Due to the excessive usage of wood pellets, many people prefer to DIY wood pelleting with small pellet mills. The personalized wood pelleting is a great way to deal with the available wood mass and save the pellet’s cost.
Personalized wood pelleting is an easy process; it still needs some precise details, from choosing the equipment to the packaging you need to know. This guide will provide you a complete detail to make your own wood pellets.
Let’s get started!
How to Choose the Right Wood Pellet Machine?
Wood pellet machines, especially for home usage, demand a few keen details. So, while buying a pelleting machine, make sure to remember these tips;
· Prefer flat die over ring die pelleting mill
Wood pellet machines are available in two options based on their mechanical working principle ring die and flat die. To make your own wood pellet, ensure to pick the flat die mill. Flat die machines are specially designed for small-scale businesses.
· Choose power source
The wood pellet machines work with different fuel types, from electric to gasoline. Choose an option that is readily and easily available for you.
Process of Making Wood Pellets
Here comes the step-by-step process of making your own wood pellets.
1. Wood Size Reduction
Usually, the source wood is available in large-sized pieces or logs. So, converting those large pieces into smaller ones is your first challenge. Collect all the pieces at one point and minimize their size up to 2.5 mm.
2. Grinding of Wood Chips
For pelletizing, the 2.5mm wood chips size is not enough. So, you have to reduce the size by almost 5mm to add them to the wood pellet mill. You can use a small-sized hammer mill to reduce the size of wood chips.
3. Drying
The moisture content of wood pellets is essential because they are used as fuel where the higher moisture cannot work correctly. So, before pelleting, make sure to dry the crushed wood up to 10-20% moisture content.
You can dry the wood material directly in natural air or using the dryer. Regardless of whichever method you will use, achieve your specific moisture content.
4. Sieving
Before adding the wood pieces to the pellet mill, sieving is an important step to remove all the impurities from the wood pieces. Usually, the wood pieces contain solid particles that can damage the pellet mills or might affect the pellet’s quality.
5. Pelletizing
After achieving your required moisture content of wood pieces, add them to the pellet mill. Add only the specified amount of material in the pellet mill cylinder to get the proper pellet size and shape.
6. Cooling
After the wood pellets formation, let the pellets cool down in fresh air. The cooling of pellets is important before packaging; otherwise, they can produce moisture in bags.
7. Packaging / Storage
After the wood pellets achieve the average temperature, you can pack them in plastic bags for storage. While packaging and storage, take a few things into account;
- Use only plastic bags
- Bags should not be damaged or leaked
- Avoid packing all the pellets in one bag
- Store the pellet bags in a dry area after sealing them properly
Conclusion
DIY wood pelleting is a straightforward a convenient process. However, the moisture content is the most significant factor that you should focus on. After following the steps mentioned above, you’ll surely get the best wood pellets.
