Growing an Alternative to Wood Pellets

September 10, 2008 · Filed Under Corn Fuel 

Shelled corn is used in appliances very similar to wood pellet stoves. Shelled Corn is a little different in its combustion properties to oter fuels and does require specially designed stoves to burn corn or multifuel capable at least. Most corn stoves are designed to have the ability to burn a wide range of biofuels including wood pellets giving consumers greater choice in fuel selection based upon their particular geographic region.

Corn stoves are more popular in the Great Plains and Midwest of the USA but are now growing in the Northeast and West because of the readily available supply of corn there. Many stove manufacturers introduced new multifuel stoves in the last few years to increase the amount of available fuels options beyond just wood pellets with corn being the next most abundant and widely available fuel source across the country. This was a direct response to wood pellet shortages that have been problematic for those stove manufacturers who only offered wood pellet stoves and saw corn burning stoves and appliances held a market advantage by burning a wider variety of solid biofuels.

Please check the dealers or manufacturer’s directions before trying to burn corn. It can cause some problems, damage, and void warranties if not approved for use by the manufacturer of the appliance because of unique combustion properties.

For many years raw field corn meeting the USDA Grade # 2 Yellow Dent Corn standard was easily ready available fuel for corn stove whch was supplied directly from farmers. The problem with grade #2 Corn is theres no requirement for moisture content and allows fine of upto 3% by total weight. Typically the moisture contnt of 14-15% is the commerical standard before farmers being docked on their sale price when the corn has been sold, but typically corn can have a higher moisture content when harvested from the field. Weather conditions during harvest season can have a major influence on the moisture content and cleanness of corn.

Farmers will not typically dry corn down below a commercial standard of 14-15% moisture because of added cost and lost revenue potential. While some appliance manufacturers suggest customers will experience better performance using corn with a moisture content of 11-12%, most allow for higher moisture content up to 14-15% to be used because of the commercial standard allowed by traditional corn markets.

The problem with some manufacturers is their appliances are advertised with their abiity to burn corn wth a higher moist content of 15%, but its been estimated that approx 90 BTU/per hour will be lost for every one percentage above 15% moisture content. While this may not seem very significant, a 5% moisture variation in a 50-LB bag of corn can mean a loss of about 22,500 BTU of effective heat to a customer.

The challenge with premium heating corn (grade #1) is to take raw field corn, consistently clean and dry it down to optimize is value as a heating fuel, then package and distribute it at a competitive value to wood pellets. Raw shelled field corn will always be available at the lowest price but will come with higher moisture content, more foreign material and fines, and greater variation requiring customers to spend more time handling, cleaning, and adjusting appliances because of fuel quality.

Wood pellets and other pelletized fuels require large capital investment to transform raw materials into useful pelletized fuel. Corn on the other hand is a naturally densified fuel choice with a competitive heat value to wood pellets requiring only cleaning and conditioning to optimize its value as a heating fuel.

While wood pellet mills represent substantial capital investment and are very dependent upon a consistent, readily available supply of wood wastes and sawdust to be economically viable, corn is readily available and can be processed economically by existing facilities to optimize its value as a heating fuel.

The construction time to build new wood pellet mills have a tendency to lag market demand, while corn processing facilities can typically be setup fairly quickly upon identification of market need and a clear standard for what makes corn more fit for use as a heating fuel.

Committed suppliers who specialize in supplying cleaned and conditioned premium heating corn especially for this purpose will be regularly testing corn for its BTU Content, Moisture Content, and Foreign Materials and Fines (Stalk, Cob, Fines, etc.) to meet a higher standard than normally required for raw field corn or shelled corn sold for feed and will minimize contamination with salts and other feed residue typical found in shelled corn ran through feed mills.

For more information on the Quality of Shelled Corn and why burn shelled corn click here.

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    Comments

    2 Responses to “Growing an Alternative to Wood Pellets”

    1. Mark on September 10th, 2008 6:33 am

      Great article! My stove is a multi-fuel stove. I have mostly used wood pellets, because that is all that is available here in Vermont. But I would like to try corn. Is it possible to store the corn and let it dry, like you would wood?

    2. admin on September 10th, 2008 1:30 pm

      Mark…normally you buy Corn with moisture content of around 15%.. so no need dry out but must air the corn tostop going mouldy..

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