One of modern species solid fuels are pellets, fuel granules, which are actively used in special pellet boilers for heating residential buildings, commercial and industrial facilities.

What are pellets?

is a granular type of solid fuel cylindrical, from compressed waste from agricultural production and the woodworking industry. Main materials for manufacturing fuel pellets are:

• sawdust, wood chips, bark, slabs of coniferous and deciduous trees ( best option) wood species;
• peat;
• sunflower husks (the most common solution), rapeseed (the best option), straw of various grain crops, corn, husks, cake and much more;
• charcoal;
• household waste.

The base binder is a substance of plant origin - lignin, a natural polymer contained in almost any plant, capable of being plasticized during granulation under the influence of a sufficiently high operating temperature.

Pellet classification

Main normative document, predetermining the production of pellets, is the standard European Union EN 14961-2, adopted in January 2011, on its basis the international quality certificate EN Plus is issued. There are three classes of granular fuel:

• ENPlus-A1 – best premium quality, diameter up to 8.00 mm, ash content up to 0.70%, another name is “white granules”;
• ENPlus-A2 – with ash content up to 1.50%, also called industrial granules, can consist of mixed wood species;
• EN-B – standard quality, with ash content up to 3.00%, an alternative name for agropellets.

In terms of cost, the most expensive pellets are ENPlus-A1 class, the cheapest are EN-B class, it is better not to take substandard fuel.

Basic parameters of pellets

Pellets for heating are granules of white or shades Brown, length from 10.00 to 30.00 mm, diameter 6.00 and 8.00 mm, fuel with a diameter of 10.00 mm is less common, the maximum diameter of granules is 25.00 mm. The darkening of pellets is associated with the presence in the structure of the material of various non-combustible residues (dust, earth, and a number of others).

The main parameters of pellets are:

• ash content (the lower, the better and the less ash, so the boiler will have to be cleaned much less often);
• humidity;
• calorific value (ENPlus-A1 – 18.0 MJ/kg, ENPlus-A2 – 18.0 MJ/kg, EN-B – 15.0 MJ/kg).
• total length;
• degree of density;
• diameter;
• bulk mass;
• abrasion class.

Pellet manufacturing technology

The production of pellets consists of pressing waste that has been previously dried to a certain moisture content and crushed to a given fraction under a pressure of about 300 atmospheres. At the same time, the use of glue and other additives is prohibited (sometimes unscrupulous businessmen add sand and other non-combustible impurities to them to increase the weight of the granules, and synthetic polymers to ensure adhesive properties).

Main stages of pellet production:

• Grinding. The raw material enters the crusher and is crushed to a given fraction;
• Drying. The resulting raw material is dried to the moisture percentage specified by the technology (about 10% plus or minus 2%);
• Pressing. The dried raw material enters a press granulator, in which it is pressed into granules of a given length and diameter. As a result of compression, friction, and adiabatic processes, the temperature can reach 100°C Celsius, resulting in the formation of thermal energy, softens lignin and particles stick together into granules. This process is called pelletization;
• Cooling. To ensure the strength of the fuel granules, the pellets are cooled after pressing;
• Packing and sending to the consumer.

In some cases, water treatment and additional grinding are performed before pressing; everything directly depends on the type and quality of the raw materials from which the granules are made.

Pressing is carried out in molds, ring-type dies using rotary rollers (rollers), which press the raw material into cone-shaped dies located on the matrix. On the other hand, the resulting granules are cut with special knives.

After cooling, the pellets are sieved and small particles are sent for recycling. Closed cycle technology is virtually waste-free; only non-combustible impurities are removed.

In order to make one ton of pellets, three to five cubes of wood waste are needed. The raw material is compacted approximately three times. To prepare one ton of pellets you need from 30.00 to 50.00 kW per hour.

Necessary machines for the production of pellets

Equipment for the production of sawdust pellets includes:

• crushers (chopping machines) for grinding the raw materials used to a given fraction;
• dryers to ensure the required percentage of humidity of the initial, base raw materials;
• hammer mills (in some cases they are replaced by flaring machines, disintegrators, everything depends directly on the characteristics of the feedstock), make it possible to obtain raw materials with a fraction of up to 4.00 mm;
• screw mixers (used when using overdried raw materials with a moisture content of less than 8.00%, by dosed supply of steam or water);
• presses (differ in the type of matrix used, which can be flat or round).

