22 January, 2025 | Biomass Energy

The Essential Role of Shredder, Sawdust Machine, Hammer Mill, Chipper, Dryer and Supportive Machinery in Biomass Processing

The Essential Role of Shredder, Sawdust Machine, Hammer Mill, Chipper, Dryer and Supportive Machinery in Biomass Processing
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Biomass processing has emerged as a key component in sustainable fuel development. The conversion of organic materials into biofuels requires specialised machinery working together in the processing chain. From initial size reduction to fine grinding and moisture control, each machinery plays a key role. As the world seeks sustainable energy solutions, these machines become increasingly important for renewable fuel production and waste management.

This article explores the essential equipment that enables biomass processing: shredders, sawdust-making machines, hammer mills, chippers, dryers, and supportive machinery. These machines help to transform raw biomass into clean-burning fuels, further reducing fossil fuel dependence.

Shredder

Shredders are key in biomass processing. They help in the preparation of various organic materials for the next use. The primary role of shredders is to reduce the size of biomass. This is done to make biomass more manageable for further processing in pellet mills, briquette machines, etc.

Shredders can process multiple variety of biomass sources, including:

  • Agroforest waste (e.g., crop residues, wood chips)
  • Hospital or bio-waste
  • Industrial organic waste
  • Municipal Solid waste
  • Refuse Derived Fuel
  • Tire Waste
  • Certain types of metal waste (in specialised shredders)

Shredded biomass is prepared for numerous downstream processes, such as heating (as fuel in biomass boilers), briquetting or pelletizing (for creating densified biomass fuels), or power generation (in biomass power plants). Shredders improve the speed and feasibility of biomass processing by making biomass handling easier for processing or transportation to the biofuel production plant. It minimizes biomass storage space requirements.

Ecostan’s Dual Shaft Shredder is a key player in biomass waste management. Our versatile shredders have use cases for agriculture, forestry, and industrial waste processing. Ecostan has four main models of Dual Shaft Shredders: DSS 200, DSS 120, DSS 80, and DSS 50, with capacities ranging from 2.0 TPH to 10 TPH and power requirements from 50 HP to 200 HP.

These shredders are designed with advanced technology to ensure optimal shredding with minimal maintenance, featuring robust construction for heavy-duty functioning and a programmed control panel for smooth, automatic operation.

Ecostan’s shredders process agricultural waste materials, including corn cobs, paddy straw, sugarcane straw, and wheat straw. Forest waste such as tree bark, branches, and wood waste. Industrial waste, including cardboard and paper waste, e-waste, metal waste, rubber tires, municipal solid waste (MSW), plastic scrap, and even hospital waste management, dealing with bio-waste, clothes, gloves, medical straps, needles, syringes, etc.

Sawdust Machine

Sawdust machines are important auxiliary machinery for biomass processing. As key supportive machinery for biofuel production, these machines convert waste wood logs into fine sawdust. Sawdust is easy to transport and feed in pellet and briquette machines.

The machines process various types of wood waste, including:

  • Hardwood
  • Softwood
  • Dry tree trunks
  • Wet tree trunks

The processing capacity of sawdust machines varies based on their model and power used. However, advanced sawdust machines can easily convert wood logs (4-12 inches) to fine sawdust (2-10 mm). It makes the pelletizing and briquetting process easier, as sawdust is one of the best raw materials for briquetting or pelletizing. Using sawdust machines can enhance the quality and energy density of final biofuel products as they make fine and clean sawdust from wood logs. These machines reduce transportation and storage costs by processing logs on-site.

Ecostan’s Sawdust Machines Series is designed to efficiently convert wood logs into fine sawdust, handling wood diameters from 4 to 12 inches depending on the machine model. The ESM series includes four models: ESM 150, ESM 100, ESM 75, and ESM 50, with production capacities ranging from 1.0 TPH to 5.0 TPH. Key features include efficient conversion, consistent output, a heavy build for demanding situations, and a user-friendly design for easy operation and maintenance, with fully automatic control operation.

Hammer Mill

Hammer Mills are an essential part of the processing chain that turns biomass into bioenergy. These machines grind chipped raw material (farm and forest waste) into smaller pieces. Hammer Mills uses an in-feed screw conveyor, hammer blades, and perforated screens. They process dry biomass to turn it into fine-grind material to be processed further in Pellet Mills and Briquetting Machines.

Hammer Mills fine-grind different types of biomass, making the processing more productive and flexible. Grinding improves the energy density of biomass by reducing particle size, which in turn enhances the combustion efficiency of final biomass fuel products.

Ecostan’s UltraMill Series Hammer Mills are high-performance machines designed for fine-grinding chipped raw materials into smaller sizes for various industrial applications. The series includes models with production capacities ranging from 1-10 TPH (tonnes per hour). UltraMill Series includes easy screen and blade change, dual-side operation, and an automatic control system

Chipper

Chippers are essential machines in biomass processing, converting large woody materials like branches and logs into smaller, uniform chips. This size reduction helps in the efficient drying and further processing of biomass materials.

