EFB Pelleting

I get many calls enquiring about pelletisation of EFB ( Empty Fruit Bunch ).
We did sample production many months back it !as easy for us as EFB is
a single species ra! material as compared to !ood sa!dust !here the
range of !ood density "aries !idely !hich is difficult to control during
material preparation . #ou can see the quality of EFB Pellet from the test
run !as of higher quality in terms of length and density ( $hinier ) . %he
tricks of getting good quality EFB Pellet is at the material preparation side
. If the input quality is good and !ith properly setup Pellet &ill there !ill be
no problem in pelleting EFB .
EFB Pelleting Plant is more e'pensi"e compared to Wood Pelleting Plant
as material preparation section !ill be needed to process EFB strand into
smaller particles . EFB Input can be in the form of Whole Bunch EFB or
$hredded EFB . $hredded EFB is the result of EFB being pressed in Palm
(il &ill for additional oil e'traction .
EFB Plant setup are therefore different from Wood Pellet Plant because of
additional machineries and thus planning ahead !ill bring tremendous
profit later .
In the case ot $hredded EFB or Pressed EFB it need to be cut to shorter
length . %hereafter I !ould like to )ry it here !hen the EFB is in short
length . But there are other !ays to do this depending on your setup and
dryer capability .
&aterial $i*ing is "ery important before the material enter pellet mill
other!ise if the strand is too long it !ill choke the Pellet &ill and +ammed
the machine . %his is !here the skill and e'perience comes into play .
$ome say Flat )ie Pellet &ill is better and some argue ,ing )ie is as
good this depends on the - ),I.E, - if you get !hat I mean ///
%he good pellet mill is the one that gi"e you good quality pellet and high
efficiency !ith minimal maintenance and do!ntime .
- )( 0(% 1%%E&P% %2I$ $%30% WI%2(3%
P,(FE$$I(014 53I)106E -
%here are many cases of failure to do it right from start and in the process
losses are huge . 5et correct ad"ice from reputable and reliable supplier
!ith kno! ho! to start . &any a times the seller of machineries +ust !ant to
close sales and promise you the sky !here in fact ( and most does ) they
do not ha"e the skill to run a pellet plant !orst if their machineries are not
reliable . I ha"e been to many plant !hich is a failure my statistic 7 8 9 out
of :; are failures or loss plenty of money before they can e"en start to
make profit .
Pellet &anufacturing
6hoosing the ,ight Pellet 4ine
I recei"ed many enquiries from potential in"estor on setting up !ood pellet
or EFB pellet Plant .
&ost of the questions asked are as follo!s <
: ) Price of Pellet Production 4ine
= ) 6apacity per 2our per Pellet &ill
> ) I !ant to "isit your factory in production
We are more than glad to recei"ed any "isitors and offer quotation for our
pellet line .
In my opinion !hat potential in"estors should ha"e asked are <
: ) Effciency of the Pellet Production 4ine
= ) &aintenance of the machineries especially the pellet mill
> ) ,eturn on In"estment ( ,(I )
Efficiency
We claim that our pellet mill and the !hole line can produce ? : %P2 for a
pellet mill !ith @=; internal diameter die 6(0$I$%E0%4# o"er prolong
period of production time . I belie"e not many can claim this ///
#ou can buy Pellet &ill from so many supplier from 6hina are reasonable
price most can produce : %P2 consistently but not o"er prolong period of
time .
Pellet &ill from 6hina are still in infant stage as the same pellet mill are for
feed production . %herefore it is not as robust as machines from 3$1 or
Europe !hich price are at least double .
Efficiency are "ery important in Pellet Production as the capacity are "ery
small i.e. : %P2 per machine you need to be efficient to make profit . If
your machine can only run 9 hours per day but others can operate :A hours
per day others !ill make double your profit .
In short pellet manufacturing is a race against time .
&aintenance
&any stories from friends regarding their pellet mill performance .
)ie cracking roller bearing need constant change pellet refused to come
out need additi"es for smooth production and etc .
: piece of )ie cost ,&A;;; should last A;; ton production if the die
crack by =A; ton then your cost !ill go up to ,&=; per ton instead of
,&:; per ton . 0ot mentioning do!n time and failure to deli"er to customer
!ill cost you more .
