Processing / Products No.

11

Simple ways to check

wood pellet quality
Pieter D. Kofman1

The quality of wood pellets can vary greatly. When buying wood pellets one
should preferably seek a fuel that conforms to one of the classes outlined in the
recent IS CEN/Technical Specification 14961:2005 Solid biofuels - Fuel
specifications and classes (Table 5). Consumers should examine the following
pellet characteristics:
 Size: most pellets produced as fuel are either 6 or 8 mm in diameter and about
3-4 times the diameter in length.
Moisture content: should be between 8-10%.
Ash content: good quality wood pellets have a very low ash content, below
0.7%.
Mechanical durability: this is a measure of how well the pellets can stand
handling. Every time pellets are handled, some of them break and all of them
show some wear, which will increase the amount of fines. A durability of 97.5
should be required.
Amount of fines: fines hinder pellets from tumbling down to the in-feed auger,
thus disturbing fuel feed to the boiler. Boilers are adjusted to burn wood
pellets, but if fines arrive in the burning chamber, the flame may get too hot as
fines particles burn faster than pellets. In the worst case the ash might sinter,
which means that the burner must be cleaned after it has cooled down. The
amount of fines should preferably be declared for each bulk delivery, and is
measured at the final point in the factory production chain. Fines should
preferably be less than 1% by weight. Pellets are usually screened before
leaving the production facility. Pellets in bags tend to have less fines than those
delivered in bulk. Pellets stored in silos can have an increased amount of fines
on delivery.
Binding agents: if the proper feedstock, such as conifer sawdust, is used it
COFORD should not be necessary to use a binding agent to make wood pellets. However
a binding agent is often used where broadleaved species are the material. If an
Arena House, Arena Road,

agent has been used, the kind and amount should be declared.
Sandyford, Dublin 18, Ireland
Telephone: +353 1 2130725

Bulk density: this measures the weight of a certain volume of loose wood
Email: [email protected]

pellets and should be in the order of 650 kg/m3 loose volume. If the weight is
http://www.coford.ie
© COFORD 2007

1
Danish Forestry Extension, Senior Consultant Wood for Energy, Skovvej 25, 7182 Bredsten, Denmark. Email: [email protected].

This article was reproduced with permission from Bioenergy News, SEI REIO, Winter 2006-2007, p8-9.
 too low, the pellets have not been compressed enough  Place a small handful of pellets in a glass of water. The
which might result in increased amounts of fines. pellets should dissolve into sawdust within minutes. If
not, a binding agent might have been used or improper
By using smell and visual appearance, and the simple
feedstock. Once the pellets have been dissolved, swirl the
tests outlined here, wood pellet quality can be quickly
glass and see what settles in the middle of the bottom of
determined.
the glass. The heaviest particles will settle there. If there
 Put a few handfuls of pellets into a plastic bag and smell is a large amount, it might be possible that dust from a
the odour from the pellets. They should smell of freshly- sanding machine has been added to the pellets. This
cut softwood. If they smell of anything else, beware. increases the amount of ash and the risk of sintering.
 Look carefully at a handful of pellets. They should be  Take a vessel larger than 1 litre and weigh it on a kitchen
light brown in colour, if they are made from clean conifer scales. Note the empty weight. Fill the container to the
sawdust. Dark brown particles are a sign of bark and thus brim with wood pellets and weigh again. Note the
an increased amount of ash. Pellets might have a darker weight. Fill the container with water and weigh again.
outer layer, which is due to friction in the pressing dyes. Deduct the weight of the container from both other
This is not a problem as long as the pellets are a light measurements. Then divide the weight of the pellets by
colour inside – check by breaking them. the weight of the water. The result should be between 0.6
 Take one long pellet and light it at the tip. The smoke and 0.7 kg/litre and preferably around 0.65 kg/litre*. This
should smell of burning wood. If it smells of anything indicates that the pellets have been pressed at the right
else, it is not of good quality. pressure. If the pellets have a density below 0.6 kg/litre
then they are too soft and break easily, forming fines as a
consequence.

Conclusion
These simple tests will prevent most
problems with wood pellets. As a general
rule, if wood pellets are cheap they are of
poor quality and should be avoided. Good
quality pellets may be more expensive but
are a much better investment as they burn
more slowly and efficiently, prolong boiler
life, and release fewer emissions.

 Wood pellets should dissolve

easily in a glass of water.

 Smoke from a burning pellet should

smell of burning wood.

*
1 kg of water occupies 1 litre of space at room temperature.

For information and a free on-line advisory service on the wood energy supply chain,
the quality of wood fuels and internal handling visit www.woodenergy.ie

Note: The use of trade, firm or corporation names in this publication is for the information of the reader. Such use does not constitute an official endorsement,
or approval by COFORD of any product or service to the exclusion of others that may be suitable. Every effort is made to provide accurate and useful
information. However, COFORD assumes no legal liability for the accuracy, completeness, or usefulness of any information, apparatus, product, or process
disclosed herein or for any loss or damage howsoever arising as a result of use, or reliance, on this information.