2–3 T/H Wood Pellet Plant in Ghana

RICHI MACHINERY

Project Background and Client Logic

The client entered the project from the timber-trading side rather than from the energy industry. Years of purchasing and moving wood products around Kumasi gave the business direct access to sawmills and secondary wood processors producing offcuts, edgings, short boards and clean trimming waste. Instead of buying one large feedstock source, the client planned the plant around several smaller suppliers within the regional timber-processing network.

That sourcing model influenced the entire project. The plant needed strong front-end flexibility because incoming pieces vary in length and section, but it did not need a complex agricultural-residue blending system. It also made covered storage more important than a large dryer: keeping already-dry material dry costs much less than repeatedly removing rainwater from wood.

The commercial target was local industrial fuel rather than export-grade residential pellets. For this reason, the product specification centered on stable 8 mm pellets, controlled fines, consistent moisture and reliable bulk density rather than premium small-bag retail presentation. The customer planned sales mainly to industrial users in and around Kumasi and other reachable domestic markets where biomass can replace part of conventional boiler fuel demand.

RICHI MACHINERY

Raw Materials and Moisture Control

The feedstock is clean waste wood from timber processing. The project excludes painted wood, chemically treated timber, demolition wood and other contaminated material because those streams can create ash, emissions and product-quality problems that are unnecessary for this fuel route.

The 12–18% incoming-moisture range does not mean every load goes directly to the pellet mill. For stable wood pelleting, the ground material should normally enter pelleting at a narrower moisture window. Loads near the upper end are kept under cover, mixed with drier material or allowed to equalize before grinding. The project therefore operates without a thermal dryer, but not without moisture management.

The project documents used approximately 12,004 tons of annual wood input against about 12,000 tons of finished pellets. That figure is best understood as the nominal planning balance. In daily production, actual yield varies with incoming moisture, screening rejects, dust collection and fines recycle, so weighbridge input and packed or bulk output should be tracked separately rather than assuming a fixed near-100% conversion rate.

RICHI MACHINERY

Finished Pellet Specification

The line produces 8 mm industrial wood pellets. The design priority is not decorative appearance but repeatable combustion behavior: low loose-fines content, sufficient mechanical durability for truck handling, and moisture stable enough for storage and boiler feeding.

• Pellet diameter: 8 mm
• Main application: industrial boiler fuel and commercial heat use
• Feedstock: clean untreated sawmill waste wood
• Pellet moisture: controlled after cooling before storage or bagging
• Packaging: 25 kg bags for smaller customers plus bulk dispatch for larger industrial users

About 70% of the planned output was intended for bagged sales and the balance for bulk industrial deliveries. This mixed sales route is one reason the finished-product section uses both a weighing-and-sewing station and space for bulk handling rather than designing the factory only around retail bags.

RICHI MACHINERY

Capacity Plan and Operating Schedule

The annual production target and working schedule are the basis for sizing the line. With 12,000 tons of pellets planned over 4,800 operating hours, the required average throughput is about 2.5 T/H. A 2–3 T/H wood pellet production line gives enough operating margin without oversizing the entire front end for a much larger future plant.

This capacity definition separates average annual duty from short-term machine rating. The pellet mill should not be selected only by dividing annual tonnage by hours; it also needs headroom for feed variation, die wear, cleaning and short maintenance stops. Upstream equipment is therefore arranged to keep the pellet mill supplied consistently rather than forcing every machine to operate at its theoretical maximum.

RICHI MACHINERY

Process Flow for the Ghana Wood Pellet Line

The process is designed around dry, irregular sawmill waste rather than wet logs or agricultural residues. Because no thermal drying section is installed, the route remains relatively compact while still including the necessary cooling, screening and dust-control stages after pelleting.

