5. Use and Types of Pellets
4.1 Use of Pellets
The pellets can be used in different areas, such as animal feeding, heating of the buildings, and the
production of the manure. The major advantage of the pellets compared with other material, it can be easily
handled, transported and stored for longer life.
4.2 Fundamental to the starting pellet
Pellets can be produced from various organic materials. Thus, the starting material bonds to be fixed into
durable pellets, and the moisture contents need to be controlled within 12% und 15%. If the starting material
is too dry, it often occurs as powder or need to be re-emerged from the pellet chute. If the starting material is
too damp, the pellets will be of inferior quality. The residual moisture of the starting material can be measured
or determined by a commercial moisture meter. The length of raw material should be controlled within 5mm,
otherwise the pellet mill machine will be clogged or the performance will be slowing down. The raw material
with longer length (e.g. wood shaving) need to be grinded into small size by a hammer mill.
4.3 Pellet-Types
Here are the main types of pellets and the composition of starting material which can be used for pellet.
Saw Dust Pellets
Starting material: Saw dust
Use: Pellet Heating Mixture
a. Pine or spruce percentage at least 50%: It can be directly pressed into pellets.
b. Portion of pine or spruce less than 50%: For stable pellet it needs to add 0.2-2% corn or potato
starch. (Total moisture content 12-15%)
Straw-Pellets, Hay-Pellets, Miscanthus-Pellets
Starting material: Straw, Hay, Miscanthus (chopped)
Use: Pellet-Heating, Animal Bedding, Feed
Mixture: directly (Moisture 12-15%)
Feed-Pellets
Starting material: Straw, Hay, other feed (chopping)
Use: Animal Bedding, Feed
Mixture: directly (Total Moisture Content 12-15%)
