the energy we use. Cyclone Technologies have developed the WHE engine. The WHE engine is a self-contained steam engine, however this design is completely different to any steam engines that have existed before and is highly efficient.
In the video below you can see a demonstration of the engine being powered by a wood pellet fuel fire. Each engine can generate around 10KW of electricity, meaning just one of these engines can cope with the average power demands of the average sized home.
The WHE engine running from a pellet burner does open up many exciting opportunities for the use of wood pellets. As small-scale power generators could set-up powering the local town and community, generating local jobs. Homeowners could also set-up a generator, with any excess energy going back to the grid in return for credits.
To learn more about how pellets are made please click the banner below.
Also to learn more about pellet stoves such a Harman Pellet Stove, please visit the Pellet Stove and Boiler Guide.
Thank you for your interest
Below is a video from Voice of America on wood stoves and wood pellet stoves, and the increase in demand that was seen in 2008 due to the dramatic increase in the price of fossil fuels such as oil, coal and gas. The interviewee at the begin states how when her electricity rates doubled was the prime reason for her purchase of the wood pellet stove.
The dramatic increase in demand took some wood pellet stove and wood pellet manufactures by surprise and their current supplies could not meet this demand. This is where small-scale wood pellet manufacture has a huge advantage, as it is far more flexible to market demand changes.
As is stated in the video standard wood log stoves are not as efficient as wood pellet stoves, they do not produce as much heat, have a lower efficiency and flue gases contain more particulate matter and chemically active gases. They also are less convenient to maintain and feed. In pervious posts I have summarised these issues, and why wood pellet stoves and gasification technology is the way forward.
In the video the wood pellet stove is not their main source of heat, but it can be. We heat our entire house with a 25KW Tatano boiler, and there are wood pellet boilers available that can meet the demands of any property.
The PelHeat Mobile Pelletizer can process resources including wood into fuel pellets. If you would be interested in registering your interest in the PelHeat Mobile Pelletizer and receiving updates on our progress and informed when the pelletizer is on sale please send us an email to :
Contact @ PelHeat . Com
For more information please visit:
www.PelHeat.com
Thank you for your interest
Biomass whether its wood, straw, grass or another type is a carbon neutral fuel. As it is part of the carbon cycle, as long as new resources are grown no additional carbon dioxide is introduced into the atmosphere. However this is only one aspect of the story, efficient combustion is also vitally important to reduce other particulates and emissions created during the combustion process. To improve air quality and reduce chemically active gases created during combustion, wood and other materials must be upgraded and processed.
Here are ranked combustion techniques in order of worst to best:
1. An open fire of uncompressed biomass (wood logs, grass, straw)
2. An open fire of compressed biomass (pellet stove)
3. A contained fire (stove) of uncompressed biomass (wood logs, grass, straw)
4. A contained fire (stove) of compressed biomass (pellet stove)
5. Gasification Technology which pellets are an ideal fuel for
The order of these combustion techniques based on combustion efficiency also correlates to heat capture efficiency and useable heat. Gasification can produce gas to burn in a stove, or provides an opportunity to use the gas in an internal combustion engine to generate electricity.
Pellet Stove Efficiency
Upgrading resources into a pellet and burning in a pellet stove provides more complete combustion of the material and more heat is produced. A stove therefore is means on a small scale to use a carbon neutral fuel and still achieve good combustion and heat output. The stove can produce enough heat for the entire house, and the stove can be an attractive focal point.
The PelHeat Mobile Pelletizer can resources including wood into fuel pellets for a stove. If you would be interested in registering your interest in the PelHeat Mobile Pelletizer and receiving updates on our progress and informed when the pelletizer is on sale please send us an email to :
Contact @ PelHeat . Com
For more information please visit:
www.PelHeat.com
Thank you for your interest
Ian Smith from Kent in England had a choice to make when his oil boiler needed replacing, to choose another oil boiler or move to a biomass system. Ian had a choice between a log fired boiler or a pellet boiler, and due to the convenience features, he opted for the pellet boiler. Ian’s main focus is the ‘green’ aspects of installing such a system, not a decision purely driven on cost savings. The system Ian chose to install is completely automated with a very large 6 tonne hopper, which for the size of Ian’s property would heat his home for well over a year.
