What Are The Most Common Issues Making Pellets?

The skills and knowledge required for making pellets should never be underestimated. Many pellet mill retailers try and promote the process as simple to sell more equipment. However the ironic thing is most of the small pellet mills sold by retailers are poor quality mass produced animal feed pellet mills. Therefore to even have a chance of making a wood pellet with these machines requires more knowledge than it does to operate our Mini Pellet Mill. So what are the most common issues we receive questions about? Well generally people manage to use the hammer mill correctly and get the material down to the required size, however moisture control is a common issue. We often receive emails where people state they find the material just spins round in the pellet mill and dust just falls through the die. This is usually followed by comments that when they added water the pellet mill started to make pellets and then the die blocked. Moisture is required in the process to generate heat, which in tern generated pressure. If the material is dry pretty much nothing will happen. However if you then go and add too much moisture you will generate a pressure which will cause the die to block. This is where it is so important to be able to add moisture in a slow and controlled manor to achieve the pressure required but not exceed it. This can only be done with an automated feed and water addition systems as seen on the PelHeat Mini Pellet Mill. The water tank has a drip feed valve which you can slowly adjust to add more water. First you start by feeding dry material into the pellet mill. You then slowly open the water valve, you wait for a minute to see the results and then either increase or reduce flow. Its almost important to make changes slowly and monitor the results. However this issue is exaggerated with other small pellet machines as the dies are drilled so poorly with rough holes even going slightly over the required pressure will block the die. You need a good die to make good pellets, its one of the first areas of the pellet mill to focus on.

 The Wood Pellet Mill Production Guide © PelHeat Ltd - What Are The Most Common Issues Making Pellets?