A number of SMEs in Indonesia have used wood pellets as fuel
as in the video above. The main reason for using wood pellets is saving or
economic factors, which is a saving of around 30% compared to 12 kg subsidized
LPG gas. By using a special burner, the fire from the wood pellet burning is
like a flame from a gas burner. The use of SME wood pellets ranges from several
tons / month to tens of tons / month. Besides being easy to use, wood pellets
are also easily and safely stored. Uniformity in size and level of dryness
makes wood pellet quality better than other biomass fuels. One of the more
values of using solid fuels, especially wood pellets, is anti-explosion. The
use of fuel gas such as LPG tends to be more careful of the danger of the
explosion.
Biomass fuel products that are similar to wood pellets and can
be used like wood pellets above are wood briquettes or sawdust briquettes. Both
products are made by means of compaction of biomass (biomass densification),
only the size of the briquette is bigger than the pellet. The use of wood
briquettes is even easier than wood pellets, because it does not require a
special burner. Wood briquette is enough to put into the furnace hole just like
the use of firewood. The quality of the wood briquette is also better than that
of firewood and wood pellets, namely because the density is higher than the two
fuels. Firewood has a density of about 500 kg / m3, while wood pellets are 700
kg / m3 and wood briquette is 1100 kg / m3. The process of producing wood
briquette is also very similar to wood pellet, so that wood briquette also has
a uniform size and high level of dryness, the difference is that the dimensions
of wood briquette are greater than wood pellets. While in terms of savings
compared to 12 kg LPG gas, wood briquette savings are almost the same as wood
briquette which is around 30%. But without a special burner, using wood
briquette is easier and cheaper than wood pellets.
Of course wood briquette has different specifications from
coal briquette. This is mainly from the source of raw materials used. Coal
contains sulfur so that it will damage food flavor when used for cooking
because it creates an unpleasant odor. Whereas wood briquette is the same as
wood pellet made from solid wood biomass. Besides coal ash, including hazardous
waste because it contains heavy metals, while wood briquette like wood pellet
ashes is like wood burning ash only.
In terms of environmental aspects, the use of biomass fuels
is environmentally friendly fuel because it comes from plants and is now
generally made from wood industry waste. In order for the biomass fuel to be
sustainable, plants or trees as the source must be managed properly and
correctly. And because the wood is a photosynthetic product from plants and
when burned again does not increase the concentration of CO2 gas in the
atmosphere or carbon neutral fuel. To produce for these energy needs, then for
the large scale and sustainable scenario the energy plantation is the best
option. With energy plantations, in addition to the wood it can produce wood
briquette and wood pellets can also be integrated with the livestock business,
for more details, you can read here.
