NEWS : Heating a Greenhouse with Grass Pellets You Tube Video

The owner of the greenhouse shows the furnace which they previously used to burn coal to heat their greenhouse, is now burning grass pellets. The greenhouse owner explains how the furnace running on grass pellets could easily heat any farm house within the county. He then proceeds to open the bag of grass pellet fuel and load it into the hopper on the furnace. He then proceeds to remove and empty the large ash draw, which fits within the furnace direct beneath the burn grate. The hopper has a horizontal auger in the base which will feed pellets up into the burn pot. The owner explains one of the reasons he likes this design of pellet furnace is due to the design of the grate. He explain as ash is produced the new feed of pellets pushes the ash over the grate, and into the large ash pan below. To ignite the grass pellet furnace either fire starter gel, or in the video a flame torch is used to ignite the fire. A fan then feeds the fire with

air to achieve an efficient combustion. A few minutes after starting the fire, the combustion zone of the grass pellets is around 600 degrees. Using an infrared temperature sensor, the owner of the greenhouse shows how efficient the pellet stove furnace is at capturing heat, with the flue gases leaving the chimney at only around 70 degrees. The flue gases still need to be hot enough, so creosote does not form around within the chimney, as eventually this would choke the furnace. Within a few more minutes the temperature of the combustion zone has reached 1000 degrees. At these tempters highly efficient combustion is taken place, volatile gases are being burnt off and no visible smoke. At these temperatures the flame appears blue, similar to a gas flame. As stated within the video, compared to coal, grass pellets are not only a much greener option, there are also a renewable resource. The grass pellets burn cleanly, generate no odour during combustion. The owner describes the process of using grass pellets as a win, win scenario for the consumer and manufacturer of the pellets.

Harman PB105 Wood Pellet Boiler

Kozi Baywin Wood Pellet Stove

Pellet Furnace Burn Pot Designs And Other Issues With Grass Pellets

Burning grass pellet fuel is not as simple as burning wood pellets for example. However, despite the issues, burning grass pellets is definitely worth as the resources are far more abundant than wood and grass pellets can be a much cheaper and more available fuel source. The three main issues involved in burning grass pellets are increased ash content, possible clinker formations and increased corrosion risks. Grass pellets produce chloride which is a high temperature corrosive, to withstand the increased corrosion risk, the furnace must be either built from stainless steel or heavy grade steel. To deal with the increased ash content and clinker formations, only certain burn pot designs can remove sufficient ash and also possible clinker formations. The issue is most pellet stoves and pellet boilers are designed with a very basic drop down burn pot. Clinker formations are were the ash reaches a high enough temperature to fuse together and form a solid glass like mass. The PelHeat pellet stove and boiler guide shows which design of burn pot and other issues to avoid.

The Pellet Stove and Boiler Guide © PelHeat Ltd - Heating a Greenhouse With Grass Pellets