[Gasification] new pellet mill source, and cuber question

[Art Krenzel]

Greg.

I watched a cubing operation a few years ago and do not think you will be 
pleased with the cubed product for your application.  It does not have much 
in the way of "cohesive strength" under pressure and breaks apart rather 
easily.

The cuber that I watched was two large toothed gears (about 2 1/2 inches 
wide) held together by significant hydraulic cylinder pressure with saw dust 
being fed into the tooth nip area.  One of the gears was driven by a large 
electric motor being run though a large gearbox to reduce the rpm.

The cuber did not have the same psi loading as a pelletizer so there was 
MUCH less lignin extrusion coming from the wood particles.  The cubes had 
sufficient strength to be handled by a loader without significant crushing 
but you could easily crush the cubes by hand.

IMHO the cubes will break apart easier than pellets and create a bigger mess 
in the gasifier throat than the pellets.  BUT I have been wrong before.  :-)

Art Krenzel


----- Original Message ----- 
From: "jim mason" <jimmason at whatiamupto.com>
To: "Greg Manning" <a31ford at inetlink.ca>
Cc: "A Gasification" <gasification at listserv.repp.org>
Sent: Wednesday, February 28, 2007 11:00 PM
Subject: Re: [Gasification] new pellet mill source, and cuber question


> On 2/28/07, Greg Manning <a31ford at inetlink.ca> wrote:
>>
>> Greetings Jim, and list members,
>>
>>  Jim, the problem with pellets are that they expand when heated, and 
>> "fluff
>> out" causing bridging problems in a downdraft unit (I have to assume you 
>> are
>> going after engine quality gas here).
>>
>
>
> greg, is this something you have experienced personally or are
> reporting from common wisdom?  i know you have run quite a bit of fuel
> through your units, but not sure exactly what you are firing with.
>
> i know larger biomass briquettes tend to fluff, but i didn't think it
> a significant problem with pellets.  i've run quite a few pellets
> through a stratified downdraft at this point, and i've yet to have
> this problem.  but my experience is still very limited in comparison
> to many here, so my observations are still quite tentative.
>
> thanks for the comments greg.
>
> j
>
>
>> If you start adding binders like clay to the pellets to control fluffing,
>> then a raft of other issues emerge like slaging and clinker formation 
>> just
>> to name a few....
>>
>> Cubers are not that common (that I know of) there is a company about an 
>> hour
>> south of Winnipeg Manitoba, that is doing some work with cubes, but what 
>> the
>> status is, I have no idea.
>>
>> If you are planning to use the pellets in some other method of 
>> gasification,
>> please disregard my comments.
>>
>> Greg Manning,
>>
>>
>>
>> -----Original Message-----
>> From: gasification-bounces at listserv.repp.org
>> [mailto:gasification-bounces at listserv.repp.org]On Behalf Of jim mason
>> Sent: Wednesday, February 28, 2007 12:13 AM
>> To: Gasification list
>> Cc: Russell Groves
>> Subject: [Gasification] new pellet mill source, and cuber question
>>
>>
>> i've been spending a reasonable amount of time searching for
>> inexpensive pellet mills online.  other than the answer that "they
>> don't exist" and "design your gasifier so that you don't need them", a
>> pellet mill in an affordable range still seems important.
>>
>> there are inexpensive pellet mills being made in china.  the only
>> importer of them in the US i have found is here:
>> http://www.pelletpros.com/index.html.  if you know of others, do pleas
>> tell.
>>
>> they have a variety of sizes (small), as well as hammermills to
>> prepare fuel sources not already granulated.  these chinese models are
>> the only ones i've found in the less than 10k range.   used commerical
>> ones, like the california pellet mill models can be found for around
>> 5k, but most are larger than needed, and run very large electric
>> motors.
>>
>> you can go direct to the chinese sources for these mills via
>> alibaba.com, as usual.  attached is an example of a price quote i got
>> from one of them for both pellet and hammer mills.  i can pass on
>> specific company names on request.
>>
>> does anyone have any experience with hay cubers for gasifier fuel
>> prep?  i can't seem to find them, but they must be plentiful for
>> ag/farm feed prep.
>>
>> j
>>
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