# Pellets from paper: Is it possible?



## FireGood32 (Feb 23, 2011)

After speaking with a local store owner about the volatility of the pellet market, due to new-construction trends, etc, I found myself
wondering if it would possible to make a pellet fuel from the many tons of discarded paper that end up in landfills or is recycled.

I honestly have no idea if it could work, I'd guess it would burn like crap and have lots of ash, I just thought that the raw material, such
as newspaper, cardboard, shredded Arthur Anderson documents, would be plentiful.

Thoughts?


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## jtakeman (Feb 23, 2011)

Yes its possible, But they burn like crap. Lots of ash involved. Cardboard is another similar pellet, Same deal way too much ash. Not much heat from either.


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## hossthehermit (Feb 23, 2011)

There are some out there, or so I hear. Ooops, didn't mean to interrupt, J.


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## Fsappo (Feb 23, 2011)

I somehow got my hands on some cardboard pellets.  I burned them in a Magnum Countryside with the pot stirrer.  They made about 25% less heat and maybe 50% more ash than a premium wood pellet.  But, if it got rid of stuff that would normally be sent to a landfill and customers could buy them CHEAP, like say half the cost of wood pellets (providing they had a stove to handle them) I would say they could be a viable option.  I didnt find them any worse than switch grass pellets. The grass pellets made more heat, but also more ash than the cardboard.


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## FireGood32 (Feb 23, 2011)

Pretty much what I was thinking, not dense enough and wouldn't burn as complete, but perhaps if it was processed differently?


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## peakbagger (Feb 23, 2011)

I used to be a "papermaker" . Wood pulp is expensive and clay is cheap so the goal was to put as much clay and other fillers like starch in the paper as we could. Since the fillers dont burn, you will get lots of ash. The leftover sludge from papermills is sometimes burned in solid fueled boilers and on occasion the clay will build up solid deposits on the tubes. In general burning large amounts of paper is probably not a good thing for a pellet stove.


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## jtakeman (Feb 23, 2011)

peakbagger, Thanks for the inside tip! I always wondered why something that starts with clean fiber ended up with so much ash.

Probably better to just let them recycle the paper to save the trees!


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## BobMac (Feb 24, 2011)

Paper pellets dont burn too bad,just alot of real fine ash.
Got ahold of 10 bags last year from a guy that makes them 
north of me.I think he was asking $150.00 aton.Maybe a good
deal for one of those outdoor burners??Here's acouple of pictures.














one bag burned,ended up mixing with woodpellets and corn to get rid of them


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## BobMac (Feb 24, 2011)

Sorry about the size admin thought I resized smaller


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## velotocht (Feb 24, 2011)

I frequently crumple up news paper, junk mail, bills, etc into a very tight ball and toss this stuff in the pellet stove.  Paper burns white-hot and very bright and fast but creats some really fine ash.  This ash is so fine that when I open the door the small turbulance created drifts the ash into the room.  So it's messy.

My neighbor also told me that a lot of the inks and waxy materials used in news paper and advertising crap is not environmentally friendly - especially when burned.  He said large scale incinerators that burn household garbage have scrubbers and secondary burn systems to clean much of the chemicals and particles from the exhaust before releasing to the air (that we breath)!  Additionally, many towns and cities ban burning of anything but wood (wood-pellets are viewed as wood) in in-home fireplaces.  I know we are not allowed to burn garbage in a burn barrell in our area - but I've never asked about burning it in a fireplace or wood/pellet stove.    Knowing how many rules and regulations we have here in Dutchess Co NY, I'm sure it is not legal.  But I still burn all bills, account statements, and other personalized paper in the pellet stove - for security reasons.  I don't want dumpster divers digging in my recycle bin and committing identity fraud against me!

Take care


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## Snowy Rivers (Feb 24, 2011)

Another viable option for pellets is making them from leaves.

The eastern part of this country has a metric buttload of leaves in the fall season.

Grind this stuff up an pelletize it.

Lots of Biomass stuff that can be used rather than wood.

Snowy


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## SmokeyTheBear (Feb 24, 2011)

Snowy Rivers said:
			
		

> Another viable option for pellets is making them from leaves.
> 
> The eastern part of this country has a metric buttload of leaves in the fall season.
> 
> ...



Hey you, leave those leaves alone, what do you think I use when insulating my cave and making my compost ;-) .


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## Fsappo (Feb 24, 2011)

I saw and posted some videos that were circulating with the leaf pellet maker.  Your right about the buttloads.  We almost bought one for the shop to try, kind of as a publicity thing.  If crude stays over 100 per barrell, we may try again...although last time crude jumped like this, we had very little time to fool around with the new stuff.


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## jtakeman (Feb 24, 2011)

Franks said:
			
		

> I saw and posted some videos that were circulating with the leaf pellet maker. Your right about the buttloads. We almost bought one for the shop to try, kind of as a publicity thing. If crude stays over 100 per barrell, we may try again...although last time crude jumped like this, we had very little time to fool around with the new stuff.



Links to video's, please?

Bamboo is something I am very interested in. Least amount of ash I seen from a seasonal growth product besides corn. But corn is kind of pricey because of ethanol! Another is peat moss, But controversial issue's there!

Leaves were pretty ashy but better than grass pellets(I didn't burn enough to get a good ash tally). Properly seasoned switch grass/wood mix was not all that bad(2.0% total) . But if it isn't harvested in the spring right after ice season. Its pretty bad, About the same or worse ash as Timothy grass. 

