Gravity Fed Pellet Burner

Intro: Gravity Fed Pellet Burner

Hi, 

This is my gravity fed pellet burner.

The air intake and the feeding rate can be adjusted depending on the intensity of heat needed.

Set to the minimum feeding rate,  i get over 8 hrs of heat with a 40 pound bag of wood pellets.

Together the rocket stove and the burner work better then i expected,  

Wood pellet are cheap and easy to find.  

Since wood pellets are made from recycled wood, i guess this is somme kind of green way to heat my garage..

STEP 1: The Perforated Plate Is the Key to Success

- Pellets will fall on the perforated plate, slide down and form a pile. Fire wil waken the pile and make it crash.  This will allow other pellets to fall into the burner.  This process will continue as long as there are pellets in the container.

- The angle of the perforated plate is about 45 degres.  The holes act in two ways, they allow air to feed the fire and hold the pellets as they fall.  After a few minutes of burning the plate is red hot and every pellet that comes in contact with it quickly ignite.   

- The space between the plate and the interior side of the square tube il about 1/4 inche so air can get in at all time. 

You  can see it work there:

 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rEosHNLZJek&feature=g-upl&context=G2e8c2daAUAAAAAAAAAA

This burner could be install on different kind of heat exchanger device, it could just be an extension of the square tube ending to a chimney.  



Any questions???

STEP 2: New Burner...

This is the new burner i made.  Bigger holes and less steal.  This model provides a better airflow... 

STEP 3: Video

Made this video on how to ignite the pellet burner... 

Cheers!!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jpNxeTdrGXE&feature=g-crec-u

Comments

[mazz52son]

I really like this idea but I would like to see different angles of pictures showing how it was made.i really like building wood stoves but what I'm going to use it for a Woodstock would be to big

[beppemazzola]

Hi Seniortrader
Beautiful project. I'm a beginner in this field. I have red most of the comments here and yet it's not clear to me if I can install and use this burner inside my apartment as part of my heater. Is it safe to have it working in the place where I live, making the assumption I have built it and the heater properly?

[Seniortrader]

Hi... Absolutely not!!! Please dont do that... I used the stove in my garage and was very please with it efficiency but i always had an eye on it. I also have smoke and co2 detector in my working place... Stay safe!!!!! ST

[briggstom1952]

what size are the holes in the perforated plate? Looks like they are large enough for the pellets to fall thru.

[Seniortrader]

About 3/16, pellets will stack over them without getting in!!

[briggstom1952]

Thanks. They looked bigger than that to me. Thanks for clearing that up.

[Seniortrader]

3/8 haha!!

[Goodlumen]

I built this design as well. So far it is the best grate I have tried. I very the burn by pushing in or pulling out the grate to allow more pellets. I like the ability to pull back the grate and stop the flow of pellets from the hopper above. Close to 10 hour burn on a full bag if I tweak the incoming flow so the pellets drop in spurts. Using this as a tent heater, after 10 hour burn and the stove is cold there is a wall of ash several inches past the ramp? This does not seem to effect the burn. I have not tried it for a longer burn however. Thinking of placing a thin plate 1/16 elevated by 1/8 rods past the ramp. Perhaps if this got hot enough the ash problem would disappear. Your Thought?

[KevinW277]

My question is how do you eliminate the possibility that the fire is going to go up the feed tube, and also remove the ash, is this just a prototype? Did you make a separate ash try so you don’t need to put it out to remove the ash ?

[Seniortrader]

I used it for 3 years, cheap and very effective before i made a bbq smoker with it!!

[Finnish-guy]

Hi Seniortrader,

After some consideration I decided to upload this video, which
presents my older burner in action. This design surely violates both Carry and
Wiseway patens, so making a commercial product from this design can be
problematic.

This time I integrated the burner with my house heating
stove. It seems to work pretty well also this way.This is potentially fire-hazardous so I really
do not recommend anyone to do this at home. Certainly this needs continuous monitoring
during the operation, and should not left without it in any circumstances.

[KevinW277]

How do you eliminate the possibility of the fire entering the feed tube ? And is the ramp the way you regulate feed rate ?

[Seniortrader]

Hi! The airflow is the key i never had problem with that. It’s a yes for the ramp, it opens and closes the way from upside.

[Finnish-guy]

And typos.... Clarry and Wiseway patents.... and most
probably something else…. How could I
edit my sent replies???

[g6956564]

Hi

Have a look at my hobby project. Its a controller unit for biomass.

https://github.com/sedevc/openBC

[Plasanator]

great job

[Seniortrader]

your design is very interesting, it's the answer to the ash problem. Another problem will occur as your burner will work for hours. The pellet intake to the burner is a possible path for the flames. When there is not enough pellets, air can pass trough and the flames will then go both ways, in the heat exchanger and in up in the pellet container. I'm working on a pellet valve design witch will block the pellet intake when the pellet level get to low. Tank you for shearing your design every visitors on this page will apreaciate

[cube122]

Im Finninsh guy nr.2, and im allso building tentstove (sorry my english) i had problems with you burner design, because i think i made it too tight (ari dont pass anywhere else ), pellets bocked "down air intake that size is abut 1cm" and result was great smoke and unburned pellets. Next i make stop vertically longer that pellets stay on that (allso drilled), and cut upper side on the stop about 5mm so air can go over the stop.
I'm using 8mm pellets and 8mm holes 100x100 tube

When i looked your design it's not so tight so air can get sides

[Seniortrader]

Hi, be sure to create an air flow through the system by heating the chimney before lighting the wood pellets. I used a propane torch. Simply heat the air inside the chimney to create this stream of air. The burner must receive as much air as possible, adjusting the intensity of the flame is done by adjusting the amount of pellets entering the burner. With some pictures i could help you more! Cheers!

[cube122]

Igniting is no problem... I ment that afther while about 1hour when the holes is blocked by ash and air can't get thru "stop" and my case it can't get sides either.
I think your system works because "stop" is very loose and air can get sides and over" im not sure but i find out today when i make modifications...