Dryers, in turn, are divided into:

• principle of operation (can be drum or belt (cost more, but are more productive and safer to use));
• drying technologies (using flue gases, water vapor or hot air);
• the fuel used (gas, wood waste, coal, etc.).

Special equipment is used for burning pellets -pellet boiler.
Optimal solution in terms of price/quality/performance characteristics for Russian market This heating devices Polish manufacturer Metal-Fach, including line boilersSD DUO, SD DUO BIO, SMART, SMART EKO, S.E.G.SEG BIO.

They have a steel heat exchanger (P265GH steel with a thickness of 4.00 to 6.00 mm is used for production), an efficiency of over 90%, an innovative, modern type controllerFL 310LGRTC, with continuous logic and PID control, as well as an upper combustion chamber and a retort type burner.

Also worthy offers are:

• domestic boilers created in Krasnoyarsk,ZOTA series Pellet;
• joint development of a Russian-Polish companyVulkan, rulers ECO;
• pellet boilers legendary Italian companyFACI Caldaie, rulers FACI SSL/SSP.

You can purchase pellet boilers in a wide range, get the necessary advice, order installation, warranty and post-warranty service in Krasnoyarsk from the Kras-Kotel company.

Pellet sales form

Pellets are sold:

• in bulk;

In big bags (large packages weighing up to several tons, classic packaging from 500.00 to 1200.00 kg);

small packaging, several tens of kilograms (standard containers from 10.00 to 20.00 kg).

The cheapest fuel pellets are those sold in bulk, the most expensive are pellets in small packaging.

How to distinguish high, premium quality pellets from substandard fuel?

When purchasing pellets, you need to pay attention to:

• the surface of the material must be smooth, shiny, without signs of deformation (swelling and microcracks);
• diameter (this parameter is established by the standards, the minimum value is 4.00 mm, the maximum is 10 mm, also standard are fuel pellets that have a diameter of 6.00 and 8.00 mm, please note that a pellet boiler operates on pellets of a certain fraction);
• length (this parameter should be about 20.00 - 30.00 mm, this optimal value, although the equipment can also operate on pellets longer than 50.00 mm);
• smell (the granules should have a slightly sweet smell of freshly prepared glue, this a clear sign excellent quality);
• color (it is important to remember that the highest quality pellets are white or slightly cream-colored, agropellets are predominantly dark, and wood pellets dark color indicates that bark, other impurities or mixed wood species have been added);
• dust (there should be a minimum amount of dust on pellets, so it is better to buy fuel in sealed packaging);
• impurities (the presence of non-combustible impurities in the granules themselves can only be checked by burning them and determining the residue in the form of solid particles).

Advantages and disadvantages of solid fuel in the form of fuel pellets

The main advantages of pellets:

• environmental cleanliness (when burning this type of solid fuel, carbon dioxide is released in volumes equal to the volumes formed during the natural decomposition of various wood wastes);
• Fire safety(pellets are less susceptible to self-ignition than other types of solid fuel);
• optimal humidity(8-10% versus 30-50% for logs) and density (one and a half times higher than that of firewood);
• remarkable calorific value, one ton of fuel pellets is enough to produce 3500 kW/h of thermal energy;
• constant and very high bulk density, which facilitates logistics, loading and transportation of pellets;
• the uniformity of the structure in shape and size makes it possible to automate all processes of loading and loading and combustion of fuel pellets in boilers.

Cons of pellets:

• high cost of solid fuel modern stage;
• to burn pellets you need a special pellet boiler equipped with automation, which also costs more;
• low volume of supply on the market, the situation will improve over time, but pellets must be purchased in reserve and provided warehousing without allowing excess moisture to enter.

Pellet cost

Let's take the initial data:

• the average cost of industrial pellets in the Krasnoyarsk Territory as of December 2015 is 3,500 rubles per ton (3.50 per kilogram);
• the price of birch firewood is 1,300 rubles per cubic meter, in terms of tons (a cubic meter of dry birch firewood equals 650 kg of weight) is 1,846 rubles per ton (1.85 rubles per kilogram);
• the calorific value of birch firewood is 10 MJ/kg;
• The calorific value of wood industrial pellets is 18 MJ/kg.

In order to obtain 100 MJ of thermal energy, you need 10 kg of firewood (100/10), that is, 18.50 rubles, or 5.5 kg of pellets (100/18), that is, 19.44 rubles. The difference in cost is 1 ruble per 100 MJ. Moreover, it is necessary to note the undoubted advantages of pellets with an ash content of 1.5% over firewood with an ash content of 10%, the difference is obvious.

