Grass Pellets on CL. Gasification video too.

[schoondog]

I hear you Eric. I will be watching closely. I did find out the local wood/pellet shop in town has been burning these pellets for a few years. I used to work for the guy, he has been selling stoves for over 20 years and don't believe he would burn them if they weren't OK. Also value your advise. Thanks.

Schoondog

 

[poconoman]

Not to rain on your parade.

Please remember that your stove needs to be rated for a fuel before you should burn it. No matter what it is that stove needs UL certification in it. Just because it is a Bio-fuel stove does not mean the stove or chimney can handle it.

I am not your insurance agent or State Fire Marshal but they have been know to take samples of the ash pan if there is a house fire or something bad happens.

Red means "Danger Will Robinson!".

Eric

PC45 should fit the bill. :coolsmile:

 

[imacman]

Well, here are the grass pellets......approx. 96% grass, and the rest is wood. Won't be burning these until later tonight or tomorrow due to the stove being on 3 and temps outside in the high 40's.

I want to clean the firebox/burnpot before dumping these in.

 

[MCPO]

Well, here are the grass pellets......approx. 96% grass, and the rest is wood. Won't be burning these until later tonight or tomorrow due to the stove being on 3 and temps outside in the high 40's.

I want to clean the firebox/burnpot before dumping these in.

looks good enough to smoke. Where`s Pook?

 

[jtakeman]

Well, here are the grass pellets......approx. 96% grass, and the rest is wood. Won't be burning these until later tonight or tomorrow due to the stove being on 3 and temps outside in the high 40's.

I want to clean the firebox/burnpot before dumping these in.

A tad bit of fines there. How do the pellets feel compared to standard wood pellets?

 

[imacman]

Except for the dark color, they feel the same. Nice, grassy smell too! Feel like I'm in a barn LOL.
Here's the comparison to wood pellet fines (yes, quite a bit of fines....I'm glad I can run them through my pellet cleaner):

 

[jtakeman]

I can't wait to here what you think of them.

You should expect silica in the burnpot. The ash will probably be real gritty like. Might also get some raisin sized pebbles in the burnpot. They should burn similar to the switchgrass pellets I tried.

You live close to town? You may get some strange kritters lurking about trying to find where the smell is coming from! :lol: Pook get away from mac's vent pipe! hehe.

keep us posted, (By the way I am jealous! I want to burn some grass too. soon)

 

[schoondog]

Macman and Tjakeman,
Interesting that there are substantial fines in the bags. Dirk showed me the fan he uses along with the screen and mentioned that we would see little fines. He also mentioned silica and the lack thereof in his process. I will begin burning mine tomorrow too after a stove cleaning. They look great in the bag and in his building, definitely a difference between the all grass and the wood (4%) mix, that little bit of wood really makes a hard pellet.

schoondog

 

[imacman]

....Interesting that there are substantial fines in the bags. Dirk showed me the fan he uses along with the screen and mentioned that we would see little fines......

Schoon, also consider that after we put those bags into my car, when I got home, there were fines that "seeped" out from the burlap bags in the back of the car.

Still, very interested in seeing what happens. My stove is just now running out of the wood pellets, but I don't know if I feel like cleaning it now......might not happen 'til tomorrow. I'll probably just put enough wood pellets in tonight to get me to tomorrow morning.

 

[jtakeman]

Macman and Tjakeman,
Interesting that there are substantial fines in the bags. Dirk showed me the fan he uses along with the screen and mentioned that we would see little fines. He also mentioned silica and the lack thereof in his process. I will begin burning mine tomorrow too after a stove cleaning. They look great in the bag and in his building, definitely a difference between the all grass and the wood (4%) mix, that little bit of wood really makes a hard pellet.

schoondog

Schoondog,

That was the only real issue(sillica) with the switch grass. Other than that they were good heat producers. You may also find they need lots and lots of air to try to get a clean burn.

I can't wait to try the all grass and compare to the switch grass. I got to dig through my notes to see what temps I was getting. But if not I can try a few bags again from BT Ent. The Pheonix switch grass also had some wood content.

I can't wait to see what you and macman think of them. I am on the edge of my seat again(I was dieing to hear what krooser though of the Bear Mountains Doug Fir pellets). Too much excitement for the mind

jay

 

[jtakeman]

....Interesting that there are substantial fines in the bags. Dirk showed me the fan he uses along with the screen and mentioned that we would see little fines......

Schoon, also consider that after we put those bags into my car, when I got home, there were fines that "seeped" out from the burlap bags in the back of the car.

Still, very interested in seeing what happens. My stove is just now running out of the wood pellets, but I don't know if I feel like cleaning it now......might not happen 'til tomorrow. I'll probably just put enough wood pellets in tonight to get me to tomorrow morning.

Might not be a bad idea to start fresh in the morning. Better to not rush it. Be prepared to do some tweaking. I really doubt there going to burn just like wood. One nice thing is they should burn slower. Same as corn does. Wood release's BTU's very quickly. Agra fuels release there energy slower. I call it prolonged BTU's.

