hemp is a truly multivalent resource in this article we will talk about how it is possible to obtain pellets from hemp.
Pellets are a resource that is used throughout Italy for extra-urban heating the rules allow in some cases even urban heating.
the pellet lends itself well as a substitute for wood as it is a derivative of the latter, of which the shape for convenience applies well to everyday use.
millions of families and companies throughout Italy heat up with pellets.
Being a wood product or better wood waste such as shrubs and small branches, the pellet is a resource that comes from the cutting of trees or parts of trees.
We know that a tree takes years to grow, have you ever tried to plant one?
bee if you have, surely you have noticed that it takes a long time to do it, usually growing within 5 6 years and ready to bear fruit, be it cherries or firewood.
hemp in this and much faster in fact can grow and finish its life cycle in just 5-6 months.
having said this, it is much more eco-sustainable to grow hemp for the supply of pellets than to cultivate forests which can be left to their normal life cycle.
Furthermore, hemp crops can develop in the plains and consequently it becomes easier to obtain the material in its processing.
Now it is true that hemp can be used as a pellet because it is rich in fiber and organic matter which in turn can be processed by carbonification in gas.
therefore, like all agricultural waste such as wood chips and corn derivatives, they could be used as pellets or as a primary resource for the production of gas.
and here comes the problem or rather the solution in fact the classic pellet stoves use the classic combustion process which pulverizes the material or fuel.
actually the hemp material should and could be use in a process called pyrolysis, pyrolysis and a type of low-temperature combustion.
pyrolysis can exploit the natural process of transformation of an organic dry matter such as canupolo or hemp fiber to create gas which is immediately burned or stored.
from this process, therefore, two products are obtained: the heat emitted by combustion and pure coal.
or through another process that we will see in another article the fermentation and gasification resulting in gas and coal of organic origin.
in our case, being a pellet, the result will therefore be a combustion that is improved compared to the classic one, therefore with reduced consumption and high percentages of heat.
an environmental impact close to zero, for the reason that a product gas is burned and not the product itself, therefore it results in almost zero CO2 emissions.
furthermore, coal or carbon dioxide and other waste materials can be burned again through coal which becomes a by-product of combustion.
or they can be stored inside the land to improve the yield of agricultural land, or by storing the coal classically putting it back into the ground.
those who have read this will understand that this system is a perfect system for our model of economy.
which will allow for eco-sustainable zero-impact heating and therefore the possibility of expanding it to urban areas.
the starting material can be grown in a short time and not as in the case of trees where the times are much longer.
moreover, by-products such as coal can also be obtained from this type of fuel if used in the manner described.
coal is a primary resource still used by a large part of developing countries and therefore can be sold.
even if its use in combustion is not eco-sustainable, on the contrary it damages the environment.
To make a hemp pellet, the procedure is not too complex, in fact hemp is one of the plants with the highest percentage of resin.
the resin is a fundamental element in the constitution of pellets because it serves to hold together the material properly pulverized or crumbled.
in this sense it becomes less expensive to produce a hemp pellet because in other cases such as wood the percentage of resin is lower.
for this reason the classic wood pellet is added with particular glues or resins of both synthetic and vegetable derivation in most cases.
while with hemp there is no need to add other resins because the percentage is higher and the material can be processed immediately.
the preliminary stages concerning hemp are the division or even non of material such as seeds and inflorescences of the canupolo.
in a second moment they can be stored under an awning to macerate or dry for a few months, a gas can be obtained from this process.
once the preliminary drying process is finished, the canupolo and the stem of the plant must be shredded, creating hemp sawdust.
hemp sawdust rich in vegetable dusts such as resin of the various pollen plant and small parts of flowers or seeds will subsequently be pressed.
the first problem that can be encountered in the pulverization process or transformation into sawdust is the fact that, being rich in resin, the machinery will need to be cleaned more often.
while to get to the finished product process, therefore, the pressing of the product into pellets of various diameters will almost always skip the resin addition process.
at the end the product is pressed by special machinery which gives it the shape we are all used to.
having said this, even for companies that already produce pellets it is easier and less expensive to create it as the intermediate process is skipped.
now having said this, it is true that not all stoves are able to use pyrolytic combustion.
first of all, if you have a classic stove, my advice in the immediate future is to change the stove, the first reason is that the pyrolytic one uses less pellets and heats more.
the second reason is that combustion is not harmful to health and therefore we will not put c02 or smog into circulation.
I conclude by saying that basically hemp can be an excellent green fuel resource!