It should be taken into account that the pellet market is growing dynamically, and with an increase in supply, the price will undoubtedly decrease. By the way, pellets can be made independently from agricultural or wood waste. Read below how.

We make pellets with our own hands

You can make pellets with your own hands. To do this we need to assemble a granulator. It is necessary to take wood or agricultural waste, grind it to a particle fraction of 30.00-50.00 mm, dry it to a moisture content of 15.00%, grind it to particles with a fraction of 2.00 mm and place it in a granulator. In the case when you use agricultural waste, such as sunflower husks, rapeseed or sawdust, as the initial, basic raw material, you do not need to crush anything. But if branches, bark, or various substandard lumber are used, it is necessary to crush, although the use of a granulator allows you to omit this operation.

The dryer is made from an ordinary metal barrel.
The granulator is best used with flat matrix(cylindrical matrix in the form of a perforated drum more difficult decision) and a perforated disk with cone-shaped outlet holes with a diameter of 8.00-10.00 mm, this is the optimal solution.

You need to buy a matrix and rollers (the production of spare parts is carried out by manufacturers of equipment for the production of animal feed). The matrix is ​​also made independently, from steel with a thickness of at least 20.00 mm, and gears are used as rollers. You will also need a gearbox and an electric motor with a power equal to or greater than 15.00 kW. It is necessary to ensure rotation in the range of 60-120 revolutions per minute. The shaft can be installed both horizontally and vertically; the main thing is to make tanks for loading the raw materials and subsequent unloading of pellets.

Stages of making pellets:

• we take or make a matrix, make a hole in the center for the gearbox and always a groove intended for landing;
• gears (rollers can be used, the width of which must match the width work surface matrix used), are put on the shaft strictly perpendicular to the shaft axis of the installed gearbox using a conventional coupling;
• the cylindrical body is welded from sheet steel or steel pipe, taking into account the dimensions of the matrix, which should rotate easily and freely, by providing holes for unloading pellets and a tray also made of sheet steel or steel pipe, the bottom and top of the structure can be made detachable to facilitate maintenance;
• the output shaft of the selected gearbox is strengthened in the lower part of the machine using a coupling and always bearings;
• the matrix, as well as the rollers, are installed in a cylindrical body;
• the resulting structure is mounted on a frame made of a channel or an ordinary angle and is rigidly fastened; all that remains is to install the engine and connect the output shaft to the installed gearbox.

The future belongs to pellets and pellet boilers. Specialists of the Kras-Kotel company will help you make right choice pellet boiler, taking into account all your wishes and the characteristics of your home.

Pellets appeared on our market relatively recently. They came to us from America and European countries, where they have been used for a long time. However, this type of fuel is becoming increasingly popular in our country. Using pellets, you can organize heating in a private home as efficiently as possible.

To understand exactly what the benefits of pellets are, you need to understand what exactly they are. High-quality pellets consist of pure wood, they do not contain chemical additives or other impurities. The wood used to create them is granulated after pre-treatment. The starting material is first crushed to obtain a homogeneous mass consisting of elements of a certain fraction. Then the prepared wood is dried to ten percent moisture content and crushed again. Ready heating material obtained after packaging the formed granules.

The color of the pellets can be different, since much depends on the quality of pre-cleaning. Light pellets are more preferable because the wood has been thoroughly cleaned before pressing and forming pellets. If the fuel is dark in color, there are particles of bark left in it. In a private house, the boiler will have to be cleaned frequently, as these particles will create carbon deposits. Dark pellets are usually used in industrial boilers. Their diameter, as a rule, is significantly larger. They are supplied in large quantities of two to three tons and are used to generate heat for settlements and industrial facilities.

There are several options for using this type of fuel. Initially, the production of pellets is carried out for burning them in pellet boilers and special fireplaces. This application is the most effective, because pellets were created precisely as a heating material. When burning them, the boiler heats up very quickly if additional oxygen is supplied. Compared to other types of fuel, pellets are considered one of the most economical options. In addition, they provide a stable heat exchange process. Many convenient features are usually found in modern pellet boilers. During operation, granules can be supplied automatically. They can have a built-in temperature controller, oxygen supply controllers and much more. When burning pellets, the efficiency is ninety percent or more.

