Allegheny Pellet Corporation

P. O. Box 183

Youngsville PA 16371

Phone: 814-563-4358

 Fax: 814-563-3120

E-Mail: pellet@woodpelletfuels.com

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What are pellets made of?

All pellets are biomass materials, that is, products of commonly grown plants and trees. The most common residential pellets are made from sawdust and ground wood chips, which are waste materials from trees used to make furniture, lumber, and other products. Resins and binders (lignin) occurring naturally in the sawdust hold wood pellets together, so they usually contain no additives. Nut hulls and other materials are palletized in some areas, and unprocessed shelled corn and fruit pits can be burned in a few pellet stove designs. Your fuel of choice and its price may depend on the waste biomass most available to pellet mills in your region. In turn, your choice of appliance design depends on the fuel available.

Where do pellets come from?

Pellet mills across the country receive, sort, grind, dry, compress, and bag wood and other biomass waste products into a conveniently handled fuel (Figure 1). Today, over sixty pellet mills across North America produce in excess of 680,000 tons of fuel per year, a figure that has more than doubled in the last five years.

Pellets are available for purchase at stove dealers, nurseries, building supply stores, feed and garden supply stores, and some discount merchandisers. Pellets are usually packaged in forty pound bags and sold by the bag or by the ton (fifty bags on a shipping pallet). Some mills offer twenty pound bags for easier handling.