It's no secret that most of Russia's cut trees go to waste. On average, 35% of processed wood is sawdust. As practice has shown, it is unprofitable to use them for heating - they burn out quickly, without releasing enough heat. But modern technologies and equipment make it possible to compress sawdust, forming wood pellets, which today are called eurofirewood.

Due to the presence of a hole inside such a briquette, it burns without emitting smoke, harmful fumes, and unpleasant odors. Granules are excellent in terms of fire safety, since they do not spark during combustion, they are used for boilers, fireplaces, stoves.

Features of the production of Eurowood

Eurowood is made from waste woodworking enterprises - branches, sawdust, bark, shavings. There are companies for which such waste requires additional disposal costs. These include furniture factories, carpentry and construction companies, primary wood processing firms. When organizing a business for the production of eurofirewood, in order to save raw material costs, you can negotiate with such companies and receive wood waste for free by taking it out on your own transport.

Stages of eurowood production:

1. crushing branches, straw, sawdust to the standard size;
2. drying the raw material;
3. pressing under high pressure by extrusion into briquettes of a given shape;
4. drying finished products using special equipment.

Advice: in the process of producing eurofirewood, the type of wood is absolutely not important.

To obtain high-quality products of the European level and achieve optimal efficiency of the equipment used, it is necessary to take into account some subtleties:

• it is advisable not to mix sawdust and shavings;
• the fraction of wood should be no more than 3 millimeters;
• for one production cycle it is desirable not to mix different tree species;
• in the manufacture of briquettes, the humidity level in the room should not exceed 15%;
• The highest performance can be achieved through the use of hardwoods.

The finished product is a briquette in the form of a cylinder with a length of 0.2-0.3 meters and a diameter of 0.1 meters. They sell eurofirewood in packages of 12 pieces each, transport 96 packs on a pallet. The weight of such a pallet is about a ton. The heat transfer of a briquette is the same as that of coal. At the same time, the ash is safe, it can be used as a fertilizer.

Eurowood is used to heat buildings for various purposes - households, industrial enterprises, poultry farms, canneries. If this business seems unprofitable to you, learn about the production of fuel briquettes.

Eurowood production equipment

The line for the production of eurofirewood is designed for processing waste from logging and woodworking enterprises. It consists of the following equipment:

• Chipping machine. Equipment that is necessary for grinding large parts. It consists of a receiving hole where the wood enters, then it is sent to the grinding zone, where notched rollers and knives are located along the entire perimeter, which calibrate the material. After processing, chips are obtained with a size of 10-35 millimeters.
• Heat generator. Equipment for drying raw materials with air.
• Briquetting machine. Equipment for pressing crushed and dried waste into briquettes. The material is extruded through a die under pressure and cut into briquettes of a given length. After that, the finished product is placed in the warehouse. It is necessary to store eurofirewood in sealed packaging indoors.

Features of business organization

The demand for eurofirewood is constantly growing - both in European countries and in Russia. This trend is due to cost-effectiveness, safety, ease of transportation and storage. The process of organizing a business has its own subtleties and pitfalls.

Financial plan

The production of Eurowood, with the right organization and the right development strategy, can give a high income to an entrepreneur, but the costs at the start will be large (as with). Consider a sample business plan.

Starting costs:

• purchase of a line for the production of eurofirewood - 5 million rubles;
• transportation and installation of equipment - 500 thousand rubles;
• purchase of a diesel loader - 800 thousand rubles;
• raw material base - 500 thousand rubles;
• other payments - 200 thousand rubles.

Monthly expenses:

• rent of production area and warehouse - 75 thousand rubles;
• payroll fund - 300 thousand rubles;
• tax payments - 50 thousand rubles;
• administrative expenses - 35 thousand rubles;
• other expenses - from 50 thousand rubles.

If the price of eurofirewood is 7,500 rubles per ton, when selling 150 tons, the company will receive an income of 1.125 million rubles. Net income will amount to 640 thousand rubles. In this case, the payback period will not exceed a year - this is less than with.

Sales market and ways of implementation

Most of the fuel briquettes produced in Russia are exported to the EU countries. But after the rise in energy prices, domestic demand begins to increase. Eurowood is bought by the owners of suburban areas and cottages for heating fireplaces and boilers. They are also relevant for industrial enterprises, poultry farms, etc. Their use can be independent or through a central heating system (through a boiler house).

