| Burning Wood Pellets |
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| Written by Fred Buser | |
| Wednesday, 08 October 2008 | |
 As fossil fuel prices continue to climb, more and more people are switching over to alternative biomass fuels like wood pellets. To support this growing market demand new pellet mills are opening all over the country. Additionally, because wood pellets are, most commonly, made from recycled wood waste, they have the added benefit of being affordable and locally available.
The LDJ A-Maize-Ing Heat boilers and furnaces burn pellets as well as most other types of biomass fuels on the market. Keep in mind that not all biomass products are created equal. In fact, one of the largest challenges to heating with biomass is creating products that can efficiently burn different types of biomass fuels effectively.The LDJ A-Maize-Ing Heat units are multi-fuel appliances, but when burning different fuels there are different adjustments to make and things to watch out for. For optimal performance when burning wood pellets in an LDJ furnace or boiler, please follow the guidelines below: Pellets First, we suggest a premium grade pellet that is 1.25” or less in length, low in sawdust fines, and consists of one percent or less ash. Timers The timer settings will follow the same tables and rules as they do for other fuels with the low fire timer at the factory preset of 2 minutes on (red arrow) and 6 minutes off (green arrow). You can reference the owner’s manual to review the timer settings table on page 16 or 17. Draft  The next crucial piece of information when burning pellets would be to ensure you have proper draft. Be sure your draft gauge (monometer) has a reading of .05 to .06 water column inches of draft. It is a good idea to remove the tube from your chimney and re-zero the gauge a few times during the season to ensure its accuracy. Filling the Burn Pot Now that your draft is set you are ready to fill the burn pot with wood pellets. In doing so, make certain the burn pot is filled to the top or slightly crowning the top of the pot. Combustion Air To set the combustion air correctly, you need to understand that wood pellets ignite at much lower temperatures, around 400-450 degrees Fahrenheit, versus a fuel like corn which ignites between 950-1000 degrees Fahrenheit. Due to the lower ignition temperatures, less combustion air is needed to ignite wood pellets. Starting the Unit With your unit in the “Start” position, use a gelled fire starter to light the wood pellets. After the pellets are fully lit, switch the unit into the “On” position. Ensure the combustion blower gate is closed or mostly closed, and gradually open combustion air to get proper fuel to air ratio. Remember, the rate of burn during low fire operation is controlled by the amount of chimney draft. The combustion blower only operates in high fire mode. Only adjust gate when the combustion blower is running. Combustion air needs to come from under the pellets and push upward. If the pellets are too low in the pot, combustion air will push down on the fuel and smoke may come back through the feed system and into the hopper. Burning pellets too low in the pot may show no signs of smoke back but can cause heat to feed back up the auger tube causing the pellets to swell and augers to jam. Last, but not least, when burning wood pellets, we recommend that you clean the flue and heat exchanger more frequently. This preventative step will help create a proper burn and promote maintenance free heating while in operation. If you have more questions about burning wood pellets in your LDJ A-Maize-Ing Heat appliance, please contact your factory trained dealer. |
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| Last Updated ( Friday, 14 November 2008 ) |
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