The process of wood pellet plant involves 8 station. It is very easy for anyone to get the process and understand how the step by step process is initiated in a pellet producing factory. The main equipment in a pellet plant is the pellet mill that is used to turn the raw material into a finished product. You should also know that the main process require many treatment for the final product to be realized.
Build a Complete Wood Pellet Plant in 8 Steps
Here are the basic eight processes of turning the raw material into a pellets in a complete pellet plant. (Interested in small pellet plant?)
Final Wood Pellets
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The initial size reduction
In a pellet prodcution line, they get all size of wooden pellets such as the logs; saw dust, wood shaving and barks. This clearly tells you that the step is very costly to the factory and it requires special attention. Since pellet mill can only process materials that are of a certain diameter and the unprocessed wood materials are way too big in the pelletizing process and it will require tremendous efforts to streamline them to the right size. The process is also very essential because at the drying stage, the smaller the pellets the faster they will dry and the machine will require less energy in pelletizing process. The initial stage is the backbone of ensuring that the whole process is successful and that the machine serves other process effectively. It is also at this stage that foreign materials such as metals, small stones and sand are eliminated to avoid the machine being damaged.
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Drying Stage
This is the process that moisture is reduced; in normally circumstances the wood has moisture of more than 50 percent but to get high quality wood pellet, it will require that it has eight to twelve percent of moisture. This process consumes lots of energy in trying to achieve the best the market can get. If you want to reduce your capital input on constructing wood pellet plant, you can try using rotary drum dryer. It is cost effective, consumers less energy and simple operating procedures.
Drying Unit of Wood Pellet plant
The dryer is divided into different types to make it more effective: suspension, dryer, steam dryer, flash dryer, belt dryer and rotary drum dryer. The different types work with various features to make the whole process successful and achieve a product that is reduced in moisture to the required desire.
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Initial Sieving
This process is not necessary with all pellet production lines but if you want to get the best quality then the process is a must. This is because the materials after coming in the previous stage appear smaller and they can be mixed with the unpurified materials. The unpurified materials in this case are stones, sand, and metals. The magnetic separation is used to separate the materials that can cause damage to the machine and leave the pellets to proceed to the next step.
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Grinding Stage
In this stage, you can use the hammer mill to reduce the size of the wood materials; unlike other machines that you can use to reduce size, the hammer mill uses sieves that are 50mm in diameter and not more than that. This helps the machine act as a molding machine and not a grinding one.
Crushing Unit of Wood Pellet Plant
It is also a great way of reducing the energy consumption of the pellet mill; you can also use a wood chipper to serve the same purpose but it is more costly to maintain than the hammer mill.
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Pelletizing
If you want to make premium wood pellets, then you have to choose the best pellet mill, since it is the core to ensuring that the whole process is good. When you are going for a pellet mill there are certain things that you need to know: you need to consider the type of raw materials, pellet plant capacity, the quality of production and the diameter of the pellets that you are going to use.
Pelletizing Process (Ring Die Pellet Mill is recommended for large scale pellet production)
There are two types of pellet mill that you can consider when you are looking for the best machine. The flat die pellet mill and ring die pellet mill are the two most common used machines. The two machine work on the same principal. Once you have feed the raw materials they are directed to the rollers and generate high pressure that acts as glue on the wood; lastly the wood finds the an outlet through the die and come out in a cylindrical form. As the wood is about to pass outside, a knife cuts them into the required size.
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Pellets Cooling
It is the process that temperatures are brought down and the moisture as well; this is the process that makes the pellets more rigid and strong. If you negate this process then the wood can easily break because it generated a lot heat from pelletizing.
Cooling Unit of Pellet Plant
Here are types of coolers that you can use: the horizontal cooler, vertical cooler and the counterflow cooler. If you are looking for a cooler for industrial use then you should choose counterflow cooler, it works in the reverse manner, in that the cooling air is in opposite to the hot air. This serves to achieve the best quality.
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Final Sieving
In many cases the final step in making wood pellets comes at an end in the cooling stage but if you are serving commercial purposes then the final sieving is vital. This process ensures that you make the final product finer by removing other materials that might have passed the previous stages.
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Storage Stage
Pellet Plant Bagging Machine
When you are at this stage then your wood pellets are ready but in case of a large pellet plant, then the process is automated by using automated bagging machine that have different bagging such as retail bagging system that is used by local wholesalers. The bulk bagging system is used for industrial and customers that are overseas. You can choose the two bagging system if you find them convenient to you.
