There is almost as much energy or even more, in the brush of deciduous trees as in the main trunk. And every time you cut down a tree you get a big pile of brush which needs to be burned or hauled to the dump.
I have developed an attachment for chainsaws that will reduce a 5 foot tall pile of brush to a 1 foot pile of worth sticks in 15 minutes. See it in action at http://www.woodgas.com/brushsaw.htm <><><> When laying up a pile of brush for further cutting, put ratchet straps on the ground first, and use them to compress the pile by a factor of 2-3 and make the sticks and branches more parallel for cutting. It's easy to cut a pile into 1-3 foot long pieces to be used for burning or charcoal. <><><> If you pile these sticks into a dense pyramid and light a fire on the top layer, it behaves like the Toplit Updraft stove and burns down, pyrolysing the wood in each layer to make 15-20% charcoal. I call this pile a "Pyromid" ( but this term has been used also for another product). Onward Tom Reed, Pyrologist Dr Thomas B Reed President, The Biomass Energy Foundation www.Woodgas.com On Jun 4, 2011, at 7:14 PM, Rolf Uhle <[email protected]> wrote: > I have pelletized and i know how it works. > It is o.k. as long as you have good clean sawdust at a reasonable price. > > The thing is most people don't ! > > I make chips from brushwood and treetops at a reasonable price. > The chip quality is a bit mediocre, though and I want to refine it so as to > keep it from bridging. Cut the long bits short and make it look more round or > square, then it will flow ! > I am happy with a density of 400 kg/m³ instead of 650 for pellets as long as > i > don't have to ship them far away. > > > If torrefaction wasn't so expensive at small scale, it would be a good > solution. > > Rolf > > > > > > > Am Samstag, 4. Juni 2011 23:39:42 schrieb Art Krenzel: >> Rolf, >> >> I do not know why other machines like it were never made. That was the >> only machine of that design I have ever seen. I think the quality of the >> end product pellets did not make it through the long distance, multiple >> handling systems sufficiently well to meet the needs of the end user. >> They were sort of "heavily squished" rather than extruded with a melted >> lignin total outer coat. This left the pellet much more susceptible to >> handling damage. The process was operated in full recycle mode until the >> gears heated up before any product was made to facilitate the heat >> pressing of the sawdust. >> >> I would seriously review using a hollow cylinder with a piston to compress >> the sawdust. It does not do well in the "rock in the sawdust" test. >> Most, if not all, pelletizing processes need alot of cleanup of the floor >> area with brooms and shovels used by minimum wage help. This swept up >> material is normally added to the feed side of the system and could cause >> serious maintenance difficulties. The gears were spring loaded and just >> bounced open sufficiently to pass any incompressible foreign matter. >> >> The gear pelletizer system was incredibly quiet. The loudest noise came >> from the auger and the loader (when it was running). >> >> Art >> >>> From: [email protected] >>> To: [email protected] >>> Date: Sun, 5 Jun 2011 00:16:15 +0200 >>> Subject: Re: [Gasification] Sawdust in Fan TLUD >>> >>> Art, >>> this sounds very close to what I want to do and I cannot find it done! >>> >>> I want to make pellets without having to pelletize. >>> After my very good experience with almond shells ( m/l 30 x 20 mm) >>> passing readily through 3 and 3.5 " (75 and 90 mm) spiral augers and >>> around bends, I want to stamp wood chips on a rotating cilindrical die >>> into " coins" of some 15 -20 mm diam. >>> I imagine some kind of hollow cylinder with holes and a matching, >>> synchronized cylinder with short hardened steel punches stamping the >>> chips thru those holes . >>> The stamped chips fall out of the hollow die and what has not been >>> stamped runs around for another chance... >>> >>> Why does this machine not exist ? >>> >>> Rolf >>> >>> Am Samstag, 4. Juni 2011 21:19:26 schrieb Art Krenzel: >>>> Pete, >>>> >>>> Have you looked into gear compression pelletizer? Several years ago