Introduction
Wood pellets can be manufactured from waste products from sawmills and other wood processing industries. The materials used, include ground woodchips, sawdust and bark. No chemical additives are required, the natural lignin of the wood itself serving as a binder, although sometimes small quantities of maize starch are added as well.
The Need to Test Wood Pellets
In order for manufacturers of wood pellets to remain competitive in a growing market lean manufacturing techniques are now employed. Continuous pellet durability (PDI) results are now recognised as an integral part of the production process.
It is essential for producers, agents and transporters to monitor the quality of produced and traded wood pellets – to ensure the customers’ confidence in the product and to counter complaints. Large customers e.g. heating plants and power stations should perform quality control of wood pellet deliveries.
Renewable Energy
Wood is a renewable source of energy because the carbon dioxide emitted when the wood is burned has been taken out of the atmosphere by the growing plant. Even allowing for emissions of fossil carbon dioxide in planting, harvesting, processing and transporting the fuel, replacing fossil fuel with wood fuel will typically reduce net CO2 emissions by over 90%.
The wood pellet industry is a vital part of world’s rapidly growing renewable energy industry. Biofuels such as wood pellets and ethanol, solar, wind, geothermal and other renewable energy sources are helping to reduce the world’s dependence on non-renewable fossil fuels.