The problem of complete waste disposal has long been dealt with in various fields of activity.

Task 100% use of forestry waste still not implemented.

Fuel pellets and briquettes obtained from wood waste make it possible to achieve this already in our time.

The processing of timber, sawing waste, and processing has not been so acute before, except for those regions where there is no commercial timber left at all.

Today, the introduction of new deep technologies is becoming more profitable.

Wood briquettes and pellets (fuel - general group) are products made from modified wood (standard designation).

This group includes both briquettes and pellets made directly from wood waste, as well as those made from all other organic raw materials that have the ability to burn.

Classification

1. White. The best quality pellets. They are made purely from sawn wood waste with a minimum bark content. These pellets have:
   • highest calorific value
   • lowest ash content
   • the highest value on the market.
2. Grey. Produced from raw materials with a high content of bark and soil inclusions. Their calorific value is lower, ash content and weight are higher. Applicable in:
   • private use in pellet boilers,
   • small boiler houses.
3. Industrial. Produced from:
   • peat,
   • coal,
   • other industrial waste.
4. Agropellets. Made from husks:
   • sunflower seeds
   • straw,
   • other agricultural waste.

Pellets are characterized by the following indicators of granules:

• diameter - from 6 to 25 mm;
• length - from 5 to 50 mm;
• density - from 1000 to 1400 kg/m3;
• humidity - from 8 to 10%;
• bulk weight - 500 - 600 kg / m3;
• ash content - maximum 5%;
• abrasion.

The main characteristics and calorific value of pellets, depending on their type, are given in the table:

Fuel briquettes are mainly produced from wood, but production technology is divided into several different areas. We will consider them in more detail below, since the manufacturing principle is conventionally divided into two areas, each of which includes several subspecies.

Advantages and disadvantages of pellets

Like any product, pellets and briquettes have their pros and cons.

Advantages

The undoubted advantages can immediately be attributed to the fact that wood in the form of pellets compared to ordinary firewood:

• takes up less space;
• has a lower humidity, which allows more heat to be released.

Pellets have a high bulk density, which allows them to be transported with high efficiency and minimal labor costs.

Pellet transport standard:

• in bags
• in big bags
• in wagons for bulk materials on railway transport.

We will not consider the low environmental impact in detail.

We confine ourselves to information about low ash content and low CO2 emission.

In the process of combustion, pellets emit as much carbon dioxide as was consumed by the plant during its growth.

Flaws

The disadvantages are only:

• transportation errors;
• the lack of a clear supply of pellets to certain areas where people have pellet boilers in use.

In other words, you need to have a strategic supply of pellets for different occasions. In the case of transportation, there is a possibility that the pellets will gain moisture, but this is solved by additional natural drying at the point of use.

Although pellets are transported in closed containers using moisture-proof casings, situations are possible when transportation is carried out in bulk, without any protection measures.

Where can be used?

The use of fuel pellets is widely regulated abroad. So far, pellets have been found in Russia wide application only in the western regions of the country, where the processing of wood waste is already a well-established industry.

Anyone, along with solid fuel, electric and gas boilers, can install a pellet boiler as an alternative. This allows you to be independent of gas or electricity prices. Whatever one may say, but in terms of firewood or electricity, pellets remain for heating win on all counts.

In addition to private use, pellets are widely used in industries as an alternative to purchased coal fuel or its other types. As an example, a woodworking industry, where drying chambers and their own heating system are used in the autumn-winter period.

Own production pellet gives a win on several points:

1. Full use of all wood waste, starting from the forest plot.
2. Reduces the cost of cleaning and disposal of waste after logging. Consequence:
   • minimum number of workers
   • lower cost of wood harvesting.
3. Complete processing of wood waste makes it possible to abandon the purchase of energy carriers for space heating and CHP services and switch to heating on their own. In practice, this results in huge savings.

Production

The production of pellets cannot be called a complex process, but it requires high-quality equipment.

If in the production of wood concrete an important element of production was a chipper, then in the case of the production of wood pellets, it is only one of a number of necessary, but not the most expensive.

The heart of production press granulator.

It is he who produces the final product - pressed wood pellets.

