What are pellets?

All over the world, including Russia, pellets are a good alternative to conventional fuels such as diesel fuel, coal and fuel wood. The only possible competitor is natural pipeline gas. Speaking of the fuel cost only, gas heating is, naturally, 3-4 times cheaper than pellet heating. However, pellets show to good advantage if the cost of new connection (project coordination, etc.) is taken into account. 

Pellets (wood fuel pellets) are bowl-shaped molded scrapwood. Pellets are commonly used abroad as fuel for automatic household and industrial boilers due to their major environmental component, heating value comparable to that of coal and relatively low cost.

Pellets usually range from 6 to 8 mm in diameter and from 5 to 70 mm in length depending on raw materials used and pellet quality. It should be noted that pellets of other sizes are also used; some manufacturers produce pellets 10 mm in diameter. In this country, softwood is used as raw material for pellet production, although the best pellets are made of hardwood (it requires higher-class equipment).

Moisture content of pallets is 7-10%, which enables their successful use in pyrolysis boilers (although subject to their minor modification). Pellet density is 1.5, which is why they sink in water although they are made of wood.

Heating value of 1 kg of pellets is 5 kWh, which is approximately 1.5 times higher than that of fuel wood. One can say figuratively that one kg of pellets contains roughly as much energy as half-liter of fuel oil. This kilogram will not spill all over your house, soil and leave an unpleasant smell, nor will it ignite from an accidental spark.

Dual purpose of pellets.

Fireplace

Pellets may be used in regular solid-fuel boilers and conventional furnaces; just dump them on fire bars manually. Pellets are very popular among owners of fireplaces because ordering a pile of logs to use the fireplace in the weekend is not cost-effective and collecting logs in the wood is quite a challenge when it is snowing.

There are certain nuances such as replacing fire bars with the ones with smaller holes to make sure that pellets do not fall through, air delivery control (damper) to ensure better fire efficiency and temperature monitoring. Pellets burn with much more efficiency than fuel wood and heat up a boiler faster.

In the field

This device may be produced using pellets as field fuel or pellets may be used in conventional fireplaces. One batch of pellets burns for about one and a half – two hours.

Pellet use as pet litter

Many people buy pellets from us to use them as pet litter rather than fuel. Cats, rodents, chinchillas and other pets adore this kind of litter.

It has many advantages:

• it locks the smell away and prevents generation of bacteria;
• absorbability: 3-fold of own weight;
• dust-free;
• light pine scent;
• organic ecologically clean product;
• does not stick to animals’ hair and paws;
• absolutely harmless if accidentally swallowed;
• does not cause allergy;
• maintenance-free;
• does not degrade, ensures fast and convenient toilet cleaning;
• the most cost-effective litter from the ones available..

Visual assessment of pellet quality

         High-quality pellets normally have smooth glossy surface without splits. Smooth and glossy surface indicates, first of all, that pelletization was done at a right temperature and lignin contained in wood that acts as a natural adhesive properly “glued” pellets.

You can try to crush pellets. The harder pellets the better because soft pellets crumble when loaded/reloaded in a bunker and supplied to the burner zone. This parameter is referred to as abrasive power and it is measured by a device called lingo tester. By the way, when you consider the amount of dust and fine particles in a pellet package, you should take into account the number of their reloads as each load and discharge increases the number of fine particles and, thus, dust. As a rule, pellets in bags have less dust compared to loose pellets.

Pellet diameter
   It is said sometimes that 6 mm is the right size for pallets and 8 mm is wrong. This assertion relies on the fact that 8 mm pellets are produced on the equipment converted from home-made pelletizers that were earlier used in agriculture to make formula feed and, as such, cannot be of good quality, while 6 mm pellets are mainly produced using imported equipment. However, both 6 mm and 8 mm pellets may vary a lot in quality.

On the other hand, pellet fireplaces, for example, operate best with 6 mm pellets due to their feed system design. Normally, equipment manufacturers specify the type and diameter of pellets to be used. Pellets of sizes other than recommended should not be used because, firstly, the boiler’s automation is configured to optimum air feed and pellets of exactly this diameter. Secondly, the use of pellets larger than recommended results in high loading on the boiler’s mechanical part, which may cause its premature failure.

Color 

White-yellow pellets are usually made of furniture waste, while pellets with brown inclusions are made of raw materials with bark added. However, the color of pellets is not a quality criterion. The color of pellets indicates raw materials used, pelleting process and pellet storage conditions. However, the color will not tell much about pellet quality.

 Smell
Normally, pellets smell of the wood they were made of or have no smell at all. On the other hand, when stored for a long time, pellets absorb moisture and, thus, smells from the ambient air.

Pellet dissolution
If you drop pellets in a glass of water, some time later, they will turn into a wet pulp. If it did not happen, some external chemical agent was probably used as a binder. Rotating the glass you will be able to determine the number of heavy particles. If there are many of them, pellets contain sand or scrapwood with grinding machine dust. It has to be noted that this method of sand identification in pellets is less accurate than pellet burning in a boiler.

It should be said once again that color and smell are indicative of the wood that pellets were made of and their storage conditions. However, they say little about non-metallic impurities in pellets (sand), which are the main “enemies” of pellet boilers.

    

Pellet and package types

WHITE PELLET offers fuel pellets of two major categories.

White pellets — premium-class products (ENPlus-A1, DINPlus grades) made of heavy chips. White pellets feature extremely low ash content and very high heat output. Various barkless wood chips are used as raw materials for this type of pellets; the wood undergoes barking before crushing and subsequent pelletization. White pellets ensure the highest efficiency of boilers; besides, the pellets are light, which makes boiler cleaning much easier.

Pellet diameter is 6 and 8 mm.

For more information and ordering please follow the  link	Parameters	(Pinewood)	(70% birchwood and 30% pinewood)
	Diameter	6 mm.	6 mm.
	Length	from 10 to 30 mm	from 10 to 30 mm
	Moisture content	от 7% до 9%	5.3%
	Heat output	> 5.2 kWh / kg c.a  > 4,926 Kcal / Kg c.a > 20,624 MJ / Kg c.a	> 5.2 kWh / kg c.a  > 4,435 Kcal / Kg c.a > 18.569 MJ / Kg c.a
	Density	1.12 kg / dm3	1.27 kg / dm3
	Ash content	less than 0.60% c.a	0,44%
	Additives	none	none

Gray pellets — medium-class products (ENA 2 grade) made of fine chips. Gray pellets feature good value for money; ash content is acceptable for household boilers and heat output is comparable to that of high-class pellets. Various barkless wood chips are used as raw materials for this type of pellets; the wood undergoes barking before crushing and subsequent pelletization. Gray pellets ensure the highest efficiency of boilers; besides, the pellets are light, which makes boiler cleaning much easier.

Pellet diameter is 6 and 8 mm.

For more information and ordering please follow the link	Parameters	(Pinewood)	(70% birchwood and 30% pinewood)
	Diameter	6 mm.	6 mm.
	Length	from 10 to 30 mm	from 10 to 30 mm
	Moisture content	from 6% to 8%	5,7%
	Heat output	> 5.15 kWh / kg c.a  > 4,430 Kcal / Kg c.a > 18.548 MJ / Kg c.a	> 5,0 kWh / kg c.a  > 4,000 Kcal / Kg c.a > 18.320 MJ / Kg c.a
	Density	1.12 kg / dm3	1.27 kg / dm3
	Ash content	less than 0.70% c.a	0,64%
	Additives	none	none