In ordinary fireplaces and boilers, it is also possible to use heating pellets, but you will need to constantly add fuel manually. You will also need to carefully monitor the consumption of pellets, control the oxygen supply and heating temperature. When using pellets in equipment not intended for them, you must not forget that this type of fuel burns much faster than, for example, firewood, and therefore the fireplace or boiler will heat up faster. The advantages of heating with pellets include the absence of the need for large quantities storage space. They can be carefully placed in bags or containers in front of the heating equipment. You can even store pellets in residential premises, since they do not contain chemical components or harmful impurities. This is very environmentally friendly fuel, the safety of which is comparable to natural wood.

You can also take pellets on a hike if there is no easy access to firewood. Starting a fire in camping conditions using pellets is quite simple. It's easy to move on and keep the fire burning. Pellets today are often used for other purposes than their intended purpose. For example, they fill toilets for animals. The harmlessness and safety of wood makes it possible not to worry about the health of your pets. This heating material is very versatile. You can also find it in automotive services, where pellets are used as an effective absorbent.

What raw materials are used

In our country, coniferous species are most often used to make pellets, but higher quality fuel is obtained from the wood of deciduous plants. The prevalence of coniferous species is explained by the fact that the equipment required for their processing is less expensive and complex. In addition, they are pressed hardwoods quite bad, so you have to spend money and time to select pressing, moistening and processing modes for them. More powerful equipment is also required. At the same time, in the domestic market the cost of pellets depends very little on the material.

When burning birch pellets, more heat is released than when burning coniferous pellets, however, the difference is small. But at the same time, birch wood does not contain resins that settle in the chimney. When using pine pellets, the chimney must be cleaned periodically.

Pellets are a worthy competitor to diesel fuel, coal and firewood. These are small cylindrical pellets that are used for combustion in specialized heating boilers. This type of fuel has been used successfully in Europe for a long time. This is facilitated by environmental friendliness (these are compressed waste from woodworking and crop production) and the ability to automate the heating process: the granules are free-flowing, which makes it possible to store them in tanks and automatically feed them into the boiler as needed. The diameter of pellets used for domestic boilers is 6–8 mm; in industrial boilers larger pellets with a diameter of up to 10 mm are burned. The length can generally be from 5 to 70 mm.

How wood pellets are made from wood

For the production of pellets, the most inexpensive wood is taken, which cannot be used for any other purpose. These are scraps, wood chips, sawdust. This waste is sorted, cleaned of impurities, sand is sifted out, etc. Next, a powerful magnet used on the sorting belt attracts iron (such as nails). After removing foreign objects, the wood waste is sent to a hammer crusher, where it is crushed to 4 mm fragments. This stage is called pre-grinding. It is necessary for uniform drying of the raw materials at the next stage.

The resulting sawdust is dried in a special hopper to the required humidity (8–12%). After which they are sent for re-grinding. The result is small fragments of wood, which, after being brought to the ideal humidity (10%), are sent to a granulator press. Here, under pressure (in some presses high temperature) sawdust is turned into pellets. To do this, the composition is passed through a matrix in which round holes. The design of the granulator press resembles a regular meat grinder: the dough is pressed through the holes, and granules are obtained. They are cooled in the cooling column. This is how the final product is obtained - fuel pellets.

Types and raw materials used

If we classify pellets by grade, then there are three types:

What are they made from?

Any raw material containing lignin is suitable for making pellets. The most common raw material in Russia is wood, and coniferous species are used more often, despite the fact that deciduous species produce higher quality fuel. The popularity of coniferous species is explained by the fact that the processing of hardwood requires more complex and expensive equipment: almost all hardwoods do not press very well, therefore more powerful equipment is required; it is often necessary to experimentally select the processing/moistening/pressing mode, which takes time and money . Moreover, the cost of pellets when sold on the domestic market depends only slightly on the material.

What is the difference birch pellets from conifers? Birch pellets have a slightly higher heat release during combustion than coniferous pellets, but the difference is small. But when burning birch, there are no resins, which, with prolonged use of pine, settle in the chimney, which requires cleaning it.

Agropellets more often made from straw. Although the heat transfer of such pellets is less than that of wood pellets, they are much cheaper. Among agropellets, granules made from rapeseed straw have greater heat transfer. Husk pellets(husks) of sunflower are excellent competitors to granules from. They have many advantages: granules made from husks are cheaper, their ash content is many times lower, and they emit more heat and the husk ash is environmentally friendly, which is excellent fertilizer for agricultural crops.