It is often possible to simplify production by replacing technological cycles. However, in the production of pellets, simplification is permissible only in the design of the press, which is directly related to the productivity of the plant.

The granulator, which is used in the production of compound feed from meat and bone meal, and the granulator, which is used in the production of pellets, are very similar in appearance.

Despite the similarity, the feed pellet mill will not be able to produce pellets with a density normal for fuel pellets due to:

• features of the materials used;
• calculated loads.

Why this happens is discussed in more detail below.

Technology

Pellet production technology, like most types of briquettes, is based on lignin.

This substance is released during the direct production of pellets (briquettes).

In order for the pellets to be obtained in accordance with the required parameters, several rules must be observed, thanks to which the desired product is obtained.

Not always at the entrance we have either a purely sawdust mass, or trimmings with a sawmill.

Branches from plots in the forest can also be used as raw materials. But this is cost-effective when the production itself is nearby. Raw materials can be:

• sawdust,
• shavings from the shop.

The essence of the technology is to give raw materials, regardless of the original form, the required dimensions and humidity immediately before pressing.

Stages

chipping

The very first stage, when wood waste is chopped into chips for subsequent drying.

The nuances lie in the dimensions of the raw materials.

If the production of pellets is powerful, with tangible ratios in terms of the mass of products produced per hour, then the equipment will be able to easily grind into chips without pre-treatment:

• fallen tree trunks,
• other waste.

An ordinary chipper of the RM-200 type can process only branches and branches that do not exceed the size of the feed opening.

Screw and rotary chippers for large wood waste belong to a higher class of equipment, they can process several tons of wood per hour.

Drying

Chip drying is necessary for two reasons, and compliance with these standards is important for the correct passage of the technological process. Initial drying is achieved by laying chips in piles, without forced drying on drying lines, although such an initial option is also possible.

The initial chipping does not always give the result expected from the chipper. Before sending the resulting wood chips for regrinding, it must be dried, since the principle of operation of the chipper is based on the physical properties of dry wood chips and not raw.

The second important point is that in order to isolate the lignin contained in the wood cells and to glue the particles in the press, it is necessary certain humidity, and this humidity is also regulated in terms of the quality of the resulting product.

Regrinding

Finishing the dimensions of the chips to the dimensions allowed for processing in a granulator- the next stage after drying.

Chip regrinding is carried out in hammer mills.

As a result, the raw material size is reduced to values ​​no more than 4 mm in any of the dimensions.

This raw material size is also available if available. chipper.

The raw material enters it in the form of:

• chips,
• roots,
• stump,
• boughs,
• trim with sawmills.

It is because of the size of the matrix of the granulator that the size of the raw material fraction is required.

Moisturizing

The quality of the products obtained at the outlet of the granulator is regulated by the moisture content of the raw material. The average moisture content of sawdust or crushed wood chips entering the pellet mill should range from 7 to 10%, since this is the very optimal ratio of raw material moisture to its volume.

Humidity, as mentioned above, is better to bring from a minimum value to an optimal one, rather than arranging drying lines for raw materials with sampling and moisture measurements.

In drum-type humidifiers, raw materials passing through the drum hopper are treated with hot steam, which penetrates into the mass of raw materials and condenses on the surface of sawdust. This is the best moisturizer.

The ratio of water molecules in steam in terms of volume makes it possible to narrowly regulate the total volume of water for the entire passing mass of raw materials.

Production

The pellet mill for the production of pellets has in its device the so-called matrix.

It may represent:

• flat metal surface
• round (cylindrical).

Initially flat die presses created for use there, no high pressure is required at the contact points:

• in feed granulators,
• for the chemical industry.

Presses with a round die from the very beginning they were created for the production of pellets. After the start of using rollers and flat dies made of high-alloy metals and alloys, it became possible to use models of granulators with flat dies in the production of pellets.

The matrix in its design is a metal part with a thickness of 3 cm, with holes from 6-10 mm, depending on performance.

Rollers in the zone of contact with the matrix create a crushing of the raw material due to pressure and push the mass through the holes in the matrix, at the exit of which the knives cut off the outgoing cylindrical granules.

Working temperature in the contact zone can reach high temperatures, but the optimum temperature is considered to be 100-120 degrees Celsius.

