What Are Fuel Pellets Required For?
Many people today are still unaware of what pellets are, and what they are used for. Their uses and need has changed over the last century, and will continue to change into the future. So what is a pellet, and how can it impact on our energy future. Put simply a pellet is a compressed form of a material. Pellets come in various different shapes and sizes, depending on their intended use. For example, the main original use for pellets was for animal feed. Certain animals have specific dietary requirement which must be met. By mixing a specific feed mix together and then compressing it into pellets creates a standardised feed, which can be easily stored and rationed out to the animals. Another key use with animals in mind that came about, was for bedding. Animal bedding and particularly horse bedding has been traditionally straw or wood shavings. However, complications can arise from the high dust content of these raw materials, and the breathing health of the animals. A dust free and more absorbent bedding is produced through compression into pellets.
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Within the last decade though, pellets have also been taken seriously as a fuel source. The fuel pellets can be made from a wide selection of raw materials, however the most popular choice is wood pellets. Wood pellets are a high heat fuel which produce very little ash and therefore very little maintenance. Premium wood pellets refer to a standard of wood pellets, which produce the lowest ash content and have very little moisture, and therefore burn very efficiently. Logs for example that are referred to as dry still contain over 3 times more moisture than pellets. A premium wood pellet will contain less than 10% moisture, and in many cases closer to 5% moisture.
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So why pellets, instead of simply using wood dust or logs? The advantages are to do with the characteristics of the pellets and their density. Pellets due to their high density flow very well, similar to a liquid. Therefore pellets work well in hopper and automatic feed systems. The high density of the pellets also means a very high combustion temperature is achieved. A high combustion temperature not only means more heat is generated but also a cleaner burn is achieved with no visible smoke. Many other materials such as straws and grasses can be compressed into pellets. Biomass refers to any cellulose material which can be used as a fuel. Biomass fuel pellets will become more common in the future, and stove and boiler designs must be able to cope with the different burning characteristics.
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