3/01/07 - Using a PP220 mill, we worked with startup prep and material size. We have kiln dried
oak sawdust and planer shavings. We were concerned the planer shavings were too large to pass through the machine, but
this was not an issue. The shavings and sawdust went thru the dies without a problem. We also learned the dies need to
be warmed up prior to pelletizing, about 5 minutes is perfect.
3/03/07 - Using what
we learned, we got our mill warmed up and ready to make pellets. We adjusted belts and dies, and started feeding oak sawdust.
Pellets coming out of the machine were hot, about 150 degrees F. As they cooled, the pellets became harder. The mill
fed great with plenty of power. Pellets cooled and were ready to be burned. A video of this is posted on our site.
3/05/07 - Today we burnt our newly made pellets in a corn/pellet stove. They fed thru the auger great
and burned hot. Very little ash, and a lot of heat.
3/11/07 - Experimented with corn gluten meal.
No luck, material too wet. Material did not have enough body. Made more wood pellets from our sawdust. No problems, material
works well.
3/29/07 - Received some pine sawdust from Rhode Island for testing. The pine was too
dry. We added some moisture and it pelletized just fine.
3/30/07 - We brought home some DDG (Dry
Distillers Grain) for testing. It had a moisture content of 12.5%. Product was too dry to pelletize at its present moisture.
We introduced some moisture and it pelletized very well. Pellets had good form and consistency.
4/10/07
- Today we experimented with drying methods. For low tech and low money, we built some drying screens, with 2x2 lumber
and some rabbit wire. We nailed the wire on the wood, making long boxes, and spread the pellets out evenly on the wire. With
no fans, and 65 degree temps, the pellets cooled and dried in about 24 hours. Once we have nice weather, we want to do the
same outside in the sun, and see how fast pellets will dry.
5/10/07 - Today we ran 12.5% moisture
DDG thru our PP650D mill. With no moisture or binders it produced firm uniform pellets. They cooled in less than 2 hours and
were ready to burn. The DDG really makes a nice pellet.
7/15/07 - During the last couple
of weeks we have been experimenting with prairie grasses and switchgrass. Both of these grasses are very dry and require
moisture and binder. DDG seems to work well with the grass as a binder. More testing to do.
8/1/07
- We had a couple of requests to pelletize lawn clippings, or grass after you mow the yard. We used clippings
that were brown, about 1 week old. With not much effort, we were able to make pellets. Next step is drying and test burning.
8/18/07- Using a PelPro pellet stove to test burn some of the recent pellets of switch grass, DDG,
switchgrass/DDG combination, lawn grass pellets and coffee hulls, all of the pellets fed through the stove great and burnt
very well. The lawn grass and coffee hulls had a strange odor though.
1/10/08 -Experimented
with making pellets from paper. Used shredded paper from the office which works good. Goes through slow and hard by itself. Adding
a few soybeans helps the paper pelletize easier.
1/20/08 - Burned recently made paper
pellets. Great heat. Turned feed on stove up a little due to lighter pellets. Since the paper pellets are
so inexpensive, using more pellets to get the same amount of heat was not an issue. A little more ash than
normal corn burning, but not bad.
2/18/08 - Collected all different kinds of mixed pellets we
have made and burned them in a multi fuel stove. Burned very well. All pellets went through the stove with
no burning or feeding issues.
2/28/08 - Making pellets indoor. Material must be ambient
temp. Had trouble keeping the die warm with adding frozen material from outside. Placed material in shop overnite to
warm up (60 degree minimum temp). Pelleting worked just fine again. Dried pellets overnite on cooling rack and
fed to multi fuel stove to burn.
3/10/08 - Experimented with shell corn as a binder. Seems to
work great if hammer milled first (which releases the oil). Makes a substance similar to corn meal. Used it with different
materials as a binder. Works well.
3/31/08 - Tried to pelletize plastic waste. Results
were bad. The plastic wound up in the machine, plugging the dies. The dies and rollers turned black.
4/3/08
- Started testing grain mixtures for feed pellets. Results were good. We mixed different nutrients and supplements
to make a specific feed pellet. More testing is needed. No problems.
5/16/08 - Made pellets using
dried horse and pig manure. First step was hammer milling the material down to correct size for pelleting process.
Using the PTO model, we made good quality pellets. Also did a burn test in our multi fuel stove and the
pellets burn great!