It is at this temperature that when the fibers and cells of the wood are crushed, the liberated lignin, when exposed to moisture in the raw material, glues the wood mass. The compaction of wood in this case, in comparison with the incoming raw materials, reaches a threefold size.

It is strictly not recommended to exceed the established thresholds for temperature limits and humidity. At excessively high temperatures and normal humidity, high-quality gluing of wood raw materials does not occur, and with increased humidity, the steam inside the pellets breaks the granules themselves.

These reasons can nullify the entire granulation process with a high percentage of rejects.

Therefore, in many models of granulators, a pellet cooler is also built in. If all the requirements for temperature and other conditions are met, the output is very high quality granules. We will consider examples of equipment below.

Equipment

Wood pellet making equipment is produced by many enterprises. Consider briefly the main models of machines for the production of pellets from sawdust.

domestic producers

1. Pellet press MZLP-200, Moscow.
   • productivity up to 100 kg per hour,
   • engine power 5.5 kW/h,
   • granule diameter 6 mm,
   • price 150 thousand rubles.
2. Chip cutter MR-5, Izhevsk.
   • productivity 5 m3/hour,
   • engine power 40 kW/h,
   • cost from 190 thousand rubles.
3. Hammer grinder MI-3, Izhevsk.
   • productivity 1 ton per hour,
   • engine power 40 kW/h.
   • costs from 360 thousand rubles.
4. Aerodynamic drying, OOO Kupets, Perm.
   • total power 7 kW/h,
   • productivity up to 400 kg/h,
   • price 15.6 thousand USD.

Foreign manufacturers

1. Drying drum for pellet raw materials, Germany-China, supplier "AsiaTechnoImport", Novosibirsk.
   • total power 15 kW/h.
   • dimensions 1.5 x 12 m.
2. Pellet press CPM (California Pellet Mill), USA/Netherlands.
   • productivity up to 5000 kg per hour,
   • engine power from 90 to 500 kW/h,
   • diameter of granules depending on the model,
   • price from 160 thousand euros.
3. SKJ2 Series Pellet Granulator, Germany-China.
   • engine power 3 kW,
   • productivity up to 50 kg/hour,
   • cost 80 thousand rubles.
4. Pellet cooling tank SKLN, Germany-China.
   • engine power 60 kW/h,
   • productivity up to 1500 kg/h.

The process of manufacturing pellets in production is presented in the video:

Fuel briquettes

There are two main types of fuel briquettes, which differ both in the method of manufacture and in the characteristics of the product. From these two types, craftsmen took some of the principles and introduced them into household production. Some are more successful, some are not.

Briquettes, as a heavier variety of pellets, are widely used in everyday life.

RUF briquettes

The first type of briquettes is produced according to the original method of the RUF company, which is characterized by the production of rectangular briquettes on a hydraulic press.

They are made from sawdust or similar raw materials at a pressure of 200-300 atmospheres.

Briquettes look like light colored bricks, with a clearly visible sawdust structure.

RUF methodology machines have a longer life without service intervention than PINI KAY machines, and this is due to increased wear of the screw in the contact area with the outlet.

PINI KAY briquettes

The second type of briquettes, according to PINI KAY technology (Pini Kay), is made using screw presses (as in a meat grinder).

They are characterized by the presence of high pressure in the briquette formation zone with subsequent heat treatment.

These briquettes look like six-octagonal cylinders with a hole inside.

Outside they have dark brown color, due to heat treatment, which increases their strength and significantly increases the burning time.

Compared to RUF briquettes, PINI KAY briquettes have:

• longer burning time
• great calorific value.

This compensates for the balance of power in the sales market.

There is a third type of equipment for the production of briquettes. It is a combination of part of the technology from the first and second manufacturer. The production method of this equipment is shock-hydraulic.

The required shock pressure is generated:

• hydraulic press,
• single-crank press.

The electric motor rotates the flywheel, which, through the transmission mechanism, repeatedly increases the moment of force and transfers it to the piston, which compresses wood raw materials in the contact zone.

Basically, briquettes are used as an alternative to ordinary firewood, as fuel for solid fuel boilers. If pellets can be dosed automatically with the help of additional devices, then briquettes are in most cases placed manually.

