Development of a wood pellet produced mainly from hardwoods
Ongoing project
The French wood pellet market has been booming since the mid-2000s, with production in 2018 approaching 1.5 million tonnes (30,000 tonnes in 2004). Pellets are currently mainly made from softwood (sawdust and other sawmill by-products, thinning logs) but this source of supply will be insufficient to support the development of the sector in the medium and long term.
The GRAMIX project, through its industrial research programme, aims to develop a mixed hardwood/softwood pellet whose composition, parameters and production costs should make it possible to meet the quality requirements of the certifications and to be valued at the market price of “white” pellets.
Objectives
- Select and characterise the species of interest, including national variability, to facilitate the transfer of the approach to the French industry
- Development of conditions for the production of hardwood pellets on a pilot scale
- Transfer and optimisation of material preparation (debarking, chipping), drying/pressing and pelleting conditions on an industrial line
Project funded by ADEME GRAINE
Industrials partners:
GRASASA, RAGT ENERGIES, IDEX
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