Using Hydraulics To Power The Pellet Mill?

Over the years we have used pellet mills with gears and belts for power transmission, the industry is divided over which is best. However as usual with these things there are no simple answers, and the best way to send power from the motor to the pellet depends on the individual application. Over the years we have used pellet mills powered by both gears and belts. We even had a hydraulic power system setup on our prototype of our mobile pellet machine. The reason we went for hydraulics was sending power from a diesel engine to multiple pieces of equipment was practically impossible. However hydraulics did give the machine some key benefits no other pellet mill had. If you want to control pellet quality one of the best ways to do it without changing the die is to control the speed of the die. Some materials require more time under compression in the die than others, therefore if the die is going too fast then making a quality pellet is very difficult. However with the hydraulic system we could control the speed infinitely. Now this can also be done with an electric motor, however with an electric motor when you lower the speed you loose torque. Torque is really the main measurement of power you want to pay attention to. So with an electric motor if you lower the speed of the die you can possibly stall the motor. However with an hydraulic motor you can have full torque from 1 rpm! This is an incredibly useful feature to have as you can then completely control pellet quality by control die speed. However when it comes down to hydraulics are just simply too expensive to use as a power system. Its more cost effective to use different dies with different compression ratios than use an hydraulic power system. However the experience from using such a variable power system does clearly show how important controlling the retention time of material in the pellet mill die effects pellet quality. However most pellet mills, particularly those from China are sold with one die that will 'do it all!' It will not and only after purchase will the consumer realise this and then regret their purchase.

 The Wood Pellet Mill Production Guide © PelHeat Ltd - Using Hydraulics To Power The Pellet Mill?