Homemade pellet mill purchasing guide

The homemade pellet mill is a small pellet mill used by small scale pellet producers such as household and farms ,etc to process biomass materials such straws, grass, peanuts, shells, wood wastes, such as branches, sawdust, shavings, and any other combustible materials available into energy pellets for the heating, cooking and other purposes. It must be properly selected to meet the requirements of the household. The following factors should be determined before selecting the mill: types of formulation, ingredients used, capacity requirement, horse power, pellet quality requirements—durability, product mix—both required pellet diameter and length.These factors are interdependent, so integrate consideration is necessary to buy a homemade pellet mill.

Pellet formation

Even though there are various designs of pellet mills in the markets, there are two types of pellet mills in terms of pellet formulation: the ring die pellet mills and flat die pellet mills. The ring die pellets mill is featured by large scale pellet production which is generally adopted by commercial pellet manufacturing. While the flat die pellet mill is featured by small space occupation, light weight, simple design and easy operation, which is usually the choice of small scale pellet producers and consumers. Because the homemade pellet producers are usually small scale pellet consumers so the flat die pellet mills are preferred by home users and therefore it is also called as homemade pellet mills.

Capacity requirement

The capacity defines the choice of homemade pellet mills. In the market, various pellet mills with the capacity ranging from 30-50kg/h to 2000-3000 kg/h are at choices. In front the various choices, how can you choose the capacity of your pellet mill? You can estimate the consumption volume of your pellets or you can calculate the energy you use daily and then you can get the capactiy requirment of your pellet mill. In the following forms are the comparison of heat values of different fuels for your reference to calculate and get the capacity you need for you home and also you can use the Heating Fuel Compariosn Calculator to compare residential heating fuel prices and costs to get the most cost-effective solution for your home.
 

Average Heat Content of Various Fuels

Fuel Type	BTU/Unit	Kilocalories/Unit
Kerosene (No. 1 Fuel oil)	134,000/gallon	8,921/liter
Burner fuel oil (No. 2 oil)	140,000/gallon	9,320/liter
Electricity	3,413/kWh	860/kWh
Natural gas	1,000,000/thousand cu.ft.	7,139/cubic meter
Propane	91,600/gallon	6,098/liter
Anthracite coal	27,800,000/ton	6,354,286/ton
Hardwood (20% moisture )	24,000,000/cord	1,687,500/cubic meter
Pine (20% moisture)	18,000,000/cord	1,265,625/cubic meter
Wood pellets (pellet stoves)	36,000,000	8,228,572/ton

If you still have no idea about how many pellets you are going to consume and you can consult with the pellet engineers and usually the consultation for the pellet mills is free so do not hesitate to contact them.

Feedstock and Pellet durability

The feedstock and the quality of the pellet mills decides the production of pellets and the durability of the pellets. The durability of the pellet is closely related with the retention time of the raw materials which is influenced by the thickness of the die and drilling pattern of the die holes. Therefore, before starting to make your own pellets, it is necessary and import to know the properties of your feedstock and consult the pellet mill manufacturer about the die characteristics such as diameter and effective thickness, total thickness, counter-bore depth, inlet diameter and inlet angle.

 

Horse power

The power required to form a pellet is determined by both the ingredients in the formula and the pellet quality needed. Higher pellet quality requires higher power input. And there are four different flat die pellet mills driving by different engines such as diesel engine, gasoline engine, electric motor, and PTO at your choice which can be chosen according to your power conditions and capacity requirements. After considering your own energy situation such as the availability of diesel oil and the supplying of electricity , you can decide which one you want to purchase.

 

                                                                                                                                                     

Product mix—both required pellet diameter and length.

Product mix refers to those appliances fueled by pellets, such as wood stove, boilers, furnace. For homemade pellet users, the pellets produced are for your own use. Therefore the diameter and length of the pellets are largely determined by the pellet consumption appliances. And usually, the diameters of pellet mill die holes are 6 mm and 8 mm, but the pellet dies can be customized according to requirements. As for the length of pellets, it is flexible because the cutter of the pellet mill is adjustable .That’s to say, you can get pellet with different length as you like. If you have special requirements to the diameters, you can order your customized dies.

Bearing these factors such as the types of formulation，ingredients used, capacity requirement, horse power, pellet quality requirements—durability, product mix—both required pellet diameter and length in mind, you will find the right homemade pellet mills. May these information help you, please contact us if you have any question.