OP
roadhunter
Elite Member
very true. I think being clean and easy to handle is a huge selling point of the product. Along with the whole saving the earth and recycling appeal.
Hydraulic Biomass Press
- Thread starter roadhunter
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very true. I think being clean and easy to handle is a huge selling point of the product. Along with the whole saving the earth and recycling appeal.
CNC Dan
Veteran Member
muddstopper
Veteran Member
I have thought about doing something using my splitter. High pressure pushing the chips thru and extruder tube. Actually, I think a sq hay bailer setup would probably give the best bang for the buck. Instead of the bailer compacting a large bale of hay, fit a extruder to it and let the bailer bang the saw dust thru it. I guess the only reason I havent treid using my splitter for a press is simply because i dont have enough sawdust to make it worth while.
otlski
Gold Member
That youtube commercial application uses 1400 Kg-cm-sq which is 20,000 p.s.i. Wow!
OP
roadhunter
Elite Member
Dan,
We are all aware that there are large commercial machines designed to do this. Apparently this is really popular in Europe and there are a few companies doing this in the states. Unfortunately I'm not going to drop the $ for one of those machines just yet and I wanted to see if there was something I could build that might get similar results but on a much smaller scale.This why the thread is the the build it yourself portion of the forum. If you can build something like what was in the video yourself I would gladly pay attention. It is an interesting video. Thanks for sharing.
OP
roadhunter
Elite Member
That is an interesting thought as well. I have a pretty large supply of free sawdust (probably 20+ yards a month) and an enormous amount of burned timber in my area that is basically worthless at this point.
OP
roadhunter
Elite Member
Well I had an idea to test some sawdust pressing with a damaged trailer jack laying in the junk pile (where I go for inspiration). IT was bent but I was able to salvage the guts out of it including the all thread. I tossed the housing and replaced it with a 4 ft piece of pipe with a threaded end and a 2"x1-1/4" reducer. Then cut a slot to add sawdust. I welded a 1/2" square female adapter to the end so I could operate it with an impact wrench. IT did press the sawdust but was not able to push it out with the reducer. Without the reducer it could barely push it out the end and the vibration from the impact wrench caused it to crumble as it exited. It was amazing to see how much sawdust it took to fill the pipe when it was compacted. Probably around 3 gallons of sawdust. What I gathered from the test was that more pressure and likely some heat will be needed to get the wood to bond properly and that a reducer may not be necessary at the end to further compress the biomass as long as the compression tube is long enough. I was amazed by how much resistance you could build with nothing on the end of the pipe. That was the biggest surprise. Adjusting the length of the exit tube is probably important for finding that sweet spot for resistance.
CNC Dan
Veteran Member
Yah, I know that machine is big bucks. I just thought it might give someone ideas. Like using an open ended tube, rather than a closed off one etc. Would have liked to seen the inside of the ram and tube assembly. I wonder if the tube is tapered, or straight?
muddstopper
Veteran Member
Dan, I cant say for sure, but I think the machine uses a extruder tube, most of the ones I have seen, (Utube), that make long logs, are using a extruder. Which is one reason I think a hay bailer setup might work. With a hay baler, you can screw down the clamp and tighten up the bales, making them heavier. One would have to modify the hay packer, ( I guess thats what its called) that tamps the hay in the trough, and modify the trough to either a sq or round tube, it might work. Might also tear up the pto shaft, break shear pins, or a bunch of other stuff. I havnt ever had a bailer apart, or even baled much hay so, just speculating
BHD
Veteran Member
I watched the video of the log compressor and my thought was a hay baler, wonder if the crank type of system and faster ram speed would be of benefit, may be not as long of stroke as a hay baler, but may be better than hydraulic cylinder,
I was thinking about similar and wondered if there would be a problem of keeping the saw dust in the cut open feed part of the cylinder, and the thought that come to me was a two system ram one that closed the cover over the opening to help guide he wood chips into the compression cylinder. and then the compression ram to compress.
may not be a problem if the ram pushes in the compression tube far enough to leave space for the next loose load of wood chips ,
I was thinking about similar and wondered if there would be a problem of keeping the saw dust in the cut open feed part of the cylinder, and the thought that come to me was a two system ram one that closed the cover over the opening to help guide he wood chips into the compression cylinder. and then the compression ram to compress.
may not be a problem if the ram pushes in the compression tube far enough to leave space for the next loose load of wood chips ,