,eturn on In"estment
I am not sure ho! many of the potential in"estor ha"e data on the
profitability of !ood pellet manufacturing . But I belie"e most do not ha"e
complete and accurate data and depends on the fact that they !ant to go
into this business as there is so many enquiries for this product .
%his business are definitely lucrati"e as of no! if you ha"e this ad"antages
<
: ) ample supply of ra! material
= ) good !ood pellet production line
1 friend of mine once said if you get the correct combination of ra!
material machines and customer you are simply printing money e"ery
second .
6onser"ati"ely (ur Wood Pellet 4ine should ha"e payback !ithin = year
and ,(I of o"er BC per month .
Pellet Production ,eport
We ha"e started manufacturing a fe! !eeks ago and e"erything is going
fine !ith small ad+ustment here and there . %he longer than e'pected delay
are due to testing of "arious materials a"ailable to us like sa!dust !ood
sha"ings and rice husk .
)uring testing !e encounter "ery big problem !ith local pelletising
materials !hich !e ha"e sol"ed . %his ha"e cost us = !eeks delays and
substantial losses . It is a +ourney to get the correct mi' for most optimum
production efficiency and yield . %here is a saying D F1I43,E I$ 1 F1,
5,E1%E, %E162E, %210 $366E$$ D
Production are no! ramming up to about :.= ton per hour ( %P2 ) per unit
of Pellet &ill &odel $E42@=; !hich is quite efficient since the supplier only
promised us : %P2 . (peration time for the machine is no! :; hours F day .
If e"erything is fine !e !ill be trying to get :.A %P2 in another month or so
!ith := hours operation F day gi"ing a total of >B ton per day "olume if ra!
material is a"ailable .
.I)E( 8 W(() PE44E% P,()36%I(0
We are marketing this = %P2 Full Production 4ine at ,&9A;;;; !ith spare
parts . 4ocal fabrication and ci"il !ork !ill cost another ,&:A;;;; or so
depending on setup . We thro! in ser"ice and technical ad"ise !hich is
the &ost Important part in the setting up of !ood pellet plant . (ther!ise
ne! player !ill ha"e big headache in achie"ing optimum production !ithin
a short time .
If you notice in the "ideo the Plant !e ha"e are quite clean in terms of
dust control e"en !ith all the machineries in operation . $ome of the plant
setup do not cater for dust control and in the long term it !ill become
health ha*ard and difficult to maintain staff .
6osting
With this setup !e manage to bring do!n the total number of !orker to
only 9 including = $uper"isor per shift !ithout stoppage during tea time
break and also lunch break . %his is a huge sa"ings on manpo!er and also
during this difficulty time of getting !orker . With time and additional
accessories !e !ould be able to cut another = !orker per shift in a fe!
months time .
Electricity consumption for the !hole plant at belo! >;; 1mpere
consumption is :=AkWh of electricity !hich comes to ,&@A F hour for a =
%P2 production . 6ost of production per ton !ill be ,&==.A; .
%o achie"e :.A %P2 2igh Guality Wood Pellet consistently a fe! problem
need to be sol"e <
: ) consistently stable moisture content of sa!dust
= ) particle si*e of sa!dust
> ) good pellet mill and accessories !ith proper maintenance
@ ) properly design full production line for efficient production
A ) correct mi' of tropical sa!dust F rubber!ood sa!dust
Guality
Guality !ise it is abo"e e'pectation . %he 6ertificate of %est sho!s that ash
is belo! :C and Pellet 3nit )ensity is at :.= ton F m> .
%his specification is upto 5ermany )I0 Plus $tandard on $i*e 3nit
)ensity &oisture 6ontent and 1sh 6ontent .
4ike I said pre"iously in"estor need to see for themsel"es if it is true that
the pellet mill can produce :.= %P2 consistently and operate o"er long
hours !ithout stoppage .
6ome "isit us to see for yourself .
But no .ideo H Photos 1llo!ed ( company policy ) .
2I 4ee
I ha"e bought a >;; pellet machine from china. %he performance is
increased from :;;kgFh to =;;kgFh after trying it for one month.
Iust as u said roller bearing H +amming in die are normal problems...