Funny when the fear of a pellet price spike looms, We all get busy with investigating alternate fuels. Well all except snowy anyway! Got to love them seasonal nut shells!


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## Fsappo (Feb 24, 2011)

I cant go on you tube at work, but if you youtube it and search for "pellets made from leaves" or "Meagan Fox" you should find some great videos.

Seriously, last time I looked the vids were very easy to find.


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## Sting (Feb 25, 2011)

1/2 the heat 3 times the ash after 10 ton of testing

2 more ton in the barn and ill never buy another bag


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## arnash (Feb 25, 2011)

Isn't it safe to say that only good quality pellets are made from hard woods?  Paper, cardboard, etc, are made from soft woods so they're less dense, hence, less heat.  This subject gave me an idea.  Wouldn't using paper put through a paper shredder as a fire-starter material work pretty well?  It would not block the burn pot holes, and would burn like crazy.  Sprinkle some pellets on top and let 'er rip!  Now I have to get out my paper shredder to test the concept, but if it doesn't work as expected, my lamp oil dampened mini-pine cones are working just fine.


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## SmokeyTheBear (Feb 25, 2011)

arnash said:
			
		

> Isn't it safe to say that only good quality pellets are made from hard woods?  ...



You really need to try some of those poor quality softwood pellets, if you can find some horrible Atlas (company gone now) Red Fir pellets you'll understand that in a press with all of the air and excess moisture squeezed out that pulp is generally pulp.  Try them (or Blazers, or Oakies).


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## AndrewChurchill (Feb 25, 2011)

Pound for pound softwood has more BTUs than hardwood.  Softwood pellets are just as dense as hardwood pellets.  Cord wood of course is a different story because hardwood in its natural state is more dense than softwood, but as I mentioned earlier when softwood is made into pellets it's just as dense as a hardwood pellet.

I used Energex hardwood pellets the first year I had my pellet boiler and they worked well, but they had a lot of clinkers.  My second year I used bulk Energex softwood pellets and there were no clinkers at all and the ash was much finer.  

This year I am using Spruce Point softwood pellets and they are burning just like the Energex softwood pellets.

As far as usage goes I burned abouy 10% less softwood pellets and they ignited much easier than the hardwood pellets. 

Based on my experience I will continue to use softwood pellets.


Andy



			
				arnash said:
			
		

> Isn't it safe to say that only good quality pellets are made from hard woods?  Paper, cardboard, etc, are made from soft woods so they're less dense, hence, less heat.  This subject gave me an idea.  Wouldn't using paper put through a paper shredder as a fire-starter material work pretty well?  It would not block the burn pot holes, and would burn like crazy.  Sprinkle some pellets on top and let 'er rip!  Now I have to get out my paper shredder to test the concept, but if it doesn't work as expected, my lamp oil dampened mini-pine cones are working just fine.


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## arnash (Feb 26, 2011)

I found my paper shredder and put some junk mail through it.  It burned good, but not by itself, I put some pine cones on top, along with sprinkles of lamp oil.  The ash from the paper blows out of the pot so it doesn't block the air holes.
   Say, if you burn corn, are there types of corn that pop and other types that don't?  I'm thinking of put some old popcorn in the burn pot before start-up, just to see what happens.


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## jtakeman (Feb 26, 2011)

arnash said:
			
		

> Isn't it safe to say that only good quality pellets are made from hard woods?



Wow, I thought that was just a New England wifestail. I did not expect that from a softwood region pellet burner. The answer is a big "NO". Compression of the fiber during the pelletizing process equalizes the density. And we usually see better heat and cleaner burns from softwood fuels. You live in the land of Douglas Fir pellets, Or Red Fir(as some call it). You really need to try some. Look for Bear Mountains brand. One of the best pellets on this planet!


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## perchin (Feb 26, 2011)

arnash said:
			
		

> Isn't it safe to say that only good quality pellets are made from hard woods?



no... far from the truth in fact.

And J... the best pellets on the planet are UNCLE JED's ;-P


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## jtakeman (Feb 26, 2011)

perchin said:
			
		

> arnash said:
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Uncle Jeds are rebagged Bear Mountain Douglas firs. There other softwoods are the same as Dragon Mountain. Uncle Jed does not make pellets they only buy in bulk and rebag them with there name. If they decide to buy someone else's bulk pellet? Things could change for you. Bear Mountains will not.  I am a pellet guru and a fire god. I have to know these things or I get banished to an evil land! One with no pellets to burn! :sad:


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## perchin (Feb 26, 2011)

j-takeman said:
			
		

> perchin said:
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Interesting... good to know. So then we can agree they are the best...hehe. I really hope they don't change, as I have been burning them for 3 years now, and am in love.


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## jtakeman (Feb 26, 2011)

perchin said:
			
		

> j-takeman said:
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If Uncle Jed is smart, They won't mess with a good thing. I think your safe. Yes we can agree that Bear Mountain/Uncle Jeds fir are the best out there~


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## arnash (Feb 27, 2011)

It just so happens that, with the exception of one bag from home depot, all I've burned is the Bear Mountain brand from Ace Hardware.  The good thing is that, aside from Walmart,  they have the best price in town ($5.)  but I'm not inclined to trust walmart quality.  I hope the price doesn't go up since I can only buy about 5-8 bags at a time when I'm in town (limited space).


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