The pellet boiler Ian has installed is a OkoFen pellet boiler. This is a highly efficient pellet boiler with very low maintenance, however the boiler can only handle premium wood pellets with a low ash percentage. For more information on the OkoFen please use the search bar to the lower right of the Blog.
Ian also talks about the carbon foot front associated with producing pellets. With the PelHeat Mobile Pelletizer we were keen to source a power unit that could accept bio-diesel under warranty. The Perkins engines we have opted for allow the user to use bio-diesel, this reduces the carbon foot print of pellet production and reduces production costs for the user.
Ian’s situation is very similar to what started PelHeat as a company, as our oil system was inefficient and needed replacing, and the cost of oil was costing thousands of pounds a year. We also installed our Tatano pellet boiler in an external building like Ian, and we pipe hot water underground to the house. The Tatano boiler we installed is not as sophisticated as Ian’s OkoFen, however we do have several other advantages. Firstly the cost of our setup was less than half that of Ian’s £12,000. Also what the Tatano lacks in sophistication, it makes up for in fuel flexibility. The Tatano can also burn logs, and any type of biomass pellet, for example we currently burn wheat straw pellets. The Tatano can also have installed at any time a bolt on oil or gas burner, which reduces the risk for people not totally convinced by biomass as a back up. In the future we intend to explore biomass pellet gasification, we will therefore fit a gas burner bolted to the back of the Tatano running on gas made from biomass pellets.
One important final point that pellet boilers offer compared to log boiler is this. You only get logs from trees, but you can produce fuels pellets from any cellulose biomass feed stock. So again this becomes a question of flexibility and how to make best use of resources. The PelHeat Mobile Pelletizer is also designed with flexibility in mind, keeping the process simple and adjustable so the user can process any biomass into pellets as they wish.
For more information please visit:
www.PelHeat.com
The PelHeat Mobile Pelletizer can upgrade various biomass resources into fuel pellets including wood pellets. If you would be interested in registering your interest in the PelHeat Mobile Pelletizer and receiving updates on our progress and informed when the pelletizer is on sale please send us an email to :
Contact @ PelHeat . Com
Thank you for your interest
After pellets have been produced, storage is the next step. Pellets must obviously be kept away from moisture, so whatever the storage solution this is the main criteria. The current most common form of storage is the plastic bag, 16-20kg sacks that are easy to handle and load into the pellet boiler or stove. How often you have to load your stove or boiler depends on its pellet hopper capacity. You will find this figure listed on all the stoves and boilers I include on the blog.
Plastic pellet bags do their job well, however they do have their disadvantages. Firstly there is the waste issue created by the bags, and secondly the manual handling required by the user. Lifting 16-20kg sacks is reasonable for most people, however unsuitable for someone people, for example the elderly. Also some people simply do not wish to have the hassle of load a hopper every day or every few days.
Pellet storage tanks are quite popular in Europe and are becoming more popular in the UK and US. These pellet storage tanks further replicate the convenience of oil boilers, to keep the maintenance or the pellet boiler or stove as low as possible. The tank is loaded with loose pellets, which are then feed into the boiler on demand.
The pellet storage tank transports pellets to the boiler or stove via three possible methods. These include a fixed screw auger, flexible screw auger or suction system. The capacities of the tanks varies on the size of the pellet burner requirements and how often the user wishes for deliveries. Some tanks can hold a month or a few months supply, while others can hold an entire years supply.
The pellet tank could be loaded with pellets empted from bags, however when available a pellet tanker delivery is more suitable. A pellet tanker delivery operates similarly to an oil delivery with the pellets blown into the pellet storage silo. With regards to producing your own pellets with the PelHeat Mobile Pelletizer, a pellet storage tank also makes sense. As soon as the pellets you produced have cooled they could then be placed directly in the tank, removing the need to bag the pellets. Below are some examples of pellet storage tanks.
ÖkoFEN Pellet Storage Silo
Biotech Pellet Storage Silo
Biotech Pellet Storage Silo Ball
The PelHeat Mobile Pelletizer can upgrade various biomass resources including wood into pellets. If you would like to register your interest in the PelHeat Mobile Pelletizer please contact us at:
Contact @ PelHeat . com
Thank you for your interest
Gasification is an excellent way to convert wood pellets and other biomass pellets into energy. The gasifier produces gas from the pellets, which can also be used in an internal combustion engine. One application of a gasifier is using the gas in an engine is to generate electricity through powering a generator.
