[Bioconversion] Grass Pellets -- bales
Len Walde
sigma at ix.netcom.com
Wed Feb 8 18:30:23 EST 2006
To all:
A suggestion: Alfalfa exported to Japan requires 25 kilo bales for easy
handling by the farmer. This is done by placing field bales into high
pressure balers. I have a friend in this export business -- if I can
re-locate him. Other wise search: export hay balers or the like.
Len Walde
Sigma Energy Engineering, Inc.
Creative Problem Solving & Process Engineering
Serving Agriculture, Mining, Industry & Commerce
through "Symbiotic Recycling" tm
Est. 1985
Ph: 925-254-7633
E-mail: sigma at ix.netcom.com
----- Original Message -----
From: "Les Blevins" <lbj4 at mindspring.com>
To: <bioconversion at listserv.repp.org>
Sent: Wednesday, February 08, 2006 1:43 PM
Subject: Re: [Bioconversion] Grass Pellets
> Roger & List,
>
>> The main advantages of densification are better control on combustion
> I'm not suggesting no densification. I'm suggesting the farm baler
> densifies the material and this makes it easier to gather from the field
> and if you can eliminate further densification (as in pelletizing) you can
> save not only the time it takes to handle the material again but also the
> cost of the pelletizing equipment and the energy cost of pelletizing. I
> believe the baler densifies at the rate of around 10 to 1 and you pretty
> much have to do that anyway.
>
> My furnace can be manually stoked with bales or can be
> automatically stoked with bales, can be equipped with an auger feeder that
> can feed any size material such as sawdust, wood shavings, corn cobs,
> aspirin or larger sized pellets, cigar shaped pellets, beverage can size
> cubes, or 48 oz. juice can sized logs. It can also burn rolled up
> newspapers, scrap wood, tree trimmings, waste oil, scrap tires, railroad
> ties etc. It doesn't have a pot, doesn't generate clinkers, stays outside
> and can heat the whole house, household water supply, greenhouse,
> poultryhouse, swinehouse, shop, furrowing house etc. I can put two big
> bags of Christmas present wrappings in it and then turn around and put the
> whole Christmas tree in it with its one use decorations still on it. As I
> said it doesn't use a pot, only the burner/grate I designed and made
> myself and it doesn't ever need cleaning.
>
>> (less emissions and better efficiencies), ease of feedstock handling, and
>> less storage requirements.
>
> These attributes are of course more important in the city than out
> in the countryside. I can store wood and so on beside the furnace and just
> throw a plastic tarp over it to keep it dry. I also look forward to the
> day when I get a complaint that my furnace is too efficient for someone
> who is getting paid to take the fuel for it.
>
> Sam; Say Blevins your furnace is too damn efficient for my
> liking.
> Me; How's that Sam?
> Sam: Well I'm getting paid by the ton to take this wood waste
> fuel off of this guys hands because he can't
> get rid of it without taking it to the landfill and they don't
> want it any longer so he pays me to take it off his
> hands.
> Me: So?
> Sam; So I'm gettin ten dollars a ton to take it but your
> furnace is so damn efficient I can't burn more than
> about two tons per week. Do you suppose if I take the
> insulation off of your furnace it would cut the
> efficiency down to where I can burn mebbe three tons a
> week?
>
>> Risk of fire is a major issue with bulk herbaceous materials.
> I haven't had my fuel supply spontaneously catch fire yet.
>
>> The energy costs associated with densification are modest.
> What about the other costs? How much does a pelletmill cost? Where
> does one put it? How much is the
> maintenance on it? Is there any chance it might catch on fire?
>
> Ending here
>
> Les Blevins
> AAEC
> www.aaecorp.com
>
> ----- Original Message -----
> From: "Roger Samson" <rsamson at reap-canada.com>
> To: "'Les Blevins'" <lbj4 at mindspring.com>;
> <bioconversion at listserv.repp.org>
> Sent: Wednesday, February 08, 2006 1:53 PM
> Subject: RE: [Bioconversion] Grass Pellets
>
>
>> Les
>>
>> That looks like quite a device you have developed.
>>
>> The main advantages of densification are better control on combustion
>> (less
>> emissions and better efficiencies), ease of feedstock handling, and less
>> storage requirements. Risk of fire is a major issue with bulk herbaceous
>> materials. The energy costs associated with densification are modest.
>>
>> Co-firing wet wood and herbaceous feedstocks might be a promising
>> approach
>> to use these feedstocks without densification especially in bigger
>> combustion units.
>>
>> It maybe that bulk handling of biomass before densification can help
>> reduce
>> costs. This is something we would like to see done rather than handle
>> bales
>> and break bales before densification. Cubing is also cheaper than
>> pelleting
>> and fits well with commercial boilers.
>>
>> We have some farmers baling flax straw and burning it. Maybe if you could
>> high density bale this material it would have even more potential for a
>> unit
>> such as yours.
