Hi, I was wondering if my Harman Accentra insert could handle a really high ash fuel, like Switchgrass pellets (with 5% ash) or will it just choak up?
Harman stove & very high ash fuels (such as switchgrass)
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Anton Smirnov said:
I used Harman mechanism with Peanut Hull pellets at 3%, but can't speak for over that. Where the heck does one get switchgrass pellets?
In canada :]
They are not available in the US as yet, but a Vt. farm affiliated with Cornell Univ. is going to do a test run this winter. If all goes well, they may start producing it commercially. Obviously, even if everything goes smoothly, it will be a couple of years before they are readilly available.
But their website claims that the best place to grow switchgrass is the NE, so hopefully the prices will be nice and low in Ma. (according to a canadian website, up there it's about the same price per BTU as natural gas, and cheaper than everything else, including wood pellets)
Switchgrass has roughly 7/8 the BTUs of wood pellets
They are not available in the US as yet, but a Vt. farm affiliated with Cornell Univ. is going to do a test run this winter. If all goes well, they may start producing it commercially. Obviously, even if everything goes smoothly, it will be a couple of years before they are readilly available.
But their website claims that the best place to grow switchgrass is the NE, so hopefully the prices will be nice and low in Ma. (according to a canadian website, up there it's about the same price per BTU as natural gas, and cheaper than everything else, including wood pellets)
Switchgrass has roughly 7/8 the BTUs of wood pellets
Honey I can't mow the lawn up back Why? the switch grass is not long enough yet . I will have to layout a roll of screening a to act as a drying rack to dry the switch grass. I will get the stove running and then burn grass. You said what you are burning grass or have you been smoking it too much? I now can roll my own logs using newspapers as the covers to the grass. Ahhh the eduction practices of the late sixtys is now paying off. Dont Bogart that log my friend pass it over to me.
Elk,
I take back the shot I took at you, You're Alright after All
Now, about passing that grass around...
I take back the shot I took at you, You're Alright after All
Now, about passing that grass around...
Hello Anton,
I found this at GrassBioenergy.org
Harman P61A wood pellet stove
Heating capacity: 0-61,000 BTU
Hopper capacity: 120 lbs of grass pellets (with hopper extension)
Burn pot area of Harman P61A Harman P61A wood pellet stove
The burn pot area slopes up from the auger pellet feed exit and then flattens out. Pellets are pushed into the combustion bed and burned residue is pushed up over the lip into the ash drawer. This would have the potential to work with high ash materials, and has worked with 4% ash wood residues.
Results
At a medium burn rate, the grass pellet mass is burned successfully and the partially-fused ash mat is pushed over the lip of the burn pot. After one to two days, a carbon buildup develops on the burn pot surface a short distance from the pellet feed auger. Sooner or later this buildup stops the flow going up, out and over. This plugs up the stove. This stove could work for grass pellets if the burn surface was cleaned daily. The heat exchanger and air channel under the burn pot and the glass door would need regular cleaning, more often than with wood pellets. The pellet feed system operated flawlessly. The ability of this stove to completely shut down and then start up on its own when heat is required is a nice feature.
I believe all the Harman wood pellet stoves are similar so I would think you would get similar results.
Cliff
I found this at GrassBioenergy.org
Harman P61A wood pellet stove
Heating capacity: 0-61,000 BTU
Hopper capacity: 120 lbs of grass pellets (with hopper extension)
Burn pot area of Harman P61A Harman P61A wood pellet stove
The burn pot area slopes up from the auger pellet feed exit and then flattens out. Pellets are pushed into the combustion bed and burned residue is pushed up over the lip into the ash drawer. This would have the potential to work with high ash materials, and has worked with 4% ash wood residues.
Results
At a medium burn rate, the grass pellet mass is burned successfully and the partially-fused ash mat is pushed over the lip of the burn pot. After one to two days, a carbon buildup develops on the burn pot surface a short distance from the pellet feed auger. Sooner or later this buildup stops the flow going up, out and over. This plugs up the stove. This stove could work for grass pellets if the burn surface was cleaned daily. The heat exchanger and air channel under the burn pot and the glass door would need regular cleaning, more often than with wood pellets. The pellet feed system operated flawlessly. The ability of this stove to completely shut down and then start up on its own when heat is required is a nice feature.
I believe all the Harman wood pellet stoves are similar so I would think you would get similar results.
Cliff
Shop-Dog said:Elk,
I take back the shot I took at you, You're Alright after All
Now, about passing that grass around...
Speaking of Grass, the news this week said illegal drug use is going up - AMONG BABY BOOMERS! I guess now that we all have our own houses and the kids are gone, it's time to get the water pipe out of storage? Although I'd be worried about heart attacks when we geezers hear it cost $600 an OZ. - and unlike Harrys Pellets, it truly is nuclear!
PelletHead: "Honest officer, it is switchgrass. It is burning in the pellet stove."