Making briquettes at home

With a proper study of the essence of the technology, it is quite possible to make fuel briquettes with your own hands. The difference in quality will only be whether the required pressure in the mold can be achieved or not. Consider several options for the manufacture of briquettes.

Method #1: Folk

From metal 4 mm thick, you need to weld forms combined into one.

Complementary to it, each of the square cells will include a lid and have free play almost to the middle of the mold depth.

After laying the sawdust mass, abundantly moistened with water, a lid is laid on top and with the help of an ordinary hydraulic jack sawdust is compacted in molds.

Method #2: Kulibinsky

The essence of the method is to search for a single-crank press, fine-tuning it to the desired state in order to increase the piston stroke from the original 5 cm to 20 cm. This is done by adding to the design of the crank mechanism of the eccentric and changing the press bed to install a sawdust liner. The method is suitable for small sawmills. There are a lot of options for such refinement:

• increase in the diameter of the sleeve and piston,
• reducing the diameter of the sleeve and piston,
• increase in press productivity per unit of time, etc.

Method #3: Self-Employed

It boils down to the fact that, when gathering the initiative group, to collect the necessary components and make a simple press according to the drawings.

He can be:

• hydraulic,
• impact type,
• screw.

Depending on the selected type, you will need to purchase the necessary key nodes.

1. For auger press it will be a matrix with a screw.
2. For hydraulic you need a hydraulic press.
3. For shock- you can just have a faulty press, or you can assemble it from what can be structurally adjusted to the design. The impact press is characterized by:
   • powerful machine,
   • powerful flywheel,
   • relatively low engine power.

The balance of the cost of finished equipment is directly proportional to the time spent on this equipment during design and manufacture. You can simply find the drawings and make them.

Summing up the preliminary results: if there is a constantly replenished raw material base, a possible sales market, then why not?

What is better - firewood or fuel briquettes?

The bottom line is that this question cannot be answered unambiguously.

Fuel briquettes will benefit in terms of:

• warehouse characteristics,
• calorific value,
• time spent on direct application as intended by the buyer.

In terms of quality, everything depends on the quality of production.

As practice shows, unscrupulous manufacturers do not stay on the market for a long time. Therefore, if an advertisement for the sale of briquettes has been observed for more than a year, most likely, the quality is present. Another question is whether it is profitable to produce them in forest areas? It is beneficial if it is not sold where production is carried out. Only a marketing genius will be able to sell people what they can get for free.

Attachments: from 9 600 000 rubles

Payback: from 10 months

In recent years, energy resources and their scarcity have been one of the most discussed topics on the world stage. In addition to oil and gas, they include firewood, which is still used in some areas today: heating fireplaces and baths in country cottages, as well as boilers or even stoves in non-gasified houses, industrial and livestock enterprises in our country and abroad. At the same time, in addition to ordinary firewood, eco-firewood pressed from sawdust is in use today. Other names are eurofirewood, wood pellets or briquettes. In terms of cost and heat transfer, they are ahead of ordinary firewood, emit less smoke and burn longer. How to implement a business for the production of eurofirewood, you will learn in this article.

business concept

In the woodworking, furniture industry, and agriculture, tons of waste occur every season in the form of shavings, sawdust, dry plant stems, husks and other plant material. From all these resources it is possible to produce eurofirewood.

Some organizations may be able to arrange a free collection of such “waste”, as a result of which they will save on disposal, which you will save them from.

About 70% of the briquettes produced in Russia are exported to European countries, but even here, with ever-increasing payments for gas, difficulties in connecting it and the growing fashion for everything natural, the popularity of eurofirewood is actively growing.

Let's consider the production line of Eurowood from the waste of logging and woodworking enterprises.

What is required for implementation?

Licenses and permits for the production of eco-firewood are not required, so you can immediately think about the place where the process will be organized.

room

To obtain a good performance of 1000 kg of euro firewood per hour, an area of ​​\u200b\u200babout 300 square meters is required. m and an additional 300 sq. m for a warehouse for raw materials and finished products. In addition to heating, ventilation and plumbing, a three-phase 380 W electrical connection is required.

It is best if the workshop is located on the outskirts of the city, not far from the main suppliers.