>>
>>
>> Regards
>>
>> Roger
>>
>>
>>
>>
>> -----Original Message-----
>> From: bioconversion-bounces at listserv.repp.org
>> [mailto:bioconversion-bounces at listserv.repp.org] On Behalf Of Les Blevins
>> Sent: Tuesday, February 07, 2006 2:09 PM
>> To: bioconversion at listserv.repp.org
>> Subject: Re: [Bioconversion] Grass Pellets
>>
>> Roger & List,
>>
>> As you said; "Necessity is the mother of invention" and "The grass pellet
>> fuel cycle can produce 7 times more net energy gain from an acre of land
>> than a corn ethanol fuel cycle."
>>
>> How about leaving out the pelletizing, cubing or briquetting stage
>> altogether? Wouldn't that up the ratio to around eight times more net
>> energy
>>
>> per acre of land than using the corn ethanol fuel cycle? By eliminating
>> the
>> densification a farmer for example can avoid the need for any equipment
>> for
>> pelletizing, cubing or briquetting and also avoid the time, space and
>> energy
>>
>> expense required and farmers are the ones that already have bale making
>> capability. Very simple and reliable is sometimes a necessity too.
>>
>> My company is offering stove and furnace technology that can use whole
>> bales
>>
>> of fiber fuels. Small square bales or large round bales can be used in
>> our
>> system, and there are several ways to automate the system as to loading
>> bales into the furnace and achieving automatic ash removal. Slag removal
>> can
>>
>> also be automated into our system. Other fuels such as tree stumps, waste
>> oils, railroad ties and scrap tires can be used in place of bales if
>> needed.
>>
>> We are not a manufacturing firm so we are looking for companies that want
>> to
>>
>> get into manufacturing and offering renewable energy systems for the
>> rural,
>> farm, commercial, demand side, distributed and On-site energy markets.
>>
>> Les Blevins
>> AAEC
>> 785-842-1943
>> http://www.aaecorp.com/ceo.html
>>
>>
>>
>> ----- Original Message -----
>> From: "Roger Samson" <rsamson at reap-canada.com>
>> To: "'Tom Miles'" <tmiles at trmiles.com>; "'Clinton M'"
>> <clintonmeyer22 at gmail.com>
>> Cc: <bioconversion at listserv.repp.org>; "'GASIFICATION'"
>> <GASIFICATION at listserv.repp.org>
>> Sent: Monday, February 06, 2006 3:02 PM
>> Subject: [Bioconversion] Grass Pellets
>>
>>
>>>
>>> Tom and all
>>>
>>> We have been working on grass pellets and other agrifibres for energy
>>> since
>>> 1991. We have had to wait for the combination of high energy prices and
>>> advances in combustion technology to get the industry commercial.
>>>
>>> Agri-fibre pellets/cubes from the crop milling residue industry are now
>>> commercially being used in Ontario and Manitoba for applications
>>> including
>>> greenhouse and farm building heating applications and crop drying. In
>>> Canada
>>> we can pellet/cube and burn oat hulls, pin oats, wheat bran, soy hulls,
>>> corn
>>> fibre, flax shives, corn cobs, sunflower hulls and combinations of these
>>> fuels. Whole plant corn has also been harvested mid winter (after
>>> leaching)
>>> and direct burned without processing by one Canadian geeenhouse
>>> producer.
>>> Corn cobs can also be used without densification. I have been burning
>>> late
>>> fall and overwintered switchgrass in my house for the last two winters
>>> in
>>> a
>>> gasifier pellet stove. Canadian farmers will be planting small acreages
>>> (the
>>> most I have heard is 150 acres) of switchgrass and prairie sandreed this
>>> year as we anticipate that the cheap crop milling residues are soon
>>> going
>>> to
>>> be used up. With energy grasses in Eastern Canada, delayed harvesting
>>> reduces the potassium content to about .35% at the time of late fall
>>> harvesting and 0.06% if spring harvested. Summer harvested switchgrass
>>> is
>>> like wheat straw about 1.2% potassium. I don't know anyone that can burn
>>> summer harvested switchgrass or wheat straw over an extended period.
>>>
>>> Wheat bran or middlings is a cheap binder for difficult to pellet fuels
>>> using standard pellet equipment. Switchgrass needs a little more energy
>>> to
>>> pelletize than alfalfa but less than wood fibre. The energy aspects of
>>> growing grasses and their grinding and densification was recently
>>> reviewed
>>> in our recent paper: "The potential of C4 grasses for developing a
>>> global
>>> Bioheat industry".
