How to store wood pellets properly?

Wood pellets are made of biomass materials like sawdust, grass, alfalfa, rice husk, crop straw, waste papers, EFB, leaves, etc. Wood pellet production is to mold the biomass materials into high-density solid pellets, and melt the lignin so that it bond the biomass materials.

Wood pellets features small size, high density, high purity, high heat value, clean, low cost, easy to store and transport. Wood pellets contains 75-85% carbon, 3-6% ash, 1-3% water. Nowadays, wood pellet fuels are widely used in heating stoves, furnace, boilers, and power generation.

To ensure constant supply of wood pellets, many families and factories buy or produce large quantity of wood pellets. How to store wood pellets? How long is the storage time of wood pellets?

Wood pellets storage time

Usually, wood pellets are packed in plastic bags, paper bags, and woven bags. They cannot separate the wood pellets completely from the air. The moisture in the air will humidify the wood pellets and make them loose. Therefore, the storage time of wood pellets is determined by the humidity of the environment.

The storage time of wood pellets can be divided into 2 stages. If the humidity of the environment is higher than 10%, the storage time is less than 3 month. If the humidity is lower than 10%, the storage time is higher than 6 months.

Improper storage may cause wood pellet damp and crack, lower their quality and burning effect, so as to induce economic losses. So we need to learn the right way to store wood pellets.

How to store wood pellets properly?

• As the wood pellets are easy to get damp and loose in wet environment, we’d better pack wood pellets in damp-proof bags. If the bags are not damp proof, you must store them in dry places.
• Keep the storage room dry (moisture content less than 10%) and ventilated. Put the wood pellet bags on panels or cardboards to prevent their direct contact with the ground.
• In high humidity area, you need to install ventilation and dehumidifying equipment in the storeroom.
• Wood pellets are easy to burn. Keep the wood pellets away from fire, like stoves. Check the potential safety hazard regularly. Prevent children playing with fire near the wood pellets.
• Don’t place wood pellets in the open air, or you need to move them to indoors in rainy days. Besides, the package bags may be damaged by weathering outdoors.
• If you have to place the wood pellets outdoors. You must place them in dry places and build a shed or shelter. Inspect the package bags and mend all cracks and holes. Cover the wood pellet bags with water-proof cloth, and fasten it securely.

Reduce the wood pellet storage

As the wood pellets are easy to be damaged by moisture, fire and other environmental factors, I recommend you not to store too much wood pellets more than you need. It is enough to store wood pellets for 1 month use.

What’s more, you can make wood pellets on your own with a small pellet machine. Small pellet machine has low cost and small size, easy to use and maintain. If you use wood pellets frequently, it is more economical to buy a pellet machine.

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