Is there an alternative to traditional firewood? Despite its availability and relatively low cost, the heat transfer of wood leaves much to be desired. To improve this parameter, briquettes for heating were developed: reviews, production, peat, coal, wood. How relevant is their use as the main energy carrier?
Features of fuel briquettes
In fact, coal or wood briquettes for heating are compressed combustible material that has passed a pre-processing stage. They may contain various additives to improve energy quality.
Reading reviews about briquettes for heating, you can come to the conclusion that they are much more efficient than traditional types of fuel. This quality is formed in the process of making eurodrops. Using a special technology for processing the source material, an energy carrier is obtained, which is characterized by the following qualities:
- High heat transfer rate... On average, coal briquettes for heating in a volume of 1 kg are similar in energy value to 1.8 kg. simple firewood;
- Low humidity, which does not exceed 10%... As a result, the specific heat transfer increases;
- Convenient storage... The round, cylindrical or cubic shape of eurodrops helps to optimize their storage space;
- Uniform heat dissipation... This is very important for the stable operation of a heating system with a solid fuel boiler.
However, disadvantages must also be taken into account. So, briquettes for heating RUF are sensitive to moisture. For their storage, suitable conditions and premises are required. In addition, the cost of briquettes is higher than that of firewood. Taking into account the energy value, the difference will be literally 5-7 kopecks. for 1 W.
Coal briquettes for heating should not be completely wrapped in an airtight film. Ventilation gaps are required for air circulation.
The specifics of the production of briquettes for heating
The peculiarity of the manufacture of Euro-wood is in the use of waste from the woodworking industry, agriculture and coal mining. The production of briquettes for heating can be organized on the basis of any of the above-described enterprises.
For manufacturing, it is necessary to choose the right source material. Correct production of briquettes for heating starts from the preparatory stage. Several types of materials are distinguished depending on the available raw material base:
- Agricultural waste - seed husks, straw. The first has the highest energy capacity. However, it is also characterized by a high purchase cost;
- Sawdust... The most suitable option, since it is from them that briquettes for heating with their own hands are most often made;
- Peat... Needs a complex preparatory process, since it initially has high humidity;
- Coal... In fact, so-called coal dust is used, which is a by-product of mining.
Preparation of raw materials includes preliminary grinding and further drying.This is necessary to reduce humidity, since heating with sawdust briquettes will be beneficial only when the water content is no more than 10% of the total volume. Then, fixers and modifiers can be added to the resulting material to increase heat transfer.
For full-fledged production, in addition to a press (extruder), you will need a mechanism for packing briquettes.
Types of briquettes for heating
In fact, Eurowood differs not only in the raw material, but also in the way it is processed. The simplest manufacturing method is pressing. For the production of briquettes for heating RUF, a special belt press of the RUF company of the same name is required. It was from him that the name of this type of Eurodrops originated.
The advantage of this process is the speed of manufacture. Pre-prepared raw materials are loaded into the receiving chamber, and then, with the help of augers, enters the pressing zone. Those. in fact, the production of briquettes of this type will require a minimum of investment and effort.
However, the final product has a number of features:
- Almost all reviews of peat briquettes for heating note their susceptibility to moisture absorption. Therefore, you need to take care of the appropriate storage location;
- Eurowood made with original equipment has a letter imprint on the surface. In most cases, this indicates compliance with the manufacturing technology. But it all depends on the quality of the feedstock.
It is best to choose a different production method to improve performance. Peat briquettes for heating, in addition to pressing, undergo a surface firing stage. In this way, a moisture-resistant outer shell is formed, which furthermore contributes to the improvement of the mechanical resistance.
Additionally, the equipment has a heating zone that is located around the feeding pressing auger. This manufacturing technology is called Pini Kay. Its peculiarity is its relatively low productivity in comparison with RUF. However, pine kei wood briquettes have a much longer shelf life. In addition, their increased density has a positive effect on heat transfer.
This type of Eurodrops is characterized by the following qualities:
- Convenient form for loading into the boiler combustion chamber;
- The ability to burn for a long time.
However, the production process does not always follow the technology. This applies in particular to the quality of the external firing and the quality of the pressing. In most cases, the specific gravity of a coal briquette for heating may differ.
The color of Eurowood depends on the original material of manufacture. For peat briquettes for heating, it will be dark brown or black. RUF made from sawdust on a press have a white or light yellow tint.
Material selection
The determining factor in the quality of Eurowood is the raw material for manufacturing. Most briquettes for do-it-yourself heating are characterized by low heat transfer precisely because of the incorrectly selected and prepared material of manufacture.
