Wood pellets for heating ...

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Grelinette
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Re: Compressed logs for heating ...




by Grelinette » 04/12/16, 11:03

Ahmed wrote:I wrote:
There are densified logs whose constituent is only bark (oak, it seems to me); this particular product is often used at night by users of conventional logs because they burn slowly and keep the fire burning until morning.

Indeed, I forgot your message! : Oops:
Curiously, these slow-burning logs in fact very quickly become glowing, flameless, and remain in this state of burning embers for long hours, provided that the air intake is kept to a minimum. By mistake, I left the air supply wide open and the "slow" log wasted very quickly.
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Re: Compressed logs for heating ...




by Ahmed » 04/12/16, 22:22

I have a project (but it is not immediate!) To make a paper log press that would not have the disadvantages of those that we see everywhere: they are capable of producing only ridiculous tedious small cubes or cylinders to make, handle and store. By being inspired by existing realizations and by modifying them a little, I think it is possible to more easily make a log worthy of the name and then gain in successive handling ...

The general interest of this transformation is to destroy the papers compromising personal and also to avoid recycling which is not very virtuous ... Even if the combustion of this kind of fuel is quite poor, it can be used in an ordinary stove and I am curious to see what it gives ...
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Re: Compressed logs for heating ...




by dede2002 » 05/12/16, 09:51

I remember paper presses for making combustible bricks a long time ago (80s).

I also remember that it was banned in Switzerland because of the dioxin produced during combustion.
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Re: Compressed logs for heating ...




by chatelot16 » 05/12/16, 13:15

the composition of the paper is very variable: there are only good quality papers which contain a lot of cellulose ... the advertising paper largely exceeds 50% of mineral matter: so it makes a volume of huge ash which suffocates combustion in an ordinary wood fireplace

at home the paper burns well thanks to a powerful air injection like blacksmith fire ... no need to get tired of making bricks: I stupidly balance the paper in the fire mixed with crushed wood

when I burn only crushed wood I remove the ash once a day, when I burn a lot of paper you have to let the fire go out several times a day to remove the ash
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Re: Compressed logs for heating ...




by Grelinette » 05/12/16, 16:23

Ahmed wrote:I have a project (but it is not immediate!) To make a paper log press that would not have the disadvantages of those that we see everywhere: [...]


Hello Ahmed, and the other econologists!

I bounce on your idea of ​​log press by taking up my first comment of this same thread where I imagined a manual press with a large lever arm actuating a piston to compress a cylinder filled with wood shavings.

You then replied that the compression pressures to make these logs were such that the efficiency of a simple manual lever was highly hypothetical.

But I am stubborn! ... : Mrgreen:

What do you think of this idea of ​​a wood chip log press: a small (very) solid case, for example the size of a shoe box, 2/3 of which constitutes a compartment that one would fill with wood chips. In the other, a metal accessory whose expansion with heat would increase the volume (a thermal cylinder), producing a strong pressure on the compartment filled with shavings; between the 2 a mobile separation.

This case, once filled would be placed on a hot spot, for example on a wood stove, which would also have the advantage of drying the chips well during compression, and the expansion of the cylinder would do the rest of the compression work! ...

It remains to find the material for the solid case (metal, reinforced refractory cement, ...), then that for the compression cylinder which must have good expansion properties. Ultimately, we can even add shims between the cylinder and the chips to make several successive compressions.

Is it playable? ...

Thermal log press for wood chips:
Log press in shavings.jpg
Log press in shavings.jpg (43.12 KiB) Viewed 3331 times
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Re: Compressed logs for heating ...




by Ahmed » 05/12/16, 21:51

I do not know of any material that expands in order to perform this function satisfactorily. The speed of action during the shaping of a compressed log is functionally important; this is what allows the lignin to melt. Here, with a heat source, one could believe that the problem is solved in this way: I do not think so, because the wood chips are very insulating; therefore, compression, assuming that it is sufficient, would not be able to bind the wood particles together.
From a simple practical point of view, assuming the possibility of what you describe, the laborious side of the process would be enough to make it dissuasive ... Sorry ...