Peat granules is a waste-free, economic and environmental type of fuel. But they are used mainly in industry due to their high ash content. The use of peat granules to enhance the effect of mineral fertilizers is also widespread.

Pellets from waste paper manufactured using a different technology. Instead of drying, they are moistened and then placed in a pellet press. Due to the nature of the raw material, paper granulation requires more costs.

Features of heating with pellets

In order to use pellets as fuel more efficiently, you need to purchase a special boiler. operate in an automated mode: fuel pellets are stored in special containers - from which they are fed into the boiler using an auger.

If you want to save money and buy gray rather than white pellets, we advise you not to buy a large batch of fuel at once: not all burners can handle them. First, buy a bag and test it. If the boiler is working normally, you can purchase a larger batch. Do the same with agropellets: first test the operation of the boiler with a small amount. But besides the ash content, there may be other problems: these granules do not tolerate transportation well, so already at this stage you will end up with a lot of waste. So it turns out that heating with this fuel, even if the boiler can handle it, is advisable if the production is somewhere nearby.

Ideal pellets for boilers are white. Their composition is usually homogeneous, and the ash content is low. Due to the characteristics of the raw material, the surface of such granules is dense, they crack and crumble less, and withstand transportation better.

What are pellet boilers, their characteristics and features

The article was prepared with the participation of DOZATECH specialists

Despite the fact that our country is one of the largest exporters of blue fuel, there is no need to talk about widespread gasification. For many consumers both in Moscow and Siberia, the most cheap way heating is unattainable now, and it is not a fact that it will be available in the future. Therefore, we have to look for alternative heating sources; fortunately, the choice in this area is impressive. And in last years range heating equipment was replenished with an interesting unit - a pellet boiler. Let us dwell in more detail on this type of equipment, for which we will consider the following aspects:

• What is a pellet heating boiler and what fuel does it use?
• Unit design.
• Advantages and disadvantages of a pellet boiler.
• What to look for when choosing a unit.

What is a pellet boiler

In essence, this is a type of solid fuel boiler, but designed for a specific type of fuel (pellets) and with the possibility of full or partial automation of the work process.

It is the ability to function autonomously with minimal intervention from the owners that makes pellet boilers radically different from conventional solid fuel boilers.

They have a higher efficiency (efficiency factor) - both due to the characteristics of the pellets and due to the design features. Pellet boilers can be either highly specialized - intended only for pellets, or combined (universal) - capable of running on wood or coal, some models operate on almost any biomass; husks, wood waste and the like can be used as fuel.

Alexander DimitrevRepresentative of DOZATECH, a manufacturer of pellet boilers

At specific design The boiler in it can burn any biomass of very low calorie content - wood chips, bark, wood waste, agricultural waste, sunflower husks and more.

Pellets, or wood pellets- environmentally neutral fuel, obtained mainly from waste from the wood processing industry (chips, shavings, bark), but they can also be from agricultural waste. Pellets appeared in the thirties of the last century, when the first installation for pressing waste from local sawmills into pellets was invented and tested in the state of Idaho. Under strong pressure, the raw material mass is heated, which provokes the formation of lignin, which binds the smallest particles into dense, smooth granules. This allows you to stop using chemical substances– pellets are completely natural, environmentally safe fuel. The diameter of the granules varies between 6-8 mm, length – up to 50 mm. In European countries, pellets are classified as standardized fuels and are produced according to the DIN plus standard.

In our country, their production is not so developed and supervised; the quality of the granules, on which both the efficiency of the boiler and its performance will depend, is determined visually - white ones are better than gray ones. Unlike wood, pellets have low humidity and increased density, which is why when burning, more heat is released and a minimal amount of carbon dioxide is released. If we translate this property into numbers, for comparison, we get the following ratio: when burning a ton of pellets, the same amount of heat will be released as when burning 1.6 tons of firewood. The ash content will be only 0.5% of the burned volume, and the emitted flue gases will be colorless.

The approximate calorific value of pellets is 5 kW/hour per kilogram, but how close the actual efficiency will be to the theoretical data depends on the quality of the pellets themselves and on the performance of the boiler in which they will be burned.