6/30/08- Started testing some ground up cardboard. Material was very
fluffy and hard to work with. We did do a couple of successful runs adding dried distillers grain as a binder. We need
to find a way to shred the cardbard to prevent it from being fluffy like insulation. We will keep trying.
7/21/08
- Made pellets from Turkey and Quail manure. No binder was used in the quail, but we found a small amount of binder
was needed in the Turkey. Both materials were dry and ground down to approx. 1/4 inch size pieces before pelletizing.
8/15/08
-Running test on our PP2800 machine for larger output. Machine runs fine. Need to keep material and binder mixed
evenly prior to pelletizing. Automated feeding would be helpful as its hard to keep up with the machine. Results were
typical of smaller machine, just in larger quantity.
9/12/08 - Testing our new machine for wood
products only. We mix wood sawdust and soybeans 12/1 ratio. We have great results. Store quality pellets. Shiny and heavy.
The machine is amazing. Not for other biomass, but wood works great.
12/22/08 -Testing our new
PP600w. Same results as before. Wood with soybeans as a binder work the best. 24/1 ratio makes a smaller 3/4" long pellet,
but 12/1 ratio makes a longer 1 1/2" long pellet. Somewhere in-between should be just fine for about anyone.
1/02/09
- Working with PP650D, but too cold outside for me and the mill. Material is too cold. Mill will not keep temp
warm enough in dies to make pellets. Time to move inside and warm material up. The pelleting process works better indoors
because the dies stay warmer.
1/16/09 - It's 20 below zero today outside. We
are making corn screening pellets in the shop at home. The material is stored outside and very cold but everything
is working perfectly with the 600W electric pellet mill. We are excited to see that this machine also works great for
other products than just wood and is very consistent in quality and production. We have also run DDG
by itself and makes a great pellet with this machine.
2/22/09 - Testing our pp65 pellet
mill. Most all material seem to run well through this small machine. Wood and alfalfa did not do well. they seem
to be too much for the motor. The production rate was higher than averageon some materials and normal on most of the
rest. this mill is great for experimenting and testing on a small scale.
3/11/09- Testing on our
PP220 pellet mill went extremely well. The mill performed well with all materials we were using.The Pellets had nice length
and burned well in our multifuel pellet stove. We made pellets from paper, grain screenings, and sawdust. When we were finished,
we used soybeans to clean out our mill for next time.
4/6/09- Testing our new pellet mill
went well. We are getting ready to release a new 30HP diesel pellet mill. It will be the PP850D pellet mill. It has
a self contained 30 hp twin cylinder diesel motor. Motor runs great, and machine makes nice pellets. Still figuring out production
capacity, but looking like this will make a nice adition to our portable line of pellet mills. More to come.
4/11/09-
Testing the new PP850D pellet mill. Distillers and sawdust mix went well. About a 6/1 mix ratio ran through great. We even
got as high as 8/1 ratio making a hard heavy pellet. Should burn great. More to come.
5/07/09-
Working with PP850D, making pellets from corn screenings. Machine worked great, well over 1,000 Lbs per hour. Pellets hard,
and burn well.
6/01/09- Working with our PP650D. Tested oak sawdust and a few differnt
binders. The best results were from the DDG as a binder. Pellets hardened well, good BTU, Good clean burning. Happy with results.
7/06/09-
Working with a PTO version of our PP2800. Good results so far. Nice to have tractor power, machine seems to go through all
we throw at it. More later on.
8/24/09- Tested cedar wood chips with soybeans on the PP600A and
PP2800. Cedar chips had too much moisture content so we added flour and produced a hard, good quality pellet.
9/21/09-Took
a cherry tree that was ran thru a chipper , leaves bark and all, dried it then hammer milled it. It made very good saw dust.We
then pelletized it on the 600W using DDG. It made excellent hard pellets. Smelled good too!
10/5/09-
Used crosscut paper in a PP600A made great pellets Quickly!
10/26/09- Hammer milled maple leaves
and used PP600a to pelletize. Made great pellets and great production rate.
11/07/09- Hammer milled
cardboard then made pellets on PP600A. Made good pellets!
12/14/09- Hammer milled straw then pelletized
on the PP2800. Made good pellets.
1/30/10- Hammer milled corn stalk pelletized on the PP2800, made
good pellets!
