Granulation / briquetting of straw, reed

About the benefits of the business

What is the essence of the matter and why is it profitable? Fuel briquettes, also known as Euro-firewood, are in great demand among owners of private homes and businesses. Firstly, they provide more heat than ordinary firewood - 19 MJ/kg versus 10 MJ/kg. Secondly, it is an environmentally friendly fuel that is made from recycled materials. Therefore, by producing briquettes and selling them to regular customers, you can make a profit of about 330,000 rubles per month: the profitability of a successful enterprise is about 40%.

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Types of fuel

It would seem, what is the difference, what shape and what color will the finished product be? However, according to these criteria, there are four most popular types of Euro firewood, namely:

• Pini&Kay - multifaceted briquettes with a through hole in the middle, along; they differ from others in their dark brown “color” - they acquire it due to heat treatment in a matrix, and before this the products are formed using screw presses with a pressure of 1100 bar;
• RUF - firewood in the form of bricks, the production of which requires a hydraulic press with a pressure of 400 bar;
• NESTRO - products in the form of a cylinder, the tool for producing this firewood is a mechanical impact press;
• pellets are the most popular variety in Europe: these are fuel pellets ideal for boilers, up to 50 mm long and up to 10 mm in diameter, produced using a pellet press.

As you can understand, differences in color and shape are not the whim of the manufacturer. They are determined by the production technology of each type. We will not dwell on the intricacies of the work involved in the production of this or that type of firewood and will consider what is needed to open a business in this direction in principle.

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We produce fuel for biofireplaces

Biofuel for fireplaces is in great demand due to the popularity of biofireplaces.

Biofuel fireplaces are a decorative element of the interior with live fire. The industrial production of biofireplaces offers models of a wide variety of sizes and configurations. However, many people make biofireplaces with their own hands.

The structure of a biofireplace is very simple: a container for liquid fuel, a grate and a burner. The rest is a matter of taste.

To make a fuel block for a biofireplace with your own hands, you need to take a metal box and place a container with bioethanol inside. Cover the box with a metal grill (you can use a simple barbecue grill). Place the wick on the grate, light it, and the bio-fireplace is ready.

Essentially, that’s all you need to make a biofireplace with your own hands. All that remains is to decorate it with stones or other elements to your taste.

There is very little heat from such a fireplace; it is rather just an original decoration for the house.

No hood or specially equipped space is required, so biofireplaces are suitable even for apartments. Their installation does not require special permission from the gas or fire department.

It is quite possible to make fuel for a biofireplace with your own hands. It contains ethanol and gasoline. Let's consider the process of producing bioethanol at home.

The following ingredients will be required:

• Ethyl alcohol 96%, sold in pharmacies
• Aviation gasoline (it is also used to refill lighters). It is practically odorless, which is important for use in a residential area.

For a liter of alcohol you only need about 70 g of gasoline. Mix well and pour into the fuel container. A liter of biofuel will last from 2 to 8 hours of continuous burning, depending on the type of fireplace burner and flame intensity.

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Do-it-yourself biofuel
Bioethanol is a safe type of fuel; when it burns, only hydrogen gas and carbon dioxide are released. However, an open fire burns oxygen, so you need to regularly ventilate the room. This will also help remove excess carbon dioxide from the air.

Initial Investment

Even with maximum savings, a business plan for a company for the production of fuel pellets (or another type of firewood) involves significant expenses for opening a business - at least 2,500,000 rubles. Most of this money will go towards purchasing equipment.

For approximately 2,060,000 rubles you can purchase:

• crusher;
• drying facility equipped with three boilers;
• two press extruders;
• auger, also known as a screw container;
• two cylinders 70 mm;
• two bushings;
• two heating elements (thermoelectric heaters).

This equipment will allow you to produce 500 kg of fuel briquettes per hour. However, purchasing the devices is only half the battle: they need to be placed somewhere.

