Use Pellet Maker to Make Pellets

Using pellet maker to make fuel pellets is a more advanced way than paying for traditional firewood. However you have to learn to operate a pellet maker and it is very easy to use even if you are a beginner. What you need is buying the right pellet maker and finding sufficient raw materials. There are many options of material including agriculture wastes and wood co-products. The pellet making processes for all these materials are similar.



Firstly, the raw materials need to be cut into small pieces with a hammer mill or wood chipper and the size should be small enough to fit into the dies of your pellet maker. However you use powdered materials for pellet making, you can skip this step.

Then you should dry the material. In order to make quality pellets with pellet maker, the moisture content of your materials should be 10%~20%. And for the best quality pellets the moisture content should be 15%. The lower the moisture, the more efficient the pellet will burn. But the material needs a certain moisture content for the pellet making process. For some materials, binder such as vegetable oil is needed to bind the powdered material together. But with many materials like softwoods, they already contain enough natural lignin to bind the pellet.

Next, with great pressure, the materials are pressed through the pellet maker die by a roller. The dies are funnel shaped holes that taper down to the size of the finished pellets. The pressure of forcing the material through the dies creates heat that melts the lignin and other binders. These binders act like a glue that will hold the pellet together.

Now that the pellets are formed by the pellet maker and they will need to be cooled. The simple way to cool them is to spread them out and allow them to cool in the open air naturally.

The above is the process of pellet making, and with a small pellet maker homeowners can make pellets by themselves or make a profit by selling them now! Just about any pellet maker will make pellets but you will need the right knowledge in order to make quality pellets that will work properly in your pellet stove.