Fuel pellets are produced from waste wood, often sawdust, which is produced in large quantities at woodworking enterprises. In addition, there are special crushing machines that turn tree branches and other large wood waste into sawdust and then pellets are also made from them.
In order to make pellets yourself, you need to assemble a special machine. In appearance, and technically, it is somewhat reminiscent of a powerful meat grinder. That is, sawdust is poured into the hopper, then a powerful drill squeezes them under high pressure and granules are obtained at the exit. Subsequently, they are dried and packaged in bags or other containers. No additional materials and ingredients are used for the production of pellets, it only needs pressure and moisture, the necessary binding substances already exist in the wood.
Materials and tools for the assembly of the granulator:
- a powerful engine;
- gearbox (chain transmission is used);
- matrix;
- worm wheels;
- two cylinders (made of pipes);
- a corner to create a frame;
- grinder;
- welding;
- drill and other tools.
Granulator assembly process:
Step one. Create the device frame
First of all, you need to weld the frame, subsequently all the necessary elements of the device will be attached to it. The frame must be strong, it can be made of a corner, channels and other materials, the cross-section must be at least 25X40 mm. First you need to decide where to install and drill the corresponding holes for the units. Under the engine, you need to digest the platform from a sheet of metal.
If the device is mobile, then it can be equipped with wheels, since it will be quite heavy and it will be difficult to move it just like that.
Step Two We connect the engine to the granulator
Different types of gearboxes can be used to connect the engine and the granulator, specifically in this case a chain drive is used.It is important to correctly calculate the gear ratio of the sprockets, since the device requires quite high power to operate.
Step Three The principle of operation of the granulator
The granulator presented by the author works very simply. It consists of a cylinder in which the so-called matrix is located. This matrix is a sheet of metal with a thickness of at least 8 mm, in which holes are drilled. The diameter of the holes is 8-10 mm, it is precisely this diameter that the pellets will be obtained at the outlet.
The holes in shape are a truncated cone, due to this, the wood is compressed gradually, which ensures increased productivity of the device.
Next, this matrix is installed on the granulator shaft, the connection is due to the keys and couplings, which are bolted. A shaft with two gears (wheels) is installed on top of the matrix, this shaft rotates synchronously with the matrix, that is, the matrix is the leading link. When sawdust gets into the hopper, they pass between the matrix and the wheels of the shaft, are compressed and then the finished granules are squeezed out on the other side.
To ensure the best performance of the device, the raw materials must be moistened to the desired humidity. However, it is important to remember that the greater the pressure with which the wood is compressed, the better pellets will be obtained. But large loads and wear out the device faster, so you need to choose the optimal position.
In the video you can see how such a device works, but not that specifically. There is no gearbox, the motor shaft is directly connected to the granulator shaft. The granulator itself is a powerful meat grinder (in our case, a "wood chopper"). At the exit, this woody "stuffing" is cut with a special knife from a piece of metal that is attached to the shaft. Thanks to this, granules of the desired length are obtained.