%o achie"e :.A %P2 2igh Guality Wood Pellet consistently a fe! problem
need to be sol"e <
: ) consistently stable moisture content of sa!dust
For my >;; ::C8:>C of &6 is the best performance.
= ) particle si*e of sa!dust
too small is not good.
> ) good pellet mill and accessories !ith proper maintenance
@ ) properly design full production line for efficient production
Besides pellet machine i also bought an air flo! dryer. It is hard to reduce
sa!dust to !anted &6. $ometimes ha"e to dry t!ice
A ) correct mi' of tropical sa!dust F rubber!ood sa!dust
In your opinion !hich kind of sa!dust is the most suitableJ I found that
pellet is easier to be produced by mi'ing
=;8>;C rubber!ood < 7;89;C tropical
I hope you can share your e'perience so I can learn from it thanks/
#es too fine sa!dust is not good so adding rubber!ood !ould make it
better as rubber!ood sa!dust are more coarse .
It is too technical on proportion of sa!dust mi'es &6 sa!dust particle
si*e die specification and many more "ariable you got to study and learn
from your mistake based on your material used for pelleting . E"eryone
!ould be different due to the abo"e factor .
#es it is flat die.
Will try for fe! more !eeks only consider to in"est a better machine.
We no! offer !ood pellet for sale in the local market .
Price deli"ered Klang .alley at ,&>;; F &% in Bulk Bag .
Belo! are the test certificate and photo of !ood pellet .
We are looking for Wood or EFB pelleting
business opportunities especially !ith e'isting
factory !ith at least = ton per hour installed
capacity .
If your plant are not producing up to satisfaction
!e !ould like to e'plore solutions !ith you !ith
the hope of cooperating to ma'imise returns on
the plant .
Please drop us an e8mail or call us for further
discussion .
%hank you .
e8mail 8 leesengannLgmail.com
mobile 8 B ;:= M997 ::9 ( &alaysia )
PE44E%I05 )IFFI634%IE$
&aybe I am not con"incing enough in my statement that PE44E%I05 is
"ery difficult .
&y records and "isits to many pelleting plant be it Wood or EFB Pellet
till todate the failure is nearly approaching =; plant big and small included
. )efinitely the number is much higher than this figure .
Potential In"estor must understand the reason behind it to figure out !hy
so many failure in this industries .
I append the ma+or factor for the failure <
: ) Wrong &achineries
Pelleting process need "ery high pressure to bind the dust back
into pellet many machineries are not able to cope !ith the 2I52
P,E$$3,E and thus !ill be damage before it e"en start to really
produce pellet .%alking about pressure do you kno! ho! it !ork J
Pelleting need dry dust dryer are needed to do the +ob that is !hy
1merican )ryer price are in the range of 3$): &illion and abo"e
the reason is you need consistent &oisture )ust to be able to
produce consistently good grade pellet other!ise there !ill be no
pellet at all . I doubt many understand the science of drying //
$mall Pellet &ill smaller than A;; kg F hour are a definite no no
unless you are !illing to put your money to burn go calculate the
returns ///
5o look at my "ideo on Wood Pellet &anufacturing again look at the
rate of output and then compare the price of machineries . %hen go
"isit the supplier and look at their output to be con"ince .
%he abo"e are only =;C of the main factor if you do not kno! about the
abo"e please do not in"est do your home!ork again donDt !aste the
precious cash for F1I43,E .
= ) $er"ice and %raining
I did mentioned earlier about this . %he machineries from 6hina is
cheap because they do not pro"ide proper $er"ice and %raining this
cost !ill easily increase their pricing by at least =;C . 4o! price act
as an inducement for potential in"estor so many !ill +ump in but
end up !ithout anyone to turn to !hen failure stare at them
$upplier of machineries are +ust supplier I am con"ince many are
great &arketeer they ha"e ne"er run a pelleting plant before . $o
!hen the going gets tough the supplier do not get going they +ust
ignore you .... sounds familiar I guess .
