Biomass pellet burners for industrial process heat
Buy your fuel, or make it. The machine does not care.
A biomass pellet burner produces industrial process heat by firing compressed biomass pellets under controlled, staged combustion. SahelDry pellet burners are rated 200,000 to 900,000 kcal/h, run on a Delta PLC with closed-loop fuel and air trim, and feed hot air generators, dryers, ovens and process heating equipment.
Indicative price of a biomass burner, Ex-Works (EXW): USD 1,050–12,750
Shipping, customs clearance and local duties are extra. The final price depends on the configuration and is fixed in the written quotation.
What this is — and what it is not
An industrial process biomass burner is not a domestic pellet stove or a household pellet boiler. The difference is not only scale: they are two classes of equipment, specified for unrelated jobs.
| Process biomass burner (this page) | Domestic pellet stove or boiler | |
|---|---|---|
| Purpose | Deliver controlled hot air to a drying process | Heat a dwelling or produce domestic hot water |
| Output | 200,000 to 900,000 kcal/h | Typically 5 to 30 kW |
| Fuels | Pellets, 90 × 90 mm briquettes, cashew shell, crop residue | Graded pellets only, tight size and ash limits |
| Ash tolerance | Built for high-ash fuels, with de-ashing designed in | Requires low-ash fuel |
| Control | Industrial PLC, staged combustion, process setpoint | Room thermostat |
| Installation | Industrial site, civil works, 400 V three-phase supply | Domestic, single-phase connection |
| Typical buyer | Food or agro-processor, dryer operator | Homeowner, heating installer |
If you are heating a house, a workshop or a greenhouse, this is not the equipment you need, and it is not something we supply.
Where this equipment is used
The same equipment is specified across several product classes. These are the ones it is configured for most often:
industrial mango drying system, fish and seafood drying and fruit and vegetable drying.
Each of those pages carries the drying parameters, cycle times and quality targets for that product class.
Pellets, briquettes or loose residue — one burner
The same burner platform handles three fuel formats. What changes between them is feed rate, ash volume and cleaning interval, not the machine.
| Format | Typical size | Ash behaviour | Best suited to |
|---|---|---|---|
| Wood pellets | 6–8 mm | Lowest ash, longest cleaning interval | Sites buying fuel in, wanting minimum operator load |
| Biomass pellets (agricultural) | 6–8 mm | Grade dependent — specify ash content | Sites with a pellet supplier nearby |
| Agricultural briquettes | 90 × 90 mm | Moderate | Sites producing briquettes from their own residue |
| Loose cashew shell | Loose | Requires CNSL management | Cashew processors firing their own shell |
If you already have residue, a briquette production line turns it into fuel on site. If you would rather buy fuel and keep operations simple, pellets are the lowest-maintenance option in the range. Where shell is your fuel, the cashew shell burner is the specialised variant.
Why pellet quality matters more than pellet price
Pellet specification drives three things a buyer feels directly: ash content sets the cleaning interval, moisture content sets the delivered calorific value, and durability sets how much fines the feed system has to cope with. A cheap pellet with high ash and poor durability costs more in operator time than it saves at purchase.
Name the pellet grade you intend to run at the sizing stage. Feed geometry and ash handling are specified against it.
Specifications
Stated plainly: the burner covers 200,000 to 900,000 kcal/h, takes 6–8 mm pellets, 90 × 90 mm briquettes or loose residue, and is fed by a variable-speed metering screw through a choked surge hopper. Control is a Delta PLC with HMI and VFD on closed-loop fuel and air trim. Manufacturing runs 10 to 18 weeks from confirmed order and receipt of advance payment, the warranty is 12 months from date of shipment, and the main structure is designed for 15 to 20 years — the grills are consumable.
| Parameter | Value |
|---|---|
| Capacity | 200,000–900,000 kcal/h |
| Fuel formats | Pellets 6–8 mm, briquettes 90 × 90 mm, loose residue |
| Combustion | Staged pyrolysis, refractory-lined chamber |
| Fuel feed | Variable-speed metering screw, hardfaced flights |
| Feed seal | Choked surge hopper with high/low level probes |
| Control | Delta PLC, HMI, VFD; closed-loop fuel and air trim |
| Remote diagnostics | Supported where internet is available |
| Warranty | 12 months from date of shipment |
| Lead time | 10–18 weeks from confirmed order and receipt of advance payment |
| Design life | 15–20 years, main structure; grills are consumable |
What it feeds
- Biomass hot air generators — indirect, for food and process drying.
- Industrial tunnel dryers — via a matched generator, 1,500 kg per chamber.
- Bakery ovens and rusk dryers — indirect heat where the air contacts food.
- Turnkey biomass drying plant — burner, generator and chambers under one scope.
Steam raising is also within the burner’s duty — fire-tube boiler service where the process needs steam rather than hot air.
One system has been commissioned so far: a 900,000 kcal/h cashew shell burner firing a steam boiler at Premium Cashew Commodities Limited in The Gambia, on the factory’s own empty shell. It is a boiler application — no drying line has been built anywhere yet, so every drying figure on this site remains an engineered design target. The configuration is published in full, and the measured performance deliberately is not, on the page for the PCCL installation in The Gambia.
Frequently asked questions
Can I switch between pellets and briquettes without modifying the burner?
Yes. The burner accepts both without mechanical change. Feed rate, ash volume and cleaning frequency shift with the fuel, so the control recipe is adjusted — but no hardware is swapped. Sizing should be done against the fuel you expect to run most of the time — 6–8 mm pellets and 90 × 90 mm briquettes behave differently in the feed even though both burn cleanly.
How does a pellet burner compare with a diesel or LPG burner?
Fuel cost is usually substantially lower and is denominated locally rather than in foreign currency, which removes exchange-rate exposure. Against that, a pellet burner needs fuel storage, a feed system and daily ash removal, where a gas burner needs none of those. The comparison turns on local fuel prices and operator availability, not on the burner: the same 200,000 to 900,000 kcal/h range covers both duties.
What ash content should I specify?
Lower is better, and it is the single specification that most affects daily operator workload. Wood pellets sit at the low end; agricultural pellets vary widely by feedstock, and rice-derived fuels are notably high-ash. Whatever grade you choose, tell us before sizing so the ash handling matches it — the difference between a low-ash and a high-ash fuel can be a daily task against a twice-daily one across the same 200,000 to 900,000 kcal/h range.
Do you supply the pellets?
No — we supply the equipment and help you specify the fuel. Where a local pellet or briquette supply does not yet exist, we scope a briquette production line alongside the burner so you can make 90 × 90 mm briquettes from residue you already have. That turns a supply risk into a second piece of equipment, which is a problem with a price on it.
See the full comparison: biomass versus diesel and LPG.
Size a burner for your line
Tell us the product, the daily fresh throughput, the target moisture and the fuel you can reliably source. We come back with a rating and an estimated consumption.
Request sizing