[Bioconversion] [Stoves] pelletized waxed cardboard boxes

[Dick Gallien]

Thanks Paul, for your thoughtful response.

Tom Reed mentioned that Coors is pelletizing malting residue as are ethanol
plants in this area.  Unlike these products, which can and have been used
for cattle feed and must be dried,  packaged and shipped, waxed card board
has already been strategically distributed and 90% is headed for landfills.
With a convenient system a pelletizer-bagger or pellet fed boiler could be
as standard equipment in supermarkets as cardboard balers are. I run 2 smoky
outdoor wood boilers year around,  In summer one heats the house water and
the other I throw in WOCC's, which fit in the oval door of an
Aqua-Therm--don't even need kindling and in 10 minutes the boiler water is
up to 160Fand through a 3x3x7" heat exchanger, so I can pressure wash food
waste barrels, which is what I'll be doing, after finishing this note and
then into town, to collect food waste and more WOCC's, which they pay me to
take, because I'm cheaper than landfilling.

Richard Stanely must be talking about regular cardboard, which I compost.
Only in an insane society, where fresh foods are shipped such distances,
would there be so many WOCC's. Waxed cardboard composts also, but it is such
potent fuel that is not recyclable, as regular cardboard is. I bought a box
of Enviro-Logs at Home Depot in Rochester, where the PCA guy's office is, so
that if he hassels me again for burning WOCC's, because some state law calls
them solid waste, which can't be burned, I'll suggest he start with Home
Depot, which is 50 miles closer to his office. Enviro-Logs 4x4x10" logs
weigh 5 lbs. and claim to burn for 3 hours, which is far longer than a pile
of loose boxes.  A small % of boxes are held together with staples, a few of
which I can see in the Enviro-Log.  They waste no energy in grinding,
soaking, drying--just pressure and possibly heat and the melted wax holds
them together.

It would be a waste of energy for Hot Log and Enviro-Log to process and ship
pelletized WOCC's, when they have already been so well distributed and are
impatiently waiting for some of you younger entrepreneurs to design a
pelletizer, sell the waste saving, money making idea to Wal-Mart and then be
able to afford doing some worthwhile endeavor that gives you such inner
satisfaction, that you would do it for no pay. Of course (I like this) we
are all Rich Men, as defined as someone who will never run out of projects.
The wife complicates that by saying there are projects and there are
obsessions, adding that one owns a project, where as an obsession owns you.
Did I mention the big wood gasifier? Dick

Dick Gallien
22501 East Burns Valley Road
Winona  MN  55987
dickgallien at msn.com  [507]454-3126


> Dick,
>
> The    enviro-log.net    website mentions "Waxed Old Corrugated Cardboard
> (WOCC)" and give interesting info.     hotlog.com    is under
construction.
>
> WOCC certainly has potential as a fuel.  My interest in small cookstoves
leads
> to the following:
>
> 1.  Compressed WOCC products:
> The 3 and 5 pound logs are too big for our stoves.  But there is no
> reason that
> I know of that the compressed WOCC products could not be made into stick
form
> (perfect for side-loading stoves) or into chunky pellets (1 to 2 cm
> dimensions,
> not the small pellets of pellet stoves).  If I get affirmative info from
> Enviro-log company, I will report the reply.  But I suspect that there
will be
> little interest in making the small stuff.  We will see.
>
> 2.  Cut and diced WOCC boxes:
> Experimentation will be needed, but perhaps a recycle facility (that
> already has
> the large cutters, etc) could send the boxes through the cutter to get
strips
> that are partially crushed, and then cut again to make the strips into
> approximate squares.  Size would be about 2 x 2 cm up to 3 x 3 cm (about 1
x 1
> inch), with thickness of the cardboard (but crushed somewhat).  This can
be
> done at my local recycle facility for paper.  Alternatively, anyone could
cut
> up a few boxes with a box cutter just to have enough to do testing.  For
> side-loader stoves that use stick-type fuel, just cut into strips and
> feed into
> the fire area.
>
> The squares could be handled with a shovel, and might make a nice fuel for
the
> small gasifiers.  The T-LUDs could probably burn this type of fuel very
nicely
> (to be tested).
>
> So, this is on my list, but other tasks are ahead of it, so I hope others
will
> consider this fuel option and report it first.
>
> Paul
> --
> Paul S. Anderson, Ph.D., Geography professor - Emeritus
> Telephone:  USA-309-452-7072 (residence and office)
> Internet site:  www.ilstu.edu/~psanders
> For my gasifier stoves info, go to:
> http://bioenergylists.org/contributors#Paul_Anderson
>
> > Subject: [Stoves] pelletized waxed cardboard boxes
> >
> > Would some/one of you with pellet stoves try pelletizing, hammermilling,
etc
> > waxed cardboard to see how it works in your pellet stove, remembering
that
> > it is a very potent fuel.  Hotlog from Ca. and Enviro-Log from Ga., are
> > 4"x4"X10" of 100% recycled waxed cardboard boxes, which most produce is
> > trucked in. Their "logs" are just pressed--can read the print on the
boxes.
> > They claim that over 90% of the 650,000 tons a year, used in this
country,
> > go to landfills.  Since most of us, except Peter, feed from
supermarkets,
> > who are paying to have their waxed boxes landfilled, they should be
eager to
> > offer you a regular supply.
>
>
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