$upplier are from 6hina they are not locals they cannot stay long
to guide and train local staff so you can guess !hat !ill happen if
problems start to crop up !ho you gonna call //
> ) E'perience and $kill
1sk yourself ho! much you kno! about Biomass and
&anufacturing I !ould say if you are going to in"est based on the
so many inquiries you get from the market please keep your cash in
the Bank at least it earn interest . If you do not ha"e o"er fe! years
on &aterial e'perience and fe! years in manufacturing it is a definite
no no to in"est
)o you ha"e an enquiring and analytical mind J E"ery action !ill
ha"e a reaction !hen something happen there must be ,E1$(0$
!hy it happen it cannot happen +ust out of nothing . %here is a
6hinese saying )ie also donDt kno! because of !hat // I am saying
this because this !ill happen many many times and you !ill need
your skill and e'perience to o"ercome it
&ark my !ord go check around before you really decide to in"est in this
industry . %here are too many failure !hich is not good for this industry
o"erall .
P,(IE6% B3%%E,
Pellet &ill $moothness
Wonder you ha"e heard of the abo"e . %he phrase
!as coined by 5((54E for making the smart
phone "ery "ery smooth . If you are using smart
phone you !ill kno! !hat I mean . We ha"e
undertaken similar steps to make our Pellet &ill
B3%%E,# $&((%2 .
%he reason are ob"ious <
: ) It lo!er maintenance cost tremendously !ear
and tear of roller and die !ill be lo! machine up
time of o"er MAC against do!n time
= ) Production !ill be increase substantially !e
currently run :.: %on Per 2our effortlessly day in
and out at around ::; 1mpere !ith minimal
spiking of the 1mmeter
> ) 4o! electricity consumption as the &ain
)ri"ing motor for the )ie run much more
smoother than before
@ ) 0o knee +erk feeling during operation
therefore other components in the Pellet &ill
!ould not be damage so frequently
A ) 4ast but not least G314I%# "ery e"en length
and density of pellet can price our product
higher and lo!er incidence of re+ections .
In normal operation for a = %P2 plant the
combination of the abo"e factors !ill ha"e
sa"ings and increase in income of o"er ,&=;;;;
per month .
2o! do !e achie"e the $&((%20E$$
FEE4I05$ <
: ) re engineering of operation method
= ) re look at all the components of the Pellet &ill
from Pellet &ill )ie ,oller ,oller 2older etc
etc
> ) Guality control of incoming material for input
into Pellet &ill
@ ) Proper maintenance of Pellet &ill and correct
$(P ( $tandard (perating Proceduce )
implemented
We kno! that many plant are not e"en in the
B3%%E,# category from the plant I "isited
some e"en ha"e their bolting holding the pellet
mill coming off the ground and the machine is
shaking ( not "ibrating ) the cost of this is "ery
high and surely this plant !ill not be operating in
the end as losses !ill be too hea"y .
We no! look for!ard to increasing our production
!ith e"en less !orker as operation run more
smoothly +ust like 5((54E P,(IE6% B3%%E, .
2i 4ee
I !ould like to manufacture !oodFEFB pellets. But i am ne! comer to this
biomass industrial !ith no e'perience.
&ay i kno! ho! much i need to in"est to setup a simply !oodFEFB pellets
plant (:tonFhour)J
3nderstand from your blog it costs ,& :mil for a =%P2 plants but i ha"e
fe! questions here<
:) is that for !oodF EFB plantsJ
=) EFB ra! material is much more cheaper than sa!dust but it has higher
moisture. Is that need more time to dry up the moisture compare !ith
sa!dustJ
>) ho! is the market for EFB pellets compare !ith !ood pelletsJ
@) 1re you helping ne! comer to setup pellet plantJ
A) !hat is the minimum in"estment costJ
B) What is the ,(I rateJ :yearsJ
Please contact me at leesengannLgmail.com
Firstly it is not simple to pelletise !ood or EFB . I must !arn you about this
.
I do not recommend : ton per hour unless your material are dry material
!ithout drying .
,&:& is for !ood EFB !ill add another ,&=A;;;; .
Both ha"e high moisture . EFB !ill need more processing as compared to
sa!dust .
&arket 8 Wood pellet are more established
I do consultation for ne!ly setup &ill .
%otal in"estment !ithout factory circa ,&:.> million inclusi"e of local
installation cost .