Very Large Cop: "Yeah right. Now I've heard it all. A cast iron doobie. Put on your shoes and put your hands behind your back. You have the right to..."
Other Large Cop Outside: "Hey Frank come here. Ya gotta see this. The whole neighborhood is outside singing Kumbaya and saying stuff like 'Far out man!' and 'Wow! Dig the spining blue lights man.' and 'Who's got the Oreos?".
Very Large Cop: "Yeah right. Now I've heard it all. A cast iron doobie. Put on your shoes and put your hands behind your back. You have the right to..."
Other Large Cop Outside: "Hey Frank come here. Ya gotta see this. The whole neighborhood is outside singing Kumbaya and saying stuff like 'Far out man!' and 'Wow! Dig the spining blue lights man.' and 'Who's got the Oreos?".
BB falling out of my seat LOL
Been a good day for your retorts
Shop dog I must of missed you shot at me Oh well next time
Cheech and Chong officer O'mally its only switch grass Ohhhhhh this wow man is this sh-- good, are you sure it is switch and not mex gold?
Been a good day for your retorts
Shop dog I must of missed you shot at me Oh well next time
Cheech and Chong officer O'mally its only switch grass Ohhhhhh this wow man is this sh-- good, are you sure it is switch and not mex gold?
sorry Anton I hyjacked your post for a little humor don't take it personal. you know if asked I would help you.
I really think it great switch grass can be used to produce heat.
I really think it great switch grass can be used to produce heat.
Ha .................Why you guys always on the roof cleaning the chimney!? Seems like every day now. Oh , By the way ..... I think you have a little black around your mouth .
next thing you know, the dope growers will be peletizing there waste material to heat there grow rooms, use the procedes to make some hi tech pellet mill that no ligit company can afford and get a two for one, you get heat without alarming the power company, and you can huff on tail pipe all day long. I guess they would have some special charcol filter for the exaust so they dont alarm the neighbors....
Less than a century ago it was US law that one had to grow hemp if one owned over a certain acreage (200?). Maybe we'll get back to the good old days. Hemp seed has a 'high' oil content.
BeGreen said:
hemp is really usefull - makes better paper than wood pulp, and is great for rope (which, in the days before plastic, people used all the time)
Too bad the gov't has decided (without much evidence) that it's as dangerous as cocain.
FYI, cocain affects your brain through the area that makes social interaction enjoyable - it saturates that area so much that cocain addicts start thinking of people as nothing more than annoying objects. it makes them into sociopaths who see nothing wrong with hurting other people. Marijuana is nowhere hear as dangerous (it affects people by 'turning down the volume' on nervous signals to the brain. The main danger with it is that a user is 'impaired' (their reflexes are shot) for 4 or more hours after smoking a joint).
Mind you, most of my facts on this topic are from reading Discover magazine, so they may be a little bit simplified.
It's a great resource, cheap and easy to grow and very fibrous. The govt. decision was swayed (maybe owned is a better word) by the wood pulp industry that wanted to take over the market. They created the refer madness campaign, in a move similar to GM destroying the nation's electric trolley systems. Wood pulp paper is much more energy intensive and when bleached, not very environmentally friendly. Kinda like corn to ethanol eh?
Yes, Anton, I think the subject was too hard to pass up. I laughed pretty hard!
To the question,
the Harman does have an advantage with higher ash fuels because it pushes the ash off the burnpot as the fuel is fed from the bottom. However, the burn pot should be scraped down daily with high ash fuels and the vent systems will need to be cleaned sooner. But when comared to other pellet stoves the Harman excels in it's ability to use high ash fuels.
You might keep an eye on the PC45, which is a corn stove. It has proven to be one of the best biomass burners ever made. We may see the PC45 tweaked to burn switchgrass or other biomass pellets and it will be more efficient than the standard wood pellet stoves.
US Stove does make a good biomass stove but it is not as easy to use as the Harman. If you are not a tinkerer, the Harman will probably be your best bet. Of course, as biofuel becomes more popular we may see more advances from other pellet stove companies.
Sean
To the question,
the Harman does have an advantage with higher ash fuels because it pushes the ash off the burnpot as the fuel is fed from the bottom. However, the burn pot should be scraped down daily with high ash fuels and the vent systems will need to be cleaned sooner. But when comared to other pellet stoves the Harman excels in it's ability to use high ash fuels.
You might keep an eye on the PC45, which is a corn stove. It has proven to be one of the best biomass burners ever made. We may see the PC45 tweaked to burn switchgrass or other biomass pellets and it will be more efficient than the standard wood pellet stoves.
US Stove does make a good biomass stove but it is not as easy to use as the Harman. If you are not a tinkerer, the Harman will probably be your best bet. Of course, as biofuel becomes more popular we may see more advances from other pellet stove companies.
Sean
O.k. major detour on that one.
Here's the real answer as to what this stuff is.
Switchgrass article on Wikipedia
Here's the real answer as to what this stuff is.
Switchgrass article on Wikipedia
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