The most popular at present are waste from the wood processing industry - sawdust, shavings, etc.
Wooden briquettes for heating
In reviews of briquettes for heating, it is about wood models that the most contradictory opinions are expressed. This can be explained by the peculiarities of the original material of manufacture. Unlike coal briquettes for heating, eurowood from wood waste has one significant drawback - moisture absorption.
This can lead to an artificial increase in mass due to the increased water content. Alas, there are no normative documents for the manufacture of Eurodrops. Therefore, manufacturers most often introduce internal standards that may not always meet the expectations of the buyer.If the technology was followed during the production of wood briquettes for heating, then the product must meet the requirements from the table.
| Characteristic | Value |
| Bulk weight, kg / m³ | 125 |
| Briquette density, kg / m³ | 1150 |
| Humidity,% | 6-10 |
| Calorific value, MJ / kg | 25 |
| Ash content,% | 0,5-1,3 |
How to distinguish a quality product from a questionable one? The first one should have a number of qualities:
- Uniform surface firing or regular shape of RUF cubes;
- No condensation on the surface or streaks from water;
- Uniform shape and size for all briquettes from one batch.
But besides that, you need to provide the correct storage location. For this, it is recommended to use a separate room with normal ventilation and room temperature. When organizing heating with sawdust briquettes, most often the fuel is stored in an adjacent room.
Best of all, fuel briquettes have proven themselves in long-burning fuel boilers.
Peat and coal briquettes for heating
The use of peat and brown coal for the manufacture of heating briquettes with their own hands is due to the large reserves of raw materials. This helps to reduce the cost of production, and as a result - to reduce heating costs.
The main problem with peat and coal heating briquettes is the inherently high humidity. To solve it, it is necessary to perform the drying procedure in special sealed thermal chambers. However, the high cost will not allow the majority of manufacturing enterprises to include them in the technological process.
As a result, peat heating briquettes are characterized by slightly worse parameters than those of sawdust.
| Characteristic | Value |
| Bulk weight, kg / m³ | 280-400 |
| Briquette density, kg / m³ | 500-600 |
| Humidity,% | 12-18 |
| Calorific value, MJ / kg | 16-18 |
| Ash content,% | 3-5 |
Also, unlike eurowood from sawdust, ash from peat or coal analogs is practically not used as fertilizer for the soil. In addition, they are most often made by pressing without additional surface firing. This leads to a decrease in the strength and shelf life of coal heating briquettes.
To preserve the thermal conductivity of the fuel briquette and reduce its moisture content, it is recommended to store some of them in the boiler room.
DIY briquettes for heating
Is it difficult to make wood heating briquettes at home without special equipment? This will require the simplest lever press and mold for eurodrives.
Sawdust or waste paper can be used as raw materials. Often these components are combined with each other to improve quality. To obtain a homogeneous mass in a peat heating briquette, a binder is required. It can be water or clay. Then you will need to perform the following manufacturing steps:
- Crushing the feedstock and adding a binder.
- Form filling, pressing.
- Drying of the workpiece.
Factory heating briquettes RUF are manufactured using the same technology. The difference lies in pressure and production volumes. At home, to provide fuel for the entire heating period, the manufacturing time can take from 7 to 20 days.
It is recommended to make a shape from several cells. This will greatly increase your crafting speed.
Customer reviews
How objective can the reviews of peat heating briquettes be? The catch lies in the many external factors that affect the effectiveness of their use. First of all, this concerns the boiler, since it is on its parameters that the efficiency of heating with briquettes from sawdust or other source material depends:
- As an experiment, we decided to heat the boiler with sawdust briquettes. The heat transfer was extremely high. However, fuel consumption has also increased. Alas, but in our old boiler the draft turned out to be too good.Now we use them if you need to quickly heat the house;
- First, we ordered the cheapest fuel briquettes in the form of tablets. They quickly burned out, gave a relatively large amount of ash. Then they decided not to save money and bought a batch of RUF Eurodrops. The differences turned out to be significant - the time of complete combustion increased, the heat transfer increased;
- They approached the issue of heating the house thoroughly - they purchased a long-burning boiler. They took peat fuel briquettes for testing. After long trials and experiments, we found out that it is best to use them together with firewood in a combination of 1/3 (briquettes, firewood).
It is important to remember that all types of fuel briquettes are designed for solid fuel boilers of the pyrolysis type or long burning. Using them in ordinary ones will not give the desired effect.
The video shows a home-made installation for the production of fuel briquettes:
