Wood Pellet Mill

Wood pellets can be made from any source of wood residue and waste by-products, however the quality of the raw material, end use and value does change.

 

 

The most common use of a wood pellet mill is to produce wood pellet fuel. The most common wood pellet fuel are premium wood pellets. Premium wood pellets are the highest quality wood pellets, with the lowest ash and moisture content. Premium wood pellets therefore produce the highest heat value, with the lowest moisture content. The raw material for premium wood pellets is either pine or spruce for softwood pellets, and normally oak for hardwood pellets. The raw material must also contain little or no bark residue, as this will increase the ash content of the pellets. As no bark is present the wood residue has less natural binding abilities, and therefore high temperatures have to be achieved in the wood pellet mill to create quality pellets. Therefore smaller wood pellet mills may struggle to achieve the required temperatures, and additional binding agents maybe required. Modified corn starch is an example.

 

 

Another popular use for wood pellets are as animal bedding, or more specifically horse bedding. Horses and most animals are susceptible to dust coming from the bedding causing lung and breathing issues. Wood pellets are preferred for many, due to their low dust content and they are also highly absorbent.

 

 

From the list of uses above, it is clear why more people are becoming interested in using and producing wood pellets. A wood pellet manufacturer has many potential markets for their products. Currently today the wood pellet production market is dominated by large scale production. However it is possible to produce wood pellets with a wood pellet mill on a small scale. 

 

 

If you are interested in purchasing a wood pellet mill to make pellets to sell, you need to have your market established. You should visit local wood pellet dealers and ask them what grades of pellets they are willing to purchase or distribute. The majority of the pellets they sell would be premium grade, however you may not be able to source suitable raw materials to produce premium grade. Therefore you may produce standard grade pellets, however the pellet dealer will expect to pay a lower price for these pellets. Ideally if you can meet the customer directly you will make more profit. Therefore your own website is essential, and then building up a local reputation of your wood pellets.