%he last year or so material transport !orker cost ha"e increase it is
no longer possible for ,(I to be : year unless you can run =@ F 7 !ith lo!
input cost .
Whole 4ine Wood Pellet Plant
= %on Per 2our Pellet Plant
We are a bit delayed in the installation of our = %on Per 2our ( = %P2 )
Whole 4ine Wood Pellet Plant . 0e! date for commissioning ha"e been
push back to End of 1pril =;:: .
4ots of minor problems !ith 6hina Whole 4ine )esign and Installation .
I admit !e o"erlook a fe! areas and also the professionalism of 6hina
&achinery $upplier are in doubt especially in Pro+ect &anagement and also
the linkage bet!een each section in the Whole 4ine Plant .
But in the process !e also learn a lot for our future e'pansion plan and
possibly our ne! =nd line maybe in B month to : year time .
We no! belie"e that our pellet mill are one of the best from 6hina and
hopefully !hen it is in production it should gi"e us abo"e :.= %P2 for the
&odel @=; unit !ith minimal maintenance .
2ere are some of the photos during installation of machineries at my plant .
6urrent Pellet &ill F Pellet &ill Plant from 6hina ha"e the follo!ing
problems <
a ) Pelet &ill )ie cracking after short time of usage
b ) ,oller Bearing need constant change
c ) 6onstant Iamming in the Pellet &ill )ie 6hamber
d ) 4o! )ensity of Wood Pellet Produced
e ) $a!dust need additi"es during production to ensure smooth output of
pellet from Pellet &ill
We also found out that many 6hina supplier are not genuine factory o!ner
!hich means they buy and sell the machineries thus technical !ise they
are not up to standard unless they are supplying the best machines from
the best fabricator . 0ormally this is not the case as the buyer !ill haggle
about pricing therefore the supplier !ill tend to get the cheaper machines
!hich !ill create problems in the end . 2o! !ould you kno! !hich is the
best machines from 6hina there is more than :;; supplier of pellet mill
machineries from 6hina e"eryone say they supply the best . 3nless you
!ant to 61&P there to search for the best machines . For the record I did
> tour of duty to 6hina to search for the best machineries .
Pre8requisite of establishing a Wood F EFB Pellet &anufacturing Business <
: ) $table source of sa!dust or EFB
= ) %otal In"estment 8 ,&: &illion including machineries electricity
supply local steel fabrication forklifts H etc for a = %P2 Whole 4ine Plant
> ) $ome technical kno!ledge on machineries
@ ) For no! market should not be a problem it is a matter of pricing
4ately ( the last > months ) my blog ha"e generated tremendous search
for !ood pellet maybe due to the current high price of fossil fuel !hich at
the time of !riting 0yme' (il Futures is at o"er 3$):;; per barrel .
Inflation in 6hina is also causing a problem as Wood Pellet Plant pricing
ha"e also increase from initial ,&7A;;;; earlier to o"er ,&9A;;;; no!
at last count . $a!dust price ha"e also been increasing locally . If price
continue to rise it might not be "iable anymore to in"est in Wood Pellet
Business unless Wood Pellet price play catch up in the near term .
1greed !ith you. 1 lot of so called Pellet line machineries supplier are
actually trading house single machine manufacturer !ho claimed they
made the !hole line..etc
We spent numerous trip to 6hina to "erify their capability and e"en sent
materials to them for testing luckily !e manage to find one !ho suite our
needs.
ID"e a :tFhr pellet line from 6hina current installed in .ietnam turn up to
produce appro' >A;kgFhr only. %he manufacturing came but failed to rectify
the performance of the machine.
%he machine is still running and !e are putting effort to prolong the life
span of the molder.
: %P2 !hat is the si*e of the mould die J &any factors affect efficiency to
name a fe! < &ould )ie si*e 6ompression ,atio &aterial used for
Pelleting &oisture 6ontent of Biomass Feeding ,ate of Biomass to Pellet
&ill ,oller Pressure H etc . 3nless and until you get all the abo"e correct
you !ill not get the optimum efficiency .
%here is no specific type it depends on the temperature you are running at
the roller .
6hina Pellet &ill best model is $E42@=; but depends on manufacturer .
