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Grass pellets are typically field grasses such as Reed Canary Grass or
the infamous switch grass compressed to about ¼ inches very similar to feed for animals. The only differences
are in the strength of the pellets and that they are used in specifically designed pellet stoves and light industrial
furnaces. These modern stoves are innovative in several ways. First of all they reduce handling in that they are
typically have a "hopper" and conveyor system that allows a stove or furnace to combust for a long period
of time without hand loading. These stoves are also highly efficient at 80 - 90%.
What we have learned about making grass pellets is that in the large
scale utilization of biomass has been the nature of the material itself. Biomass of this type tends to have a bulk
density of less than 10 lbs. per cubic foot. For most large scale applications, the transport of this material
from the place of harvest to the processing facility is a costly component, which becomes the limiting factor for
how much biomass can be utilized in an area before it becomes cost prohibitive to transport it to the facility.
The ability to minimize transportation costs by densifying material before long transport is paramount in the development
of viable pathways for farmers to deliver pellet fuel to local markets at a competitive price.
LH-LI RC&D has received a matrix of funding to build a mobile (portable)
pelletizing machine that will produce grass pellets.
FUNDING SOURCE
USDA, Natural Resources Conservation Service Conservation Innovation
Grant (CIG)$75,000
USDA Rural Development Rural Business Enterprise Grant (RBEG) $99,900
New York State Energy Research and Development Authority
(NYSERDA)$25,000
TOTAL $199,900
Through support from the NRCS staff, local Soil and Water Conservation
Districts and the Cooperative Extension Services in the Hudson Valley, the LH-LI RC&D has developed a collaborative
team to work with farmers, retail pellet stove manufacturers and distributors to develop a marketing production
plans. These business owners are committed to grow, process and sell grass pellets to combust in a variety of new
generation pellet stoves and furnaces.
Pelleting is not a new technology, but making it mobile is. It is necessary
to reduce the bulk density of grasses before long transport, reducing fossil fuel inputs and thus the cost of production.
To accomplish this task, the LH-LI RC&D has partnered with the State University of New York at Cobleskill through
their Agricultural Engineering Department to design and fabricate the mobile pelletizer. Over the past semester
the students of Dr. Robert Rynk's Agricultural Engineering Class have evaluated each component of the processing
equipment and made recommendations to us with regard to the purchase of the key components.
The Class was encouraged to work with the following:
Objective: Develop recommendations for the design and fabrication of
a system of components to pelletize grass crops on a mobile platform
Problem: Need to assemble existing off the shelf equipment into a system
capable of
pelletizing grass within the economic, physical and time criteria
Their Approach was the following:
Identify component features
- Grass crops
- Size reduction
- Pelletizing
- Power source(s)
- Mobility
- System (line) balance
Grass energy is being examined across the Country and internationally.
This project is the only of its kind in New York and getting a lot of attention nationally. As we share our concept
with others throughout the Nation it is becoming evident that grass pellets and cubes can become a marketable,
companion product alongside processed wood.
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Ag Engineering Class
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Ag Engineering sign at
SUNY Cobleskill
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Students explain their design principles to Council
Member Ed Hoxsie and NYSERDA representative Ray Albrecht
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