Why Brickettes over Pellets?
- Brickettes are the environmental, cost effective preference over pellets.
- Both brickettes and pellets can be made of the same materials, but their different size gives them different uses.
- Similarities and differences are listed below:
Similarities between brickettes and pellets:
- BTU content is the same – approximately 7,000 – 8,000 BTU's per lb. for both wood and grass.
- Energy content of 1 ton (2000 lbs.) of brickettes or pellets is equal to approximately 120 gallons of fuel oil.
- Ash content is the same for a given material.
Differences between brickettes and pellets:
- The bricketting process is more reliable and repeatable than pelleting.
- Bricketting is more tolerant to different moisture levels than pelleting.
- The bricketting process is more energy efficient than pelleting.
- Bricketting requires less pre-processing of the raw material (less grinding and drying).
- Larger size makes brickettes suitable for different combustion equipment than for pellets.
- Brickettes will not feed in pellet stoves but many boilers and multi-fuel biomass combustion equipment can handle them well!
Densification (Compression) Technology Development Overview:
The cost of building an industrial-scale stationary pelleting or bricketting system is significant. In addition to the mill or bricketter, the process requires shredders, mixers, coolers, baggers, etc. and all of this equipment requires 3-phase electricity (which is generally only available at industrial sites). On top of all this, the entire process must be protected from the elements, which usually means it is housed inside buildings.
For these reasons we focused on small-scale systems, capable of densifying biomass for combustion. Our Slugger (manufactured by BHS Energy) is suitable for the individual landowner, the entrepreneur, the greenhouse and small industrial furnace user because of its ease-of-use and comparatively low cost.
As the cost of energy rises, the market for alternative fuels is rapidly increasing. One of these alternative fuels is the utilization of biomass brickettes, including those made from switchgrass. The wood pellet industry is unable to increase output (supply) due to both a dwindling waste wood supply and the high cost of conventional stationary pellet mills and therefore more and more stove manufacturers are designing their equipment to utilize multiple fuels, including brickettes.
Now is the optimum time for the biomass bricketting industry to take the lead. The idea behind our technology is to bring biomass energy production to a scale that will allow fuel to be both produced and consumed locally.
Want to learn more about Switchgrass? Here is an extremely informative report by Resource Efficient Agricultural Production (REAP) Canada www.reap-canada.com.
The Slugger, connecting community needs with affordable solutions!
Manufactured by BHS Energy LLC. R T Wood NEC is the proud distributor of the Slugger Globally and specifically for Canada and the Eastern United States (Connecticut, Delaware, Massachusetts, Maine, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Virginia, Vermont and Washington DC.)