$a!dust )rying
We are touching this topic specifically due to itDs importance to make
good !ood pellet unless your sa!dust is already dried to :AC &oisture
6ontent ( &6 ) .
If you ha"e gone through our earlier !ritings the cost of drum dryer are
significant for a Whole 4ine Wood Pellet Plant . %he 2igh price are due to
itDs big structure and complication in maintaining stable &6 sa!dust
output . $a!dust comes in "arious &6 from :=C to B;C therefore it is
important to control the &6 for optimum pelleting other!ise you !ould not
get high standard !ood pellet and high production efficiency .
We !ill no! study a typical drying process base on the follo!ing
conditions <
: ) Input $a!dust &6 >AC
= ) (utput $a!dust &6 :=C
> ) )rying ,ate = %on Per 2our (utput
%o reduce &6 from >AC to :=C you !ould need to e"aporate =;C of !ater
based on =;;; kg per hour output !ater that need to be remo"ed is B;;kg
and the input sa!dust is =B;; kgFhr .
%o remo"e B;;kg of !ater you !ill need B@;k! ( AA;;;; k6alFhour ) of
energy !hich is equi"alent to burning =;;kgFhour of !ood offcut . In short
:;;kgFhour need to be combusted to dry : %P2 ( output ) sa!dust . 6ost of
drying !ould be about ,&A F ton sa!dust if your offcut cost is ,&A; F ton .
%he 6alculation 6hart belo! is from 1$PE0%E62 soft!are and reconfirm
by manual calculation !hich I did not sho! here due to itDs tediousness of
calculation suffice to say the input data output data and design of the
dryer are correct .
)rum )ryer selection are important many factor affect the cost of the
dryer in this case !e belie"e )rum )ryer $i*e of )iameter :.A meter N
4ength M meter should be enough to dry = %P2 of sa!dust .
6ost of this dryer should be around ,&=;;;;; landed in &alaysia cF!
sto"e electrical panel and cyclone .
We hope to use this )ryer and the Pellet &ill to make EFB Pellet once !e
ha"e started Wood Pellet Production probably in 1ugust =;:: .
W(() PE44E% F EFB PE44E% B(I4E,
B(I4E,
%he boiler are design for !inter heating in Europe and are suitable for
industries !hich need hot !ater e.g hotel hot !ater supply and industrial
cooking .
In &alaysia currently all small and medium si*e boiler are fuel by either
gas or diesel making it en"ironmental unfriendly .
%he high number of boiler using fossil fuel are due to the follo!ing reasons
<
: ) Pre"ious lo! oil price at belo! 3$)@; F barrel ( around ,&:.;; F liter )
= ) 6on"enience in handling diesel boiler
> ) 0o other alternati"e ( technology H supplier of biomass boiler )
@ ) 0o other suitable fuel for small boiler
A ) Perception of Biomass Boiler are unclean
&ost of the abo"e reasons are currently being sol"ed !ith ne!
technological ad"ancement and a"ailability of ne! biomass boiler and
suitable fuel ( Wood Pellet or EFB Pellet ) .
We plan to introduce this type of pellet boiler for industrial user in &alaysia
!ith our !ood pellet .
Pricing start from ,&7A;;; for =;;;;; k6al F hour to ,&=;;;;; for
:;;;;;; k6al F hour Wood Pellet Boiler . %he lo! cost are due to mass
production for this type of boiler .
Payback are normally !ithin A month to : year inclusi"e of the boiler F(6
after the payback period .
6haracteristic of Wood Pellet F EFB Pellet Boiler are as follo!s <
: ) Fully automatic !ith preset temperature needed for the hot !ater
burner !ill start and stop at preset le"el
= ) M;C efficiency due to itDs design and efficient air fuel ratio balance
during combustion
> ) high safety feature !ithout chances of e'plosion as it uses !ood pellet
!hich is less flamable
@ ) "ery clean burning !ithout smoke although ash need to be dispose off
once e"ery !eek
A ) space sa"ing as structure of the boiler is compact and sturdy
For the first unit !e sell in the &alaysia market !e are gi"ing great
discount to promote this technology .
BI(&1$$ ),#I05
I ha"e touch on this topic in )ecember =;:; in the title of $a!dust )rying .
In many cases material needs to be dried to certain acceptable &oisture
6ontent before it can proceed to the ne't stage of manufacturing .
In my "isits to many plant I ha"e seen too many mistakes made in the
selection of drying system either !rong fuel are used !rong design of
furnace !rong design of dryer !rong design of con"eying system for
input and output of materials and etc . %his mistakes cause many other
problems do!n the line especially during pelletisation not mentioning high
cost of drying . &ake no mistake you cannot ha"e good system if you do
not ha"e proper kno!ledge of drying and combustion . %hat is !hy drying
system are e'pensi"e because it !ill sa"es you money later and in some
cases a matter of do or die .
)rying Efficiency
)rying for pelleting process are normally done !ith direct chanelling of hot
flue gas into the drum dryer !here the hot air are in direct contact !ith the
material to be dried . %his process of direct contact are of highest
efficiency as compared to indirect heating !ith a heat e'changer .
)epending on material moisture content of the material and structure of
the material the hot flue gas input temperature can be as high as 9;;O
celcius . %he higher the temperature the faster the material are being dried
and you !ill get higher output from the drum dryer other!ise the drying
section !ill become bottleneck . 6onsistent temperature from the furnace
to the dryer are also important so that the &oisture of Biomass dried is
consistent . %o achie"e consistency and narro! range of &oisture firing
into furnace or dryer need to be consistent this can be achie"e by ha"ing
good Burner .
)rying 6ost
&any a times this !as o"erlook e"erything !e sell ha"e a selling price
and it also come !ith a cost . $imilarly in !ood pelleting there is cost to
manufacturing of !ood pellet and to those !ho use !et sa!dust or e"en
EFB there !ill be need for drying this is one section !hich is often
o"erlook . 5ood cost structure !ill be drying cost of belo! ,&=; F &% of
dried ra! material . 2o! do !e achie"e this <
: ) use lo! cost material like timber offcut !oodchip EFB Palm Fibre etc
= ) use high efficiency pellet burner because you are producing pellet
> ) do not use electricity gas or diesel burner you calculate the cost
yourself to find out
%hat being said the planning of 5ood )rying $ystem is pertinent to keep
the cost lo! so that there !ill be profit in the selling of pellet . If you dry
your material abo"e ,&A; F &% then this business !ill be unprofitable .
In short it is not easy to keep cost lo! as currently for any fuel there is cost
in"ol"ed selection of correct drying system are important .
)rying Guality
)uring pelleting process
consistent &oisture 6ontent of material input are important to gi"e
consistent quality of pellet output other!ise one minute you !ill get good
and the ne't minute bad quality pellet . %herefore dryer must ha"e fle'ibility
to ensure 6onsistent &6 for biomass output from dryer .
For your information any sa!dust or e"en EFB !ill ha"e sand and stone
in it too much of it !ill increase the ash content of pellet and thus pellet
price !ill be affected . 1 good dryer !ill ha"e system to remo"e partial of
the sand and stone . ,emo"al of sand and stone !ill also prolong the life of
roller and die during pelleting process .
> of the abo"e factor are important in the selection of the correct dryer .
Wrong selection !ill cause the follo!ings <
: ) 3nder or ("er 6apacity of dryer
= ) 4o! temperature input !ill cause slo! drying
> ) Inconsistent temperature cause fluctuation in drying thus &6 of
biomass dried !ill not be consistent
@ ) Wrongly build furnace do not gi"e enough heat input to dryer causing
under utilisation of dryer
A ) Wrong air flo! of hot flue gas are not sufficient for drying of biomass
B ) Wrong design of input and output con"eyors reduce the efficiency of
drying
7 ) 0on Fle'ibility of dryer controller make it difficult to get good drying
results
9 ) Wrong biomass used for firing increase cost of drying !hole pro+ect
not "iable
M ) &anual feeding of biomass fuel in big furnace are not recommended as
labour incur cost and optimum drying are not achie"ed
:; ) Inconsistent &6 of biomass dried cannot be pelletise into good quality
pellet
:: ) %oo much sand and stone !ill +am the Pellet &ill and damage other
parts
and many many more .
&ake sure )ryer are selected correctly .