How to Make Wood Pellets

Wood Pellets are a newer type of wood fuel and made from compacted sawdust or shaving. Wood pellet stoves first appeared in 70s during the Oil Crisis and have been getting more and more popular since.

But are they really that good as everybody says they are? What's so special about them? Let's see, first since wood pellets are very dense (they don't float in the water) and have very low moisture level (about 10%) after processing, they burn very hot, producing a lot more heat than normal wood. If wood output efficiency is about 60%, wood pellets give you at least 80% (here is the fuel comparison table, giving you more info on different types of fuel).

They also easy to store and you have a lot more control over the fire in your wood pellet stove with the help of an auger feeding mechanism. They give you less sparks, less smoke and also they're more environment-friendly as they produce much less carbon dioxide as any other fossil fuel while burning.

They're a bit more expensive type of fuel than regular wood and coal, but considering all benefits listed above, they definitely have future. If you feel like having a look at some of the wood pellet stoves that are selling now, click here.

Usually wood pellets are produced at factories or mills; you can find smaller equipment and machines on the market for making wood pellets yourself, but they're rather quite expensive. Producing wood pellets at your backyard may not be as easy as you can think, and to start, let's see how they make wood pellets.

The way of producing wood pellets is as follows:

Dried sawdust or wood shavings are passed through a hammer mill, giving a uniform paste-like substance.

This substance is going through a press machine, where it's squeezed through a die with holes, producing familiar pellets.

A key-point of production is very high pressure of the press, which causes the temperature of the wood to increase greatly and softens lignin (a natural bonding substance contained in wood) that actually holds a pellet together after it cools.

And here comes the truth, if you can't provide enough pressure, your pellets will just not hold together. Do not despair though; it's not completely undoable. If you have a hand press or some other contraption of the same nature, you still can experiment and we've heard of people who succeeded in making some wood pellets at their backyard. It wasn't very efficient way of getting wood pellets considering time and effort spent, but that's the way for a true enthusiast.

Hopefully this lens answered some of your questions. You can have a look at some of the Pellet Stoves that are selling now.

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