Troubleshooting guide

Page 14
Determining Acceptable Pellet Quality
Some important questions in determining pellet quality are:
1) Have the pellets been tested against the PFI standard?
2) Does the pellet company use the same quality of raw material throughout the year?
3) How consistent is each sack and each load of pellets performing for the consumer?
Assessing Visual Characteristics:
1) Volume per ton: Full pellets that vary in height probably vary in weight per cubic foot.
Lack of density, an increase in fines and moisture tend to increase volume and decrease weight
per volume. Lower density pellets contain fewer BTU for the same volume as do more dense
pellets and generally provide less heat at the same fuel setting than higher density pellets.
2) Fines: Pellet quality drops as the amount of fines increase up to and above the 1% allowed in
the PFI standards. Pellets with excessive fines are unacceptable unless they are screened.
3) Size and Uniformity: Pellets approximately ¼" diameter and
3
/
8
" to ¾" length are desired.
Pellets of this size flow and feed more evenly than larger, longer pellets.
4) Stickiness: Pellets made from wood that is higher in resin, such as most softwood pellets,
can have a "stickiness" that may be hard to detect. However, such pellets tend to bridge
easily and flow less freely. These pellets flow very poorly as the amount of fines increase.