[Bioconversion] Grass Pellets -- bales
Tom Miles
tmiles at trmiles.com
Wed Feb 8 19:55:42 EST 2006
Len,
Field baling gets you a density of 10 lb/ft3 in standard three-tie (100 lb),
mid size, or large (1000-1200 lb) bales. This is about the highest density
that can be obtained at an economic rate of removal in the field.
Baling for export is a recompression step in which twine is removed and the
bales are compressed to 20 lb/ft2, sometimes called double compressed
because it doubles the density. The bales are compressed to half their size.
Big bales are sliced to make a 25-40 kg package. Compressed bales are retied
with new twine. Most compressors now use plastic straps.
It is a secondary operation done in a stationary plant at rates of 7 to 10
tons per hour per machine. It is not a field operation. Hay or straw is
placed into storage at harvest and retrieved from storage for recompression.
After recompression it is loaded into shipping containers. Compression
permits loading a payload (25 tons) into a shipping container instead of 10
tons of uncompressed forage bales. Since the cost of shipping the container
to Japan, Korea, Taiwan or the Bahamas, is the same regardless of the weight
you maximize the weight in the container. That's the main reason for
compression. Today most compressed hay or straw bales are handled
mechanically in Asia.
The finished product is worth more than $100/ton which can include the cost
of compression which is about $30/ton. It costs about $45/ton to harvest and
deliver straw out of storage. At 15 million Btu/ton that's $3/MMBtu. Add
$30/ton to recompress it and you now have a product costing $75/ton or
$5/MMBtu. Add another $15/ton for transportation and you have $90/ton. You
can recover that value from a feed product but probably not for a fuel
product ($6/MMBtu).
We have designed these compressors for more than 20 years. In a couple of
operations we have also built hay dryers. A dozen or more companies have
fabricated compressors. There are now about four or five main suppliers in
the US. Probably the most competitive system is made by Steffen Systems in
Oregon. www.steffensystems.com They have supplied compressors to every state
in the US and many foreign countries. They also make big bale to small bale
conversion systems which are quite popular.
In sum when you consider compressing bales you are adding a cost that is
similar to the cost of pelleting. Today pellets will get you access to more
feed or fuel markets than compressed bales.
Kind regards,
Tom Miles
tmiles at trmiles.com
www.trmiles.com
-----Original Message-----
From: bioconversion-bounces at listserv.repp.org
[mailto:bioconversion-bounces at listserv.repp.org] On Behalf Of Len Walde
Sent: Wednesday, February 08, 2006 3:30 PM
To: Les Blevins; bioconversion at listserv.repp.org
Subject: Re: [Bioconversion] Grass Pellets -- bales
Importance: High
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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