@ Chatelot:
the advertising paper largely exceeds 50% of mineral matter: so that makes a huge volume of ash which smothers combustion in an ordinary wood fireplace

Of course, I automatically exclude this kind of material which is actually very poor as a fuel. Besides, I don't get a lot of this type of paper).

@ Dédé2002: I also know that it can result from a dioxin emission from an ordinary log fire (but where does the chlorine come from?), but I did not know that the paper was also concerned (it is bleached (sometimes?) chlorine, but are there any residues when it is incinerated?).
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Re: Compressed logs for heating ...




by chatelot16 » 05/12/16, 22:16

I confirm Hamed's opinion in another way

there is no good solution to make a thermal press with an expansion ... it would require a huge cylinder, it would be slow and it would consume too much energy to change the temperature of the cylinder

your idea of ​​heat-driven press is an idea of ​​a heat engine, and it's been a long time since all kinds of heat engines have been invented and everyone now understands that to have a good performance the cylinder must make cycles fast enough

so if you want a heat engine choose a heat engine that already exists and make it operate a mechanical or hydraulic press already existing

2nd problem, compressing sawdust or shavings does not aglomerate them: it is also necessary to heat them to 200 ° to melt a little lignin .... wood is a poor conductor of heat and heating from outside the cylinder is not enough ... the industrial solution is to heat the sawdust by the mechanical energy which grinds this sawdust to compress it: the poor mechanical performance of the compression system becomes an advantage by heating it

continuation of the question, why make compressed wood? it is understandable to sell in a supermarket: reduce clutter, standardize quality .... but to burn at home we can be content with simpler, real log or simply crushed wood
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Re: Compressed logs for heating ...




by Grelinette » 06/12/16, 22:28

chatelot16 wrote:why make compressed wood? it is understandable to sell in a supermarket: reduce clutter, standardize quality .... but to burn at home we can be content with simpler, real log or simply crushed wood

Quite simply because the available volumes of crushed wood are large and will be increasingly so in wooded areas for the following reasons:
- ban on burning branches from clearing and pruning of trees because of fine particles
- obligation to clear brush every year in wooded areas (especially with us in PACA, after the devastating fires of last year. Checks are announced).
- many recycling centers are not yet sized or organized to receive the very large volumes of wood from the previous points
- most brushcutting companies are equipped with shredders but the volumes of shredded materials are such that it is not easy to get rid of them. (with us, recycling centers only accept 1 deposit of 1,5 m3 maximum per day!).

2 years ago I proposed to a company that had come to clear the bush in my neighborhood to deposit its shavings on a piece of land: for several weeks trucks came to dump the shred, in the end the volume was enormous, maybe 50 m3 and even more. The volume quickly decreased over time and the boars were happy to spread everything out, but I still have a lot of heaps of chips, even a lot. I'm still looking for a use for these piles of chips!
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Re: Compressed logs for heating ...




by Ahmed » 06/12/16, 22:57

I understand your concern better, but apart from using these shredded products in a plate boiler, to my knowledge there is no realistic solution on a small scale to go from shredded to densified logs ...
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Re: Compressed logs for heating ...




by chatelot16 » 06/12/16, 23:09

these chips can be burnt directly without transformation! that's how I've been warming myself for ten years

the problem is to store them ... in a pile in the rain it rots too quickly

for a few years I bought wafers in a sawmill, I only stored at home what was necessary for half the winter, then I equipped myself with a shredder and a tractor to grind the waste of wood available around my house and the problem arose for storage: I made a shed of 60 m2 to shelter a large pile ... it is the volume of storage that limits me .. there is a lot of wood which continues to be lost but I cannot crush it due to the lack of space available to store it

this kind of wood waste does not make good pellets: too much impurity that makes too much ash: the future of wood heating is the boiler with sufficiently rustic plate to accept fuel from any type of fuel quality: pellet boilers requiring high quality fuel are a trap to trap consumers in dependence on industrial fuel

so my main goal is to make heating material using any ground wood in bulk

storage in heaps under a shed allows to keep all green waste even the most humid provided that it is mixed with a sufficient amount of dry ground wood
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