Krone’s Premos 5000, the world’s first mobile pellet harvester, was awarded a gold medal by the German Agricultural Society (DLG) at Agritechnica 2015.
The society praised the innovative design of the machine, which produces pellets from agricultural feed crops directly from swath in the field. The pellets can then be transferred to a waiting truck by conveyor belt and delivered straight to end customers, who use them as fodder, bedding and, of course, fuel for heating systems.
This innovation enables renewable agricultural raw materials and secondary raw materials to be used for energy generation, thereby reducing CO2 emissions. Furthermore, the Premos 5000 can also be used outside the harvesting season thanks to an optional bale shredder which converts it into a stationary pelletiser for year-round operation.
The Premos 5000 has a hopper capacity of 5,000kg (up to nine cubic metres) and a throughput of 5,000kg/hour, making it far more efficient than most conventional stationary pelletisers.
The pickup has a 2.35m working width that picks up the crop, which is then transported from the feed rotor to a conveyor belt (crop flow width approximately 800 mm). The material is fed between two press rollers (800mm wide and 800mm in diameter), each with alternating rows of teeth and perforations. The crop is forced through the matrix of perforations into the interior of the roller. After pressing the pellets are transported via an internal screw conveyor to a conveyor belt, and from there to an integrated hopper.
Premos pellets are just as easy to handle and transport as other bulk materials. The bulk density of the pellets lies between 600 and 700kg/cubic metre (three to four times denser than straw bales). About 2.5kg of pellets can replace about 1.0kg of heating oil, resulting in significant cost savings compared with heating oil and other fossil fuels.
For more information visit: www.krone-uk.com.
