Manufacturing Process

Pellet manufacture complements other wood processing industries as it makes use of co-products and waste that would otherwise be costly to remove. In countries with developed pellet markets, pellet mills are often sited alongside other timber industries to reduce the transport of raw material. This is usually sawdust, Pellet Millgrinding dust, shavings and small offcuts.

The raw materials are screened to remove stones, metals and other impurities. They are then dried to achieve consistently low moisture content of about 10%. After drying, the material is pulverized in a hammer mill and refined to a fine dust. This is sieved and conveyed to a pellet press which is composed of a perforated matrix with a rotating cylindrical roller. The roller forces the dust through the round holes of the matrix where a knife slices off the pellets at the required length.

The milling process heats the pellets helping the natural lignin to bind the dust. Some manufacturers add a small proportion of lignin or vegetable starch to aid the binding. After milling, the pellets are cooled, sieved and weighed, then conveyed to storage. Bulk pellet trucks are filled using blower conveyors and transport the pellets to bulk users or to suppliers for bagging and sale to domestic customers.

Photo courtesy of Janet Sanders - Wales OPET Cymru

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