These machines enhance the surface area of woody biomass, creating standardized particles that are easier to handle, transport, and process. This uniformity ensures consistent quality in the final biofuel product.

Wood chippers are used for a wide variety of applications, such as to create mulch, produce wood pulp, dispose of waste, use wood waste as a biofuel in boilers, use wood waste for making briquettes or pellets, etc.

Biomass Wood Chippers are available in various sizes, from portable garden units to industrial-scale machines. Chippers improve biomass handling efficiency and enable better resource utilization by processing materials that might otherwise go unused.

Dryers

Dryers play a very important role in biofuel production, as the controlled moisture content plays an important role in the formation of briquettes and pellets, i.e., 8-15%. Keeping moisture levels in control helps to maintain the fuel quality by ensuring the highest burn ratio. Mainly, there are two types of dryers available for biomass drying applications: flash dryers and rotary dryers. The choice of dryer depends on the moisture content and raw material size. For powdery material and low moisture content flash dryers are used, and for bigger size material with high moisture content, rotary dryers are used.

Key Features of Dryers

  • Flash dryers utilize hot air to dry biomass particles; the drying is done with pneumatic conveying of raw material.
  • Flash dryers are of two types: single-pass dryers and double-pass dryers.
  • Flash dryers can take up to 35% moist material for drying with a size below 15 mm.
  • Rotary dryers, however, work better to dry bigger biomass with sizes up to 25 mm.
  • Rotary dryers can dry material with having moisture content of up to 50%.

Cow Dung Log Machine

The cow dung log-making machine is a specialised machine that turns semi-solid cow dung into square- or round-shaped logs. These logs can be used for heat generation for domestic and industrial purposes. It shows a new way to deal with waste and make energy that won’t run out. Ecostan CDL 5 machine can produce up to 450 kg of fuel per hour.

Pneumatic Stone Separator

The pneumatic stone separator plays a key role in maintaining the quality and safety of biomass processing. As biomass contains many different types of contaminants like stones, pebbles, metals, and other heavy objects, if not segregated, it can damage the biomass machinery. These contaminants can be separated from the biomass with the help of a pneumatic stone separator. This cleaning step is essential to protect downstream processing equipment from harm and to ensure the final biofuel product remains pure.

Bale Unroller

Bale unroller machines help to use the biomass in baled form, like farm leftovers. It unrolls the baled straw, hay, or other stringy materials to get them ready for further processing. The use of a bale unroller is mainly for unrolling paddy straw bales for processing material into a shredder. Bale unrollers cut down on the need for manual work and speed up biomass processing.

Supportive Machinery

Various supporting machines are used in processing different biomass. These machines take care of different steps in getting biomass ready. The details on Ecostan Biomass Processing supportive machinery are as follows: The choice of machine depends on the raw material used for making biomass pellets or briquettes.

Pellet Cooler

A pellet cooler is used to cool the biomass pellets after they are pressed by the pellet machine. Since the pellets are hot initially, the pellet cooler helps to cool them to room temperature, which makes them easy to pack and transport.

Conveyor System

A conveyor system is a mechanical handling equipment that moves material from one place to another. It can be used to transport the raw material & the finished goods. Many types of conveying systems are available and are used according to various needs, such as screw conveyors, belt conveyors, chain conveyors, and bucket elevator conveyors. The use of these conveyor systems eliminates the excessive use of manual labour, saves labour costs, and provides enhanced efficiency and production.

Dust Collection System

A dust collector is a system used to collect dust that comes out of raw material processing units. It helps to improve the quality of air at the workplace and also enhances the quality of air released from the biomass plant.

Vibrating Table

The vibrating tables are used to separate the large particles from the raw material. It ensures the quality and uniform composition of the raw material. It is also used to separate the powder material from the finished goods (biomass pellets). Different models of the vibrating tables are available to cater to different production requirements.

Rotary Screener

A rotary screen is a mechanical screening machine used to segregate materials of different sizes, mainly granulates and powders. Physical size separation makes biomass processing easy and smooth.

Automatic Box Feeder

The automatic box feeder is used to streamline the production process and ensure seamless biomass processing. The raw material is fed into the box feeders with the help of tractor-operated loaders, which makes biomass machinery easy to operate with minimal manpower requirements. This process smoothens the workflow and increases the productivity.

Conclusion

Continued innovation in biomass processing technology promises greater efficiency and expanded capabilities for a more sustainable future. The biomass processing industry is vital for sustainable energy production and waste management. Various machines like shredders, hammer mills, and chippers convert raw biomass into biofuels, helping reduce fossil fuel dependence and manage waste effectively.

Ecostan, a leading manufacturer of biomass processing equipment, offers comprehensive machinery, including briquetting machines, pellet mills, shredders, and specialised biomass handling equipment.  Our 245,000 sq ft facility features an R&D lab, and our high-quality machines operate in over 21 countries, with more than 5,100 units in use globally.

For advanced biomass processing solutions, visit www.ecostan.com or email sales@ecostan.com. Partner with Ecostan for a sustainable future.

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