Pellets and briquettes are now been taken more seriously as future energy sources to generate heat directly through combustion and to be converted to gas through gasification for electrical generation and other purposes. Both pellets and briquettes can be made from a wide range of biomass raw material including wood. Essentially pellets and briquettes are one and the same, their size and diameter is what tends to differentiate them.
Briquettes and pellets are processed biomass in a compressed form.; they have a uniform shape and size, and are easier and cheaper to transport than the raw material. The key to their success as an energy source is their density, or specifically their high density. Both pellets and briquettes are highly compressed which makes them very efficient burning fuel, as they hold their shape during combustion. Pellets are compressed in a pellet mill, which compresses a die and roller. Pellets are formed as the rollers compressed the raw material through the holes in the die.
There are several types of machines that form briquettes. Briquettes can also be formed through compression between a die and roller, however these holes are a large diameter and can be square as well as round. Another type of briquette formation is through a piston press. Imagine a steam engine in reverse; a large cast iron flywheel moves a piston back and forth compressing material in the tube into briquettes. There is also a similar type of briquette press that uses a hydraulic ram to push the biomass through a tube into a briquette. Finally there is a screw type briquette press, this works on the same principle of the piston presses, however with a screw forcing material. Screw briquette presses also require heat in the form of electric elements to form a quality briquette.
So why are pellets and briquettes both needed, why don?t we just produce one? Pellets because of their small size and diameter process the ability to flow like a liquid. This quality makes pellets ideal for hopper and auger feed systems. This means automatic heating systems can be built around pellets.
These systems can precisely control the heat value of the flame to regulate temperature and stop and start the fire easily. So pellets are ideal for western heating and energy applications due to their automation, high efficiency and low maintenance. Briquettes on the other hand due to their size are not ideal for automatic precise control systems, however they are more suitable for cooking stoves and heating systems in the developing world. A few briquettes can be loaded into the stove, which will burn efficiently. Briquettes and pellets will have an important role to play in providing us with our energy demands now and in the future.
Learn more about Pellet Mill Guide and Wood Pellets
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