>>> Critical Reviews in Plant Sciences Publisher: Taylor & Francis Issue:
>>> Volume 24, Number 5-6 / September-December 2005 Pages: 461 - 495
>>>
>> http://journalsonline.tandf.co.uk/(4nmnk455r4ngnnnkx1r22u45)/app/home/contri
>>>
>> bution.asp?referrer=parent&backto=issue,7,7;journal,2,72;linkingpublicationr
>>> esults,1:103858,1
>>>
>>>
>>> Necessity is the mother of invention. There are now about a half dozen
>>> Canadian combustion technology companies selling a range of small to
>>> medium
>>> sized equipment (10 kw to 2 MW) with the ability to efficiently burn
>>> agri-fibre feedstocks with moderate levels of potassium and chlorine.
>>> Some
>>> equipment has more fuel flexibility than others, you need to shop
>>> around.
>>>
>>> The grass pellet fuel cycle can produce 7 times more net energy gain
>>> from
>>> an
>>> acre of land than a corn ethanol fuel cycle (If George Bush is listening
>>> this is 7 times faster a way to find energy independence). Even direct
>>> combustion of grains is getting more popular in Canada this winter. If
>>> oil
>>> can stay around $65/barrel and natural gas at $10 mmbtu, we are going to
>>> see
>>> an enormous industry evolve which will drive up grain prices to about
>>> $200/tonne. Great for crop producers but it will put an end to the grain
>>> burning and ethanol industries. The green energy revolution from grasses
>>> is
>>> poised to replace king corn as the energy champion of farmers.
>>>
>>> Roger Samson
>>> Executive Director
>>> Resource Efficient Agricultural Production (R.E.A.P.) - Canada Box 125
>>> Centennial Centre CCB13 Ste. Anne de Bellevue, QC, Canada H9X 3V9
>>> E: rsamson at reap-canada.com
>>> W: www.reap-canada.com
>>> "Working to create ecological energy, fibre and food production systems"
>>>
>>> -----Original Message-----
>>> From: stoves-bounces at listserv.repp.org
>>> [mailto:stoves-bounces at listserv.repp.org] On Behalf Of Tom Miles
>>> Sent: Friday, February 03, 2006 9:41 PM
>>> To: 'Clinton M'; stoves at listserv.repp.org
>>> Cc: bioconversion at listserv.repp.org
>>> Subject: RE: [Stoves] Grass Pellets
>>>
>>>
>>> At Andrew's suggestion let's migrate this to bioconversion. It's really
>>> more
>>> germane to developed economies but may be of interest to this list as
>>> well.
>>>
>>> Production of grass pellets.
>>>
>>> Specific power consumption for fuel pellets is about 50 kWh/ton plus
>>> straw
>>> preparation and processing which absorbs another 50 kWh/ton. Power,
>>> labor
>>> and extrusion die wear are usually the main costs. A 250 Hp pellet mill
>>> will
>>> produce about 4 tph in straw pellets, 5 tph in wood pellets and up to 7
>>> tph
>>> in recycled paper pellets.
>>>
>>> REAP Canada has done quite a bit of work on switchgrass pellets. So
>>> Roger
>>> Samson can give us a clue about production. Their papers can be found on
>>> the
>>> REAP website. The REAP reports show both production and burning
>>> equipment.
>>> http://www.reap-canada.com/bio_and_climate_3_2.htm
>>> http://www.reap-canada.com/library.htm
>>>
>>> Joe King and Richard Nelson at Kansas State University have also studied
>>> switchgrass pellets.
>>> http://www.engext.ksu.edu/biomass/_Background.htm
>>>
>>> Iowa State University has reported on switchgrass pellets. There is a
>>> small
>>> pellet mill in Southern Iowa that makes them.
>>>
>> http://www.agmrc.org/agmrc/commodity/biomass/switchgrass/switchgrassprofile.
>>> htm
>>>
>>> That mill and the Chriton Valley Biomass Project (
>>> http://biomass.ecria.com/
>>> )got a lot of attention this week after President Bush mentioned
>>> switchgrass
>>> in his State of the Union message. If you saw ABC World News Tonight on
>>> Wednesday you saw about 10 seconds of our fields and equipment.
>>>
>>> Here in Oregon we pelletize seed cleaning from our grass seed
>>> production.
>>> Since they are already sized they are pretty easy to pelletize. But the
>>> outer plant parts have high concentrations of nutrients which cause
>>> slagging
>>> in the hot firebox. So they have only been used in local pellet stoves
>>> in
>>> combination (50:50) with wood pellets. I don't know of anyone who is
>>> using
>>> them on a regular basis as fuel these days. Not many feed pellet mills
>>> are
>>> set up for whole straw in our area. One that was closed his doors when
>>> he
>>> retired some years ago. His pellets sold at prices competitive with
>>> grass
>>> hay which has about the same (low) nutritional value.
>>>
>>>
>>> Tom
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>> _______________________________________________
>>> Bioconversion mailing list
>>> Bioconversion at listserv.repp.org
>>> http://listserv.repp.org/mailman/listinfo/bioconversion
>>>
>>
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