Equipment

For pressing the fuel mixture into briquettes, the size of its particles should not exceed 3 mm, and the humidity should not exceed 15%. The raw material mainly consists of larger and moister particles. Here is the complete list of equipment:

• chipping machine. From the name it is clear that with the help of this unit, the raw material is crushed to the desired size;
• heat generator. It supplies hot air to the crushed raw materials and dries it to the desired parameter. It is noteworthy that it works on the produced briquettes - the finished product of the enterprise, that is, it does not require additional electricity costs;
• extruder. Through it, the mass is pressed and molded into 20-35 cm briquettes;
• packing machine. Sealed packaging allows ecowood to keep dry and marketable.

Staff

To service the production line, 4 people will be needed, with a 3-shift work it is already 12, plus a director and an accountant working in a 5-day mode. A total of 14 people.

Step by step start instructions

1. Market analysis: what sources of raw materials can be used and under what conditions, who and at what price will be the consumer of eurofirewood. initial negotiations.
2. Business registration. The ideal option is an individual entrepreneur on a simplified system of income taxation. OKVED for this direction - 16.29.15.
3. Finding and renting suitable premises. It is better if both the production shop and the warehouse are completely closed.
4. Purchase equipment. Naturally, price-quality analysis, delivery and installation in the workshop.
5. Hiring. It is very important not to neglect the opportunity to ask previous employers about all the features of candidates.
6. Launch of the production line.
7. Sales organization, work on which must be started immediately, after the launch of the line, without waiting for abundant stocks.

Financial calculations

Let's analyze by the amounts how much money will be spent on initial expenses.

Start-up capital

To get started, you will need to invest:

• a production line with a capacity of 1000 kg of eco-wood per hour will cost about 9 million 200 thousand rubles;
• rent of premises - 180,000 rubles;
• raw material costs - 210,000 rubles;
• advertising campaign - 45,000 rubles.

Total - 9,635,000 rubles

Monthly expenses

• the cost of the required area at an average price of 200 rubles / sq.m will be 200 * 600 \u003d 180 thousand rubles. per month;
• the cost of raw materials, even when self-pickup from enterprises in the form of waste, we will nonetheless set at 210 thousand rubles, since not every manager will be generous now to give away even materials that are unnecessary for production for free;
• wages, taking into account taxes in the MHIF and the FSS, as well as bonuses, will take another (12 * 25 + 40 + 30) * 1.3 ≈ 510 tr;
• electricity will increase the bill by 340 thousand rubles;
• transportation costs will amount to 175 thousand rubles;
• advertising, equipment maintenance, depreciation and other expenses will add another 45 thousand rubles. per month.

Thus, the monthly expenses in total will be 180+210+510+340+175+45 = 1 million 460 thousand rubles.

How much can you earn?

With a capacity of 1000 kg of eco-wood per hour, the daily output, taking into account all possible breakdowns and overlays, will be 23 tons, and monthly, with 22 working days – 506 tons. With well-organized sales and the cost of Eurowood on the market 4.2 tons. per ton gross income , calculated according to the formula price * output, will be 4.2 * 462 ≈ 2 million 125 tons.

We will then calculate the gross profit as monthly income minus expenses: 2125 - 460 = 1 million 665 thousand rubles, which, minus 15% income tax under the simplified tax system, will give a monthly net profit of approximately 1 million 565 thousand rubles.

Payback period

The minimum payback period for this product is about 10 months.

Business risks and cons

The main risks for the production of eco-firewood will be the following points:

• increasing competition. This industry is increasingly mastered by manufacturers, and it is becoming more and more difficult to find both sources of raw materials and distribution channels over time;
• possible barriers , related to the political situation, when working with European consumers, of which there are about 70% of eco-firewood (not for nothing called euro-firewood) today;
• relatively high cost of equipment. The initial amount of own or borrowed money should cover all expenses of the first month, 90% of which are the costs of purchasing the production line. If we plan a medium-sized production, as we have considered, then the starting capital will require about 11 million rubles;
• seasonality of demand, falling in the summer, which can lead to some overcrowding of warehouses;
• danger of low qualification and discipline of workers. Here, reviews of applicants from previous jobs somewhat absorb the risk.

