[Bioconversion] Grass Pellets -- bales
Len Walde
sigma at ix.netcom.com
Wed Feb 8 21:06:23 EST 2006
Hi:
To quote Paul Harvey, "that is the rest of the story" --- now we know.
Thanks, Tom
----- Original Message -----
From: "Tom Miles" <tmiles at trmiles.com>
To: "'Len Walde'" <sigma at ix.netcom.com>; "'Les Blevins'"
<lbj4 at mindspring.com>; <bioconversion at listserv.repp.org>
Sent: Wednesday, February 08, 2006 4:55 PM
Subject: RE: [Bioconversion] Grass Pellets -- bales
> 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
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>
>>>> _______________________________________________
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>>>>
>>>
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>>
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