With its new Eco Roll, Germany-headed pelleting technology provider Amandus Kahl GmbH & Co. KG (Amandus Kahl) sets a new milestone in the biomass pelleting world with the development of a pan grinder roller that offers an innovative cost and energy efficient solution particularly convincing for wood pelleting.
Pan grinder rollers are essential for the performance and efficiency of flat die pellet mills. They play a key role in the pelleting process by compacting, shaping, and conveying the product.
With its new Eco Roll, Amandus Kahl sets a new milestone in the biomass pelleting world whereby significant energy savings and sustainable cost reductions – with an increase in production capacity of up to 25 percent – are the main advantages.
Innovative two-stage process
Unlike conventional pan grinder rollers that compact all the product in one step, the Eco Roll uses a two-stage compaction method.
In the first stage, the product is gently pre-compacted by a recessed section of the working surface.
Here, a lower pressure is applied and this optimally prepares the product for the next stage.
In the second stage, higher pressure is applied to the front part of the roller, ensuring maximum compaction performance with minimum energy input.
This two-phase pressure distribution ensures uniform compaction, yet significantly reduces energy consumption – to approximately 40 to 45 kWh per tonne for softwood according to Amandus Kahl.
Extrapolated to an annual production volume of 50,000 tonnes, this means energy savings of up to 1,250 MWh of electricity per year.
This equates to a cost reduction of approximately EUR 250,000 per annum at an electricity price of EUR 0.20 per kWh.
Reduced wear, increased production capacity
The innovative design of the Eco Roll also reduces wear on rollers and dies, resulting in longer component life.
Longer maintenance cycles combined with lower energy consumption provide a tangible reduction in operating costs.
In addition to cost and energy savings, the Eco Roll can increase the production capacity by up to 25 percent.
The optimized pressure distribution enables the use of wider dies, ensuring higher throughput with consistent pelleting performance.
A retrofittable solution for demanding feedstock
The Eco Roll is specifically designed for raw materials that are difficult to pelletize – especially fiber-rich products such as wood, straw, and grasses.
The high crude fiber content, the dryness, and the lack of natural lubricants such as fats or proteins make this type of feedstock particularly challenging to pelletize.
According to the company, this is where the Eco Roll comes into its own – its two-stage compaction ensures uniform, reliable, and efficient processing even under these difficult conditions.
Furthermore, the Eco Roll is compatible with all Amandus Kahl pellet mills and can be easily retrofitted, an ideal addition to biomass pellet mills with a die diameter of 780 mm or more, as commonly used in wood pelleting the company says.