Outcome

The production of eco-firewood is a business that not only brings profit, but also preserves forests. This line of business is essentially an example of a rational attitude to the resources around us. And even if the required 11 million rubles. to organize a middle line with a large output is not available and is not expected, and the direction you feel is quite worthwhile, you can start with a small production line worth from 1 million rubles. In this case, you can use both investors and loans, as well as the possibility of state subsidies. And, starting with mini-production, over time and as it develops, it will be possible to reach large volumes and serious profits.

It cannot be denied that sawdust briquettes are one of the most efficient solid fuels used for home heating. They are high-calorie (heat output is about 5 kW from 1 kg when burned), have a low ash content, and are also convenient in storage, since they take up little space. But you can’t exactly call this fuel cheap, far from everyone can afford to heat a boiler or stove with eurowood throughout the season.

This is where the interest of many homeowners arises - is it possible to somehow make fuel briquettes with your own hands? Especially when there is raw material for this at a meager price. The solution to this issue is precisely the topic of this article. It will consider various technologies for the production of briquettes from sawdust and other types of raw materials in production and at home. As a result, it will become clear under what circumstances it makes sense to take on this matter.

Methods for making briquettes

To get an idea of ​​how you can make fuel briquettes with your own hands, you must first study how they are produced in the factory. The preparatory stage for any technology is the same and consists in grinding and drying raw materials. These are, of course, sawdust and larger woodworking waste, which are processed to make briquettes. Then the raw material is subjected to drying in order to bring its moisture content to no more than 8-10%.

For reference. Also, various agro-industrial wastes (husks, husks of seeds) and even coal dust can serve as the starting material for the production of eurofirewood.

1. Shaping sawdust briquettes on a hydraulic press.
2. Production by extrusion.

I must say that with both technologies, the result is achieved due to the strong compression of wood raw materials, as a result of which a natural component, lignin, begins to be released from it. It also serves as a binder for this crumbly mass, no others are provided. The difference is only in the method of squeezing, in the first case a hydraulic briquette press is used, developing a force of 300-600 bar.

From such compression, the raw material spontaneously heats up, which only contributes to the formation of a strong rectangular “brick”. How the briquetting line with a hydraulic press functions is shown in the video:

The extrusion method for the production of sawdust briquettes is easy to understand using the example of a conventional home meat grinder or juicer. The raw material is loaded into the receiving hopper of the unit and moved by the auger into the tapered working channel of the conical shape. There it is compressed, while the screw press for briquettes develops a monstrous force - up to 1000 bar.

At the output, firewood is obtained from sawdust in the form of a hexagon, which undergoes additional heat treatment and is cut into one size with a special knife. The device of the screw press for sawdust in the section is shown in the drawing:

Making at home

It is clear that acquiring such powerful equipment to press briquettes at home is an empty undertaking. Even if you have funds and gratuitous raw materials, you will be able to recoup its cost only if you press firewood from sawdust for sale. This means that it will not be possible to withstand the traditional technology with the release of lignin.

Instead, home craftsmen adapted to use different binders to form "bricks", for example:

• wallpaper or other cheapest glue;
• clay;
• paper, corrugated board.

In order not to buy expensive drying and pressing equipment, fuel briquettes are made at home as follows. Sawdust is soaked in water and thoroughly mixed with clay in a ratio of 1: 10, or soaked cardboard or wallpaper paste is added. The resulting mixture for making a briquette is placed in the form of a home-made manual sawdust press and squeezed by hand. Then the "brick" is removed from the mold and laid to dry naturally, on the street.

For reference. Using this technology, smart owners press briquettes from any available materials that can burn: from straw, paper, cardboard, leaves, seed husks, and so on.

Equipment for the production of

The simplest do-it-yourself press for making fuel briquettes has a manual screw drive. The molding container with perforation is filled with the mixture and placed under the frame, the pressure is created by tightening the screw. The design is very simple and it makes no sense to talk about it in detail, just look at the picture.

Such screw machines for pressing sawdust briquettes are not very popular due to low productivity. Too much time is spent loading the container, tightening the screw and removing the finished product. It is much faster and easier to squeeze out "bricks" on a home-made press with a long lever and a mechanism for pushing the briquettes out. To speed up the process, 2 molds can be welded to the frame instead of one.

Some craftsmen can boast of more advanced mechanized equipment. Indeed, a manual machine can be improved and the performance of a briquette can be improved by installing a hydraulic jack instead of a manual drive. To assemble such a unit, you will have to tinker a lot, but the result will be much better.