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Lines for the production of fuel briquettes

The line is designed for the production of fuel briquettes from crushed material, such as sawdust, straw, shavings, etc. The installation can be equipped with a chopper if fuel fractions larger than 10 mm in size are used for the production of briquettes.

The line includes a micro-shredder, which is additionally equipped with a drying system, which makes it possible to use even wet material for the production of briquettes without using drying chambers. At the final stage, the crushed mass is pressed, forming the shape of a fuel briquette.

• Device for preliminary grinding of mass. This device can be a straw cutter or crusher (if sawdust shavings or other material with a fraction of no more than 10 mm are used as raw materials, this line element is not required);
• Micro-shredder. The micro-grinding process occurs with the effect of drying the mass, which makes it possible to abandon the dryers that are used in standard lines;
• A press with the help of which a briquette is formed from the prepared mass.

Cost of the line for the production of fuel briquettes:

Line for the production of fuel briquettes from straw with a capacity of 1 t/h:

Straw cutter

Mainly used in fuel briquette production line. Straw is loaded into the receiving hopper, from where it enters the cutting zone, where it is given centrifugal acceleration using an air flow. After this, the chopped straw is transferred to the micro-shredding hopper via a metal hose.

Due to their high productivity and low energy consumption, straw cutters are widely used in lines for the production of fuel from recycled materials. The use of this equipment in agriculture can significantly reduce heating costs.

Specifications:

Micro-shredder-disintegrator

The material that requires grinding is fed into the loading hopper of the device in uniform doses. The micro-grinding process itself is carried out under the influence of centrifugal force that occurs in the working chamber when the engine is running. The mass particles hit the rotating elements and break down into smaller pieces. After reaching the required dimensions, the material elements are ejected using an air mass from the hopper into the unloading channel.

A distinctive feature of this micro-grinder is that simultaneously with the crushing of mass particles, they are also heated. Therefore, the installation of drying chambers in the line with this device is not required.

Waste briquetting press

The press is designed to produce fuel briquettes from various wastes (sawdust, straw, bean tops, sunflower husks, etc.). The device is usually included in the line after the microgrinder, which preheats the mass involved in the pressing process.

The productivity of the press is 400-450 kg of briquettes per hour. The device is equipped with a cooling system for fuel blocks, as well as a control panel. The press is a manufacturer of alternative sources of energy resources, characterized by low cost, efficiency and high productivity.

Specifications:

Premises requirements

Renting a site ideal for the production of fuel briquettes costs entrepreneurs approximately 1,400,000 rubles per year. You may have to spend more than one month looking for a suitable place, because the following should be located there:

• administrative block;
• several utility rooms;
• stock;
• toilet room.

As a rule, a company producing Euro firewood occupies 120 m² or more. Also, the room must have an electrical network rated for 380 V.

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Requirements for raw materials

High-quality fuel briquettes are usually made from wood waste, but sometimes residues from the grain industry are also used. The benefit is that relatively little waste is required to obtain the finished product: in the case of wood, you can make 1 m3 of pellets from 4 m3 of raw materials.

The amount of grain varies depending on the crop used - so to get a ton of product ready for sale, you can use:

• rice - 1.5 tons of straw and 0.2 tons of pericarp;
• wheat – 2 tons of waste;
• corn – 2 tons of leaves and 4 tons of stems;
• barley – 3 tons of straw.

It is quite possible that before making Euro firewood you will need to dry the waste and also break down the largest particles. The fact is that the raw material should not be more humid than 12%, and the length of the waste cannot exceed 3 mm.

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Advantages and disadvantages

An obvious advantage of both types of raw materials is the ability to find a free source: many wood processing plants and farms will be only too happy if you decide to take out their waste. It is much more difficult to store waste from the grain industry than wood waste, and we should not forget about the difficulties associated with extracting raw materials out of season. But in some regions it is very difficult to get wood “garbage” for free or cheap - in some places the price for such a product reaches 20 rubles per 1 m3 of raw materials.