This is one reason I want all grass. I can add the quicker burning wood in ratio's. Slowly increase until I get the quick BTU's of the wood and the gradual BTU's of the agra fuel. Kinda like the way I found 60/40 for pellets/corn blend burnt in pellet mode for max heat produced. But I will start with all grass in multifuel mode just to see what I get and how clean the burn is. Thinking a little ahead is all.

Have fun guys, wish I was with you.
jay

 

[schoondog]

Jay,
I almost feel bad burning these things before you do, With all you have done. But don't despair we will get you a nice pile of burlap bags filled with grass to play with soon!
Ya.... I am gonna clean my stove and empty it tomorrow and burn the grass while I watch the games tomorrow. Just in case.

Schoondog

 

[imacman]

Well, I couldn't stand it anymore.....so I did a quick vacuum of the burnpot & firebox, cleaned the glass, brushed the excess ash into the ash pan, and loaded some grass/wood pellets into the hopper. Hit the start button, and waited. The pics show the result. One thing I DID notice went right along with what Jay mentioned, that the grass burns slower. The burn pot started filling up, so I changed my lower buttons settings from 3-2-1 for the wood pellets, to 2-4-1 to slow the pellet feed, and increase the air. I saw immediate improvement in the flame. Just have to let it burn, and "tweak" the settings. Wish me luck!

 

[jtakeman]

Looking pretty good so far. I wish you some luck, But with your knowledge and experiance. You will be ok.

You probably will not be able to get the super clean burn as pellets either. Dark gray is about the best you can get, I would say.

That's about all the tips I can give you. Have fun with it brother grass burner!(shy, me wants grass too!)

jay

 

[imacman]

.....You probably will not be able to get the super clean burn as pellets either. Dark gray is about the best you can get, I would say......

Yep Jay, the ash is kinda "pebbly" and gray. I've had to up the air even more, and lower the feed more too. I'm at 1-8-1 right now just to try to get the burn pot to stay cleaned out more.

Tomorrow I may even re-set the stove to the corn setting, which makes the stirrer move more on each auger feed, lengthens the amount of time the ignitor and air pump run= hotter burn on start-up..

I'm on a learning curve!

 

[jtakeman]

.....You probably will not be able to get the super clean burn as pellets either. Dark gray is about the best you can get, I would say......

Yep Jay, the ash is kinda "pebbly" and gray. I've had to up the air even more, and lower the feed more too. I'm at 1-8-1 right now just to try to get the burn pot to stay cleaned out more. Tomorrow I may even re-set the stove to the corn setting, which makes the stirrer move more on each auger feed, lengthens the amount of time the ignitor and air pump run= hotter burn on start-up..

I'm on a learning curve!

But I bet its fun too! Something new to learn is interesting and challenging. Keeps that brain active!

I am glued to this!

 

[schoondog]

Macman,
They said grass could be addicting! Couldn't wait to lit up eh? :lol: Good luck and I'm gonna do mine tomorrow.
Schoondog

 

[schoondog]

Hey Macman are you warm this morning?

Schoondog

 

[MCPO]

What can you report on the heat output ?

 

[jtakeman]

macman is a little old and needs his beauty sleep. Probably won't log in till noon!

schoondog, Ya burning yet? We are about to head out to breakfast and hit HD for the home project supplies. I will try to call ya when I get back!

 

[schoondog]

Stove will be running out of pellets shortly. Think I will go shoot the bow for awhile as stove cools then come back, clean it up and smoke some grass while watching football. That sounds illegal.

Schoondog

 

[jtakeman]

macman?

schoondog?

Ahh, they must have past out from all them "grass" fumes. How did we say that when we were kids? "CRASHED" I think it was. I can't remember that far back anymore.

 

[schoondog]

OK, sorry but had a little problem with the sump pump and water in basement. Trumped the grass burning. Just started the burn. Cleaned the stove, emptied hopper for the most part. Started with grass pellets. Seemed OK. Only a few minutes in the burn, room fan just came on. Wife and kids say it smells like dirt, I mentioned a walk in a field in the summer and after a second they agreed. And now my car smells the same. Oh yea plenty of fines. I don't clean mine but can tell when I dump them in. Doesn't bother me though. May bug others. I have to give them a little more air also. I have an volume air damper on my stove. Will get back soon with more.

Schoondog

 

[schoondog]

No problems with the burn so far. Nice heat, gotta burn with a little more air. Can't tell about ash just yet. Pics are gonna be a problem as I am missing the Jets game trying to download the camera and for some reason I can't see the last 25 pics on the computer. They are on the card, but won't transfer. Will work on it later. So far so good.

Schoon

 

[jtakeman]

No problems with the burn so far. Nice heat, gotta burn with a little more air. Can't tell about ash just yet. Pics are gonna be a problem as I am missing the Jets game trying to download the camera and for some reason I can't see the last 25 pics on the computer. They are on the card, but won't transfer. Will work on it later. So far so good.

Schoon

Schoondog,

I gave up them camera drivers years ago. I use a media card reader. No drivers and such. Just plug in the card. much easier for me anyway.

Glad the stove seems to ne burning good for you. Wonder what happen to macman?