Note. Even using a hydraulic jack in a homemade press, it will still not be possible to create a pressure of at least 300 bar. Therefore, it will still not be possible to reproduce the factory technology without adding water and binders.

Despite the great difficulties with the manufacture of parts, some of the craftsmen managed to assemble a screw press and get briquettes of fairly decent quality. This is evidenced by the reviews of such people on the forums. But they all point out the high costs of manufacturing screw parts and housing from high quality steel. Again, an electric drive is indispensable here, with the most conservative calculation, an engine with a power of at least 7 kW is required.

Homemade briquettes - pros and cons

The reasons why this type of fuel is very attractive are understandable. When a person has his own wood production or the ability to buy cheap sawdust for a briquette, then thoughts about making them at home are quite natural. The fact is that not all heating equipment is suitable for burning sawdust. As a rule, wood chips in an ordinary stove or boiler burn out quickly and give off little heat, and even half will spill into the ash pan.

To successfully burn wood waste, you need a special mine-type boiler or. It is quite difficult to make this, the prospect of pressing sawdust into fuel briquettes seems much more rosy.

It turns out that everything is not so simple here either, and here's why:

1. Buying factory drying and pressing equipment is an unreasonably expensive undertaking. It is cheaper to buy ready-made eurofirewood.
2. You can make a briquette press yourself and make them in an artisanal way. But the products will be of poor quality and will give little heat, and take a lot of time.

The second point requires clarification. Due to the inability to comply with the technology, “bricks” after drying are light due to their low density. Their specific heat of combustion is three times lower than that of wood, which means that they will need three times more for heating. The whole process will take a lot of time and take a lot of energy. And it is very difficult to store such a volume of fuel so that it does not accumulate moisture.

Informative video for enthusiasts who want to put pressure on manual briquetting of various household waste:

Conclusion

It is, in principle, possible to make fuel briquettes with your own hands on home-made equipment. But for this you need to have enough free time and a place for drying and storing fuel. It is also important that sawdust does not have to be transported from afar or expensive to buy. In this scenario, the event generally loses all meaning, it’s better to buy a truckload of firewood. The choice is yours, dear homeowners.

Literally recently, a new solid fuel for stoves and boilers has appeared on the domestic construction market, the manufacturers of which position it as a cost-effective alternative to conventional firewood. The fuel is called eurowood or fuel briquettes, and it is made from the remains of natural materials, such as wood, paper, straw, seed husks, nut shells.

The production process of fuel briquettes is simple, it is necessary to prepare the raw material and press it under high pressure, it is also possible to carry out heat treatment. The resulting product will be dense, dry, ready for use in the oven. In this article, we will talk about what equipment is needed for the production of fuel briquettes, consider the composition of the industrial production line and alternative equipment for home-made production of such products.

Production line for the creation of fuel briquettes RUF

Industrial equipment

As we have already said, fuel briquettes are created from various kinds of biological waste. The most popular raw material is wood, and the hottest briquettes are obtained. Full-fledged production lines for such products involve several technological processes, each of which requires certain equipment.

To produce high-quality eurofirewood, you will need:

• Crushers and grinders. When creating briquettes from wood or straw, the first step is to prepare the raw materials in a quality manner. At the first stage, it should be crushed to a certain fraction size. The smaller the granules, the denser, which means that the fuel briquette will turn out better.
• Calibrators. Allow to screen out the desired size fraction, and send the rest of the raw materials for additional processing.
• Drying chambers. Raw materials coming from suppliers are full of moisture, and drying chambers will be required to get rid of it. They can use before and after grinding raw materials. The dependence here is again direct, the drier the better. During the operation of the dryer, electronic moisture meters are used, which clearly control the performance of raw materials.

Briquetting machine for euro firewood Nestro

• Briquetting machine, press, extruder. Depending on the type of eurofirewood, the press for the manufacture of fuel briquettes can be different in appearance and principle of operation. The most modern machines additionally carry out thermal processing of raw materials, evaporating moisture and creating a protective shell. Note that the same presses can be used for different types of raw materials.
• Packaging plant. The final step is packaging. Eurowood is wrapped in cellophane to protect it from moisture and significantly increase the shelf life.