What About Wood Pellets Compared To Grass Pellets?

While wood pellets may be the staple of the domestic heating industry, many people are looking to alternatives such as grass pellets.  Many different grasses can be processed into pellet fuel, for instance in the US there is a lot of interest in the use of Switchgrass as a raw material for pellet fuel. So what are the differences between wood pellets and grass pellets? Well wood pellets produce very little ash, and therefore require very little work to maintain. Grass pellets on the other hand produce more ash, and possibly a clinker formation where the ash melts. This does mean that grass pellets require more work than wood pellets. However there is only so much wood available to make pellets, and grass could be far more abundant. This means that the price of grass pellets would not only be more stable but generally a lot cheaper. Many different biomass materials including grass can be made into a pellet fuel, please watch the video below for examples.

When it comes to actually making pellets, it is much easier to compress grass into pellet form than wood. What this means is that the production costs per ton for grass pellets is much lower. You also get a significantly higher productivity from the pellet mill with grass compared to wood. One important thing to note with grass is moisture content. Before material can be used in the pellet mill it needs to have a moisture content below 15%. Fresh grass can have between 50-75% moisture, therefore in field drying is essential. However switchgrass and hemp at harvest actually have a moisture content around 15% making them ideal for pellet fuel production.

 The Wood Pellet Production Guide © PelHeat Ltd - What About Wood Pellets Compared To Grass Pellets?