One example of a small-scale wood pellet gasifier is the N-Gen Eco 5. This gasifier is very compact and can produce up to 5KW of electricity, which for the size of the gasifier I think is very impressive. The Eco 5 gasifier is currently on sale and can be purchased from their website. I think small-scale gasifier units like this will become more and more popular in the future as a cheap way to generate electricity. The gasifier makes local electricity production possible. This will increase the demand for pellets; therefore supply has to be increased with units such as the PelHeat Mobile Pelletizer.
The PelHeat Mobile Pelletizer can upgrade various biomass resources including wood into pellets to be used in a gasifier. If you would like to register your interest in the PelHeat Mobile Pelletizer please contact us at:
Contact @ PelHeat . com
Thank you for your interest
www.pelheat.com
Biomass pellets are not only used to provide heat for homes and other buildings, but other applications, for example heating poultry or pig enclosures. A Pellet heater could dramatically reduce farm fuel costs.
A gas or oil heater is currently used to heat poultry and pig enclosures, which after animal feed is the largest cost to the farmer. Therefore this high cost gets passed onto the consumer with higher food prices. The farmer, to use as bedding currently purchases straw and sawdust, however this could also be used to make biomass pellets to use in the Kozlusan Pellet Heater. The heater will meet all the animals heat requirements.
Kozlusan have developed the poultry house pellet heater, which can use biomass pellets as the fuel. The PelHeat Mobile Pelletizer could be used to upgrade the straw or sawdust into pellets to use in the heater. Excess pellets could also be used to heat the farmhouse and other farm buildings, or sold into the local community.
Below are pictures of the Kozlusan Poultry House Heater
If you would like to register your interest in the PelHeat Mobile Pelletizer please contact us at:
Contact @ PelHeat . com
Thank you for your interest
Biomass pellets are not only used to provide heat for homes and other buildings, but other applications, for example grain drying.
With global warming winters are becoming warmer, but also wetter. With regards to grain this brings a problem. A grain dryer is required, and with the onset of wetter winters more and more grain will have be dried. Currently grain dryer are all gas and oil burners, now besides the environmental concerns of using these fuels in a grain dryer, there is also a cost issue.
Using fossil fuels in a grain dryer, due to their high price directly affects the price of grain to the consumer. Therefore as the price of fossil fuels increase the price of grain will also increase, and as more grain will have to be dried in the future the problem will only get worse.
Kozlusan have developed a mobile grain dryer, which can use biomass pellets as their fuel. With grain there is obviously a lot of waste resource, the straw. If this straw were converted into pellets this would fuel the dryer. Using this waste resource is not only better for the environment but it will help to keep the cost of running the grain dryer down, which will also help to reduce the global problem of food poverty. Then of course the farmer could use the excess straw pellets to heat his house, other buildings and sell the remainder.
Below are pictures of the Kozlusan Grain Dryer
If you would like to register your interest in the PelHeat Mobile Pelletizer please contact us at:
Contact @ PelHeat . com
Thank you for your interest
Apart from a completely new boiler, some manufactures do offer the opportunity to retrofit an existing oil boiler with a new pellet burner. A Swedish company called Varmebaronen provide one example. This type of pellet burner has a vertical gravity pellet feed, and a horizontal burner.
Cost
Obviously if the burner is to be retrofitted to an existing oil boiler, the overall cost of the setup and installation will be lower.
Convenience
As the burner is retrofitted to an existing system, no alterations are needed to pipe work; this also means less disruption for the customer.
Disadvantages of Pellet Burner Attachments
Efficiency
The design of the boiler itself has a huge affect on efficiency, and how much heat the boiler extracts before sending it to the chimney. Retrofitting a new pellet burner to an old boiler may seem cheaper, however if the boiler design is very inefficient then fuel efficiency will be lower meaning more cost on pellets.
Space
With this type of pellet burner the space requirement tends to be larger than with other direct feed boilers.
Fuel Flexibility
The horizontal burner cannot take advantage of a wide variety of biomass fuel pellets. The only types of pellets which can be used in this system are low ash, no clinker fuels. Therefore the burner can only use high quality wood pellets.
If you would like to register your interest in the PelHeat Mobile Pelletizer please contact us at:
Contact @ PelHeat . com
Thank you for your interest
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