Unit design

The pellet boiler itself consists of three main components:

• Furnace - equipped with a special burner (retort or torch) and two doors (control, cleaning).
• Convective zone - a heat exchanger is located in it: it can be vertical, horizontal or combined, tubular or plate type. In the convective zone, the coolant in the heat exchanger is heated by gases released during the combustion of pellets. Most units are designed only for heating and have one circuit, but some models have two circuits: heating and water heating.
• Ash pan - it receives combustion waste (insignificant during normal afterburning), which is periodically removed through the cleaning door.

However, the listed nodes are, although the main part, but only a part for which the APT prefix is ​​required ( automatic feeding fuel). This attachment includes the following components:

• A hopper is a container for pellets of a certain volume, from which the pellets enter the combustion chamber; it can be built-in or external.
• Auger - portions feed granules to the burner as needed, driven by a gearbox.
• A fan is necessary to maintain the combustion process, since the boiler design does not provide for natural draft.

Since a pellet boiler is automated system, its device also includes a control unit with a display, which displays information about the current state, and through which the main operating parameters are set. The controller regulates the ignition of the burner, the supply of granules and air, and the stop when reaching desired temperature, maintaining the heating mode selected by the owner.

Depending on the capacity of the bunker and the selected mode, one filling can be enough for several days, a week or even more.

To make the heating process fully automatic, the boiler can be connected directly to the storage - a pneumatic pipe will supply granules to the bunker as it is emptied.

Advantages and disadvantages of a pellet boiler

One of the main advantages of pellet boilers is their efficiency; in this indicator they are second only to gas main heating. This is due to the high efficiency of the equipment, the high calorific value of pellets, and their affordable cost. The second aspect that attracts consumers is process automation. Unlike other solid fuel boilers, pellet boilers do not require constant monitoring and regular manual fuel supply. For units operating on diesel fuel, it also wins in terms of environmental friendliness - no odors or black smoke.

The main disadvantage of these units is their substantial price - these are the most expensive solid fuel units, the cost of an automated station made in Europe is measured in hundreds of thousands, domestic ones are slightly cheaper. Not every private owner can afford such infusions into heating system your home. However, with equipment longevity now approaching two decades, it is a wise investment in the long term.

In addition to the high cost, the disadvantages include energy dependence - the automation requires electricity, and if a shutdown of several hours (on average up to 10) is acceptable and will not disrupt the settings, then a longer shutdown will stop the operation of the boiler. The station must be equipped with an independent energy source, which will further increase the cost of the system.

What to look for when choosing a unit

Despite the relative “youth” of this type of solid propellant, the market big choice foreign boilers and domestic production. To choose the optimal unit for your conditions, you should pay attention to several important parameters.

Power – each manufacturer has a fairly wide the lineup, including both domestic and industrial units. As with any heating equipment, power is measured in kilowatts (kW), the power of household models starts from 15 kW. Since heating a room with average heat loss requires about 1 kW per 10 m², such a boiler is capable of heating a house of 150 m². However, it is worth considering that the boiler is needed with a small margin.

Traditional firewood, fuel briquettes, coal - all this has its advantages and disadvantages. The choice is dictated by the availability and individual performance properties of each type of fuel, as well as technical characteristics equipment.

In this article we will talk about alternative source thermal energy - pellets for space heating.

Comparative characteristics

Below are the main characteristics of known types of fuel.

1. Firewood. The most common and efficient type of fuel. For high-quality heating of premises, wood should have no more than 25% humidity. If this indicator is higher, the firewood may not ignite or will smoke heavily. Their main and, perhaps, only drawback is the need to constantly monitor the amount of fuel in the burner. By the way, unlike pellets, the supply of which is carried out fully automatically - it is enough to pour a portion of fuel into the firebox once, and this will be enough for several days of boiler operation.

   Firewood - relatively cheap material, if you prepare them yourself. Ordering dry wood, chopped into neat segments, will cost 2-3 times more. Conifers(spruce, pine) are among the most expensive, but burn out faster than others. Oak, hornbeam, maple, ash are premium options. Birch, alder, and aspen occupy an intermediate position in price and properties.

2. Coal. This type of fuel has excellent combustion duration and the amount of thermal energy released. However, the disadvantages are no less significant. In particular, after the combustion of coal, a large volume of slag remains inside the boiler, so it will have to be cleaned regularly. Second minus - bad smell, spreading throughout the room.
3. Fuel briquettes. They are nothing more than waste from the woodworking industry compressed into small blocks. Like fuel pellets, briquettes are environmentally friendly and leave minimal waste. For some, the decisive factor may be that they do not require retrofitting the boiler.