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Preliminary calculations

Before starting the construction of a biogas plant, it is necessary to perform accurate calculations to assess its future productivity.

Count all possible gas consumers (stove, water heater, etc.), and how much fuel they will need. If biogas is needed to heat a barn or garage, you need to take into account their volume.

What you need to produce biogas at home:

1. A metal sealed container is buried in the ground. Its volume depends on how much raw material will be used, taking into account the fact that the container is loaded to 2/3.

If there is no suitable container, you can pour it out of concrete on site, always with reinforcement for structural strength. The concrete reactor should be carefully waterproofed. If water leaks in, it will stop the gas production process.

1. A bunker device is built on top of the reactor to load raw materials.
2. The processed manure is removed through a pipe at the bottom of the tank.
3. Biogas obtained by decomposing organic matter has a complex composition, 60-70% of which is methane, 25-35% carbon dioxide and impurities. You can purify the gas using a water seal. CO2 and impurities are dissolved in water, and purified methane is collected in a gas tank.
4. The resulting biomethane is similar to natural gas.
5. Industrial waste is an excellent organic fertilizer.

The volume of biogas produced differs when using different raw materials. For example, a ton of cow manure produces 30-50 m3 of biogas (60% methane). Plant raw materials of different types will produce 150-500 m3 of biogas (methane 70%). The largest amount of biogas is obtained from fat—1300 m3 (up to 87% methane).

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Biofuel boilers take up more space than any other

Preparation of raw materials

As mentioned above, before the direct production of briquettes, the raw materials are crushed and dried. This process is not easy and takes place in several stages. To break down the largest waste, a 5P-RM type chipper is required. But the AC-3 aerodynamic dryer-shredder will help you finally prepare the waste for use.

You can use other similar devices, but these are the ones that in most cases provide the ideal result. Subsequently, the heat generator is switched on - and, finally, the worker gets the opportunity to form finished products.

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Staff

The specifics of the matter are such that working alone or with one or two assistants is irrational. Therefore, the following employees must be included in the business plan for the production of fuel briquettes:

• director of the enterprise (also head of production) - 1 person;
• chief accountant - 1 person;
• shift supervisor (also known as equipment adjuster) - 3 people;
• production operator - 3 people;
• full-time workers - 9 people.

The list is based on the assumption that your employees will work in three shifts. You shouldn’t save money or reduce staff, for example, hire an accountant who works remotely: this is only possible when managing small companies. You should also hire drivers and support workers - at least two people each. By alternating shifts, you can ensure the plant operates 360 days a year.

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Feasibility study for opening a workshop for the production of fuel briquettes.

Input data

• Type of activity: Production of fuel briquettes.
• Organizational form of ownership: Individual entrepreneur
• Taxation system: Preferential tax regime 3 personal income tax.
• Equipment: Automatic line for the production of fuel briquettes, capacity 500 kg. at one o'clock.
• Number of personnel: 14 people (out of 10 directly employed in production)
• Working hours: 12 hours per shift, 30 shifts per month.
• Number of teams: 3

Capital expenditures

Amount of capital costs: 10 million rubles, incl.

1. Production line – 5.5 million rubles
2. Delivery, installation, commissioning – 1.2 million rubles.
3. Diesel loader – 0.8 million rubles
4. Other expenses – 2 million rubles.
5. Purchase of raw materials – 0.5 million rubles.

Profitability calculation

Revenue is calculated based on the price of European firewood of 7,500 rubles per 1 ton, and based on the volume of production and sales of 180 tons of finished products per month.

• Return on investment: 3 years;
• Return on investment: 33%

Alternative markets

Home and business owners are not the only clients you can trade with on an ongoing basis. If you have created a really serious enterprise and form briquettes with a perfectly smooth top, without contamination on the outside, try to start trading with Denmark and Sweden.

When collaborating with Europe, keep in mind that in the spring-summer season the price of fuel products decreases slightly, and in August the profits of briquette production companies begin to grow again. The final cost of goods for the second half of the year is set by October.

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