Fw: Hay Pelletizer / Biomass Machine follow-up (1)

[Snow Ranch]

 

----- Original Message -----

From: Snow Ranch

Sent: Saturday, January 29, 2011 4:23 PM

Subject: Hay Pelletizer / Biomass Machine follow-up

Hey!

 

I was thinking a little more about that hay mower/ shredder/ pelletizer rig or a stationary operation this afternoon.  Was thinking something like this initially in regard to a cut in half propane tank unit:

 

....However, you can't just direct feed the bale as depicted above.  A shredding step is required first, unless the rollers are also shredders.   So, you either have better machined rollers than a well casing, or modify the well casings, or run a shedder phase first.  One option on a cheap shredder might be to take a wrecking yard manual transmission and cut away both sides of the tranny casing...leaving the gears exposed. Hopper feed into it.  PTO drive.  The gears of the transmission are case-hardened steel and better engineered for stress than any garden shredder.   Hay put into a transmission will emerge shredded in really small fragments.  Junkyard cores go for about $20. 

 

...Alternatively....do the shredding process on the roller face.

 

 

SHREDDING EXAMPLES

 

Hay shredder:   http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IdgoyVnI9HI

Heavy-Duty Shredders:  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rabJ5gDRCoE&NR=1

Toro shredder/ mulcher:  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-qOkW8Km3Ng

Papercrete mixer method:  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JoLBeV6tzJ4
....Transformed tow-mixer to PTO drive: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1NaHP2F--WU

* For high volumes and low cost, I think the Papercrete tank with a lawnmower blade and junkyard axle make the most sense, but not towed.  PTO or electric motor driven.  Water added, flour, corn oil, binders, etc.  Pulp then run into the pelletizer at a suitable moisture content prior to compression.  Would take a little trial and error. 

PELLETIZER EXAMPLES

 

Pelletizer Systems International: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SNMQQ6ilGU8

 

PTO pelletizer made from axle, screens, and rollers:  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OEHO2Uu5-_E&feature=related

 

$229 -$599 die & rollers, 6mm and 4mm:  http://www.makeyourownpellets.com/accessories/ss-120a-die-and-rollers

 

Indian pelletizer:  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dKr-t1rBq0w

 

Great little 600 lb/ hr pelletizer & info:   http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-yTZ3lftyYw&feature=related

 

12" Buskirgeng Pellet Mill model PM1220:  http://buskirkeng.com/products-pm1200.php
* 1000 lbs/ hr...crop residue.  2 hrs per ton.  [Unknown price.  RFQ pending]

 

* In light of more study, I think my earlier idea of a butchered propane tank is not good.  Though capable of higher volumes, it'll take more shafts, longer shafts, more bearings, and more mechanical engineering.   I now favor just an expanded design that would be just a larger version of the PTO pelletizer highlighted in red above.   The MakeYourOwnPellets people make some suitable dies and rollers, but they're too small for any high volume throughput.  Best to machine your own at larger scale.  Same general design.

 

 

---

 

These were some ideas and machining costs on the extruder plates for the propane tank pelletizer idea:

 

As drilled 1/2" plate.  Image depicts 4 bolt holes on the corners.  There should be 2 more in the center (for resistance to bending under all that pressure) that I forgot to draw.

1/2" single plate x 2" x 6", Al 6061 T6, +/- .005" tolerance
$177.56/ each w/ shipping.  27 days out to machine it without rush order costs.

Order of 12 = $60.80 each.

(Originally, I had considered aluminum due to rust considerations, though they would wear out sooner.)

 

108 holes per plate - 6 bolt holes = 102 holes per plate.

 

As O1 Oil hardened steel.   $335.25/ ea
12) 142.95 ea

 

As 303 stainless steel:
1) $273.44 ea.
12) $140.95 ea

 

** Cheaper to just buy the flat barstock and drillpress it yourself, or hire a kid.   Figure about 1/2 hr marking and 1/2 hour drilling per plate.  About 1hr/ plate total.  Minimum of around 12 plates needed on a 6' long propane tank unit.

 

Depending on the material selection and loading pressures...1/4" plate could be used at about 1/2 the cost:

Al 6061 T6, 1/4" single plate, $146.30 ea
12) $31.02/ea.

--------