   It is not recommended to use cheap briquettes made from waste fiberboard, chipboard or MDF boards - they contain many harmful substances, in particular, furniture glue. It is easy to distinguish such fuel by white color and fine-grained structure.

4. Pellets. They are produced in the same way as briquettes, only pressed into small granules. They require additional heating equipment with a special pellet burner. This will entail additional expenses, but will be fully compensated by the efficiency and cost-effectiveness of consumption.

The choice of the type of solid fuel for the boiler is limited only by the budget and your own ideas about efficiency.

Note that Kupper boilers operate on all types of fuel, so here the user is not limited in choice by anything other than the budget and his own ideas about the effectiveness of a particular type.

Please note that boiler equipment produced by the Teplodar company is characterized maximum configuration among other analogues on the market. The basic delivery set includes accessories for cleaning the boiler, a heating element block, a thermometer and a stainless steel rotary valve.

Pellets for boilers: advantages and disadvantages

The main advantages of fuel pellets include:

• efficient heat generation with more than a small consumption (1 ton of pellets provides the same amount of thermal energy as 1.5 tons of firewood or 500 m 3 of gas);
• minimum waste (ash is 1% of the initial volume of fuel);
• rarely clean the boiler (no more than 1-2 times a month);
• uniform combustion and constant temperature;
• no sparking;
• ease of transportation (pellets are supplied in bags);
• absence of unpleasant odors;
• environmental cleanliness (only 0.03% sulfur is produced during combustion);
• ash can be used as fertilizer;
• reasonable cost of fuel;
• No permits are required to equip the boiler with a pellet burner.

Solid fuel has such an indicator as calorific value - the amount of energy obtained from the combustion of 1 kg of material. For pellets it is 4500-5300 kcal/kg, which is comparable to the calorific value of black coal and dry firewood.

This fuel has only one drawback: before using pellets, you will have to buy a special burner.

The use of pressed granules sometimes requires the purchase of a new boiler, although more often you can get by with retrofitting an existing one. TO special devices pellet boilers that operate only on this fuel include pellet boilers. The devices organize a complete heating circuit inside the house and also provide the owners with hot water.

Before using pellet fuel, you will have to buy a special burner.

Selection rules

Alas, not every manufacturer supplies products good quality to the consumer. Next - about the types of fuel and how to determine the quality of pellets by appearance.

Pellets consist of sawdust, shavings, and may include straw, peat, and seed shells.

In the Russian Federation, fuel standardization is poorly developed, so low-quality products are, unfortunately, quite common.

Typically, fuel is supplied in bags (packages) from 5 to 25 kg. It’s good if you can look inside and assess the condition of the granules. Some recommendations for choosing fuel:

• the less dust, fines, broken granules, the better;
• the color of high-quality pellets is brown or slightly lighter;
• the dark color of the fuel is a sign of a high concentration of bark, which impedes combustion;
• the lighter the granules, the more chemical impurities they contain.

The main criterion for classifying fuel by quality is moisture. There are three classes:

• first (minimum humidity, heat transfer up to 95%, high cost);
• second (intermediate option in terms of price and quality);
• third (the fuel is noticeably moist, smokes heavily, leaves a lot of ash, and is cheap).

The cost of pellets of classes I and III differs by 20-30%.

Typically, pellets are supplied in bags (packages) from 5 to 25 kg. It’s good if you can look inside and assess the condition of the granules.

Conditions of storage and use

When purchasing a large batch of pellets, you need to take care of where they are stored. When stored indoors, they should not be placed near open sources of fire. It is also necessary to protect the material from worst enemy- dampness.

How to store pellets if there is no space in the house? Closed bags/packages can be placed outside under a canopy. However, this option is undesirable - when it rains, the risk of the packaging getting wet and irreversible damage to the fuel increases.

A few words about how to properly heat a solid fuel boiler with pellets. This requires a burner, which can be purchased separately and installed on the boiler literally within half an hour. The operation of such a tandem is extremely simple - the user will need to fill the hopper with fresh pellets from time to time and clean out the ash. The temperature balance is controlled using the control panel.

Fuel pellets - economical, affordable, effective solid fuel. And, although the cost of a special pellet burner is quite high, within no more than 1 year the investment in the equipment will fully pay off.