at >>>> the Port of the Tri Cities in Oregon, I saw a sawdust pelletizer made >>>> of two large gear wheels (about 18 inches in diameter) which were >>>> heavily spring loaded together and driven by a highly geared down >>>> electric motor. I believe only one gear wheel was driven with the other >>>> acting as an idler. They acted as a "nip roller" in the real world. >>>> They formed a semi solid pellet about two inches long and about 5/8 >>>> inch in diameter. >>>> >>>> Sawdust was augured to a hopper above where the gear wheels meshed and >>>> self fed into the gears. The gear faces measured approximately two >>>> inches wide. >>>> >>>> The pellets were not of the same high density as the extruder >>>> pelletizers make but if your purpose is only to use the straw on site, >>>> this might work for you. They were handling the pellets with a bucket >>>> loader and auger. Some of the pellets broke down in handling but the >>>> bulk of them remained in good shape. >>>> >>>> It was simple, quiet and did not have a very large electric motor >>>> driving it. >>>> >>>> Art Krenzel >>>> >>>>> -----Original Message----- >>>>> From: [email protected] >>>>> [mailto:[email protected]] On Behalf Of >>>>> Pete & Sheri >>>>> Sent: Friday, June 03, 2011 9:01 AM >>>>> To: 'Discussion of biomass pyrolysis and gasification'; 'Thomas Reed' >>>>> Cc: 'Hugh McLaughlin' >>>>> Subject: Re: [Gasification] Sawdust in Fan TLUD >>>>> >>>>> Could one possibly semi-pelletize the sawdust directly at the input >>>>> to the gasifier? I see pellet makers that use a screw extrusion >>>>> method. If one could get enough compaction to loosely hold the >>>>> particles together, right at the input point, then there wouldn't be >>>>> the "spouting" discussed previously. There also wouldn't be all that >>>>> pressurized air to deal with. The compacted material would also >>>>> create a "seal" between the gasifier and the outside world, if >>>>> needed. >>>>> >>>>> Pete Stanaitis >>>>> -------------- >>>>> >>>>> >>>>> >>>>> >>>>> >>>>> _______________________________________________ >>>>> Gasification mailing list >>>>> >>>>> to Send a Message to the list, use the email address >>>>> [email protected] >>>>> >>>>> to UNSUBSCRIBE or Change your List Settings use the web page >>>>> http://lists.bioenergylists.org/mailman/listinfo/gasification_lists.b >>>>> ioen erg ylists.org >>>>> >>>>> for more Gasifiers, News and Information see our web site: >>>>> http://gasifiers.bioenergylists.org/ >>>>> >>>>> >>>>> >>>>> _______________________________________________ >>>>> Gasification mailing list >>>>> >>>>> to Send a Message to the list, use the email address >>>>> [email protected] >>>>> >>>>> to UNSUBSCRIBE or Change your List Settings use the web page >>>>> http://lists.bioenergylists.org/mailman/listinfo/gasification_lists.b >>>>> ioen ergylists.org >>>>> >>>>> for more Gasifiers, News and Information see our web site: >>>>> http://gasifiers.bioenergylists.org/ >>> >>> _______________________________________________ >>> Gasification mailing list >>> >>> to Send a Message to the list, use the email address >>> [email protected] >>> >>> to UNSUBSCRIBE or Change your List Settings use the web page >>> http://lists.bioenergylists.org/mailman/listinfo/gasification_lists.bioen >>> ergylists.org >>> >>> for more Gasifiers, News and Information see our web site: >>> http://gasifiers.bioenergylists.org/ >> > > _______________________________________________ > Gasification mailing list > > to Send a Message to the list, use the email address > [email protected] > > to UNSUBSCRIBE or Change your List Settings use the web page > http://lists.bioenergylists.org/mailman/listinfo/gasification_lists.bioenergylists.org > > for more Gasifiers, News and Information see our web site: > http://gasifiers.bioenergylists.org/ _______________________________________________ Gasification mailing list to Send a Message to the list, use the email address [email protected] to UNSUBSCRIBE or Change your List Settings use the web page http://lists.bioenergylists.org/mailman/listinfo/gasification_lists.bioenergylists.org for more Gasifiers, News and Information see our web site: http://gasifiers.bioenergylists.org/