1. Receiving and sorting: incoming offcuts and trimmings are checked for treated wood, stones and obvious metal contamination before storage.
2. Coarse size reduction: oversized pieces pass through the Wood pallet crusher and Wood chipper machine according to their shape and section.
3. Fine grinding: chipped material is metered to the Wood Pellet Hammer mill. The target is a reasonably uniform 3–5 mm material suitable for stable ring-die feeding.
4. Screening and metal protection: oversized particles and foreign material are removed, while magnetic protection before critical rotating equipment reduces the risk from nails and other ferrous pieces.
5. Pelleting: conditioned ground wood enters the Wood Pellet Mill. Friction and compression soften the natural lignin and form 8 mm fuel pellets without requiring routine synthetic binder addition.
6. Cooling: hot pellets are cooled to near ambient temperature so heat and moisture are not trapped during storage or packaging.
7. Final screening: loose fines are separated from saleable pellets and can be returned to the process where appropriate.
8. Bagging or bulk dispatch: finished pellets are weighed into 25 kg bags and sewn closed, while larger customers can receive bulk product.

This sequence is deliberately different from a wet-sawdust biomass pellet plant. If future feedstock purchasing shifts toward fresh sawdust, wet chips or rainfall-exposed residues, a dryer and associated heat source would need to be added instead of assuming the current no-dryer process can absorb the change.

RICHI MACHINERY

Main Equipment Configuration

Pelleting is handled by one MZLH678 biomass pellet mill with a 200 kW main motor. Its 2.5–3 T/H biomass capacity matches the annual production duty while leaving operating margin for feedstock variation, die wear, cleaning and short maintenance stops.

The single larger pellet-mill arrangement also simplifies synchronization, electrical control and spare-part planning. If the customer later needs materially higher annual output, expansion should be checked against the capacity of grinding, cooling, conveying and electrical infrastructure instead of adding another pellet mill without reviewing the rest of the line.

RICHI MACHINERY

Plant Layout and Building Use

The client used an existing leased industrial property with approximately 4,000 m² of usable site and building space. The plant is organized by function rather than by tightly separated rooms, allowing raw-material receiving, coarse preparation, pelleting, packaging, storage and utility areas to share the available footprint without obstructing loader and forklift movement.

A production-zone clear height of about 10 m is suitable for the vertical transfer points, cooler, dust piping and maintenance access in this capacity class. The project also reserved fire-water capacity and emergency containment as part of the site’s environmental and safety layout.

RICHI MACHINERY

Utilities and Staffing

Electricity is the main process utility because the plant has no thermal drying system. The pellet mill is the largest individual electrical load, followed by hammer milling, coarse size reduction, cooling, dust extraction and conveying. Water use is limited mainly to staff needs, cleaning, fire protection and minor moisture adjustment when required by the feed condition.

The project operates with 10 employees across production and administration. For a two-shift line at this scale, labor is concentrated on material receiving, loader and forklift work, line supervision, bag handling, maintenance and quality checks rather than on manual transfer between every machine.

• Two-shift production coverage for receiving, grinding, pelleting and packaging
• Shared loader and forklift duties across raw-material and finished-product zones
• Maintenance responsibility for dies, rollers, hammers, bearings, belts and dust-filter elements
• Basic QC checks for incoming moisture, contamination, pellet appearance, fines and bag weight
• Administrative support for procurement, sales, dispatch and production records

RICHI MACHINERY

Dust Control and Environmental Measures

Wood dust is the main process-environment issue for this project. Collection points are required where fine particles are released during hammer milling, screening, transfer and pellet handling. The project basis includes a pulse baghouse system of about 8,000 m³/h and a dedicated exhaust arrangement rather than relying only on general workshop ventilation.

• Local dust extraction at major fine-material transfer points
• Enclosed or covered conveying wherever practical after fine grinding
• Regular removal of settled dust from motors, electrical cabinets and structural ledges
• Segregated storage for used lubricants, oily rags and maintenance waste
• Fire-water provision, emergency access and clear separation between hot work and dusty production areas
• Noise management through equipment foundations, enclosure where needed and routine bearing maintenance

For the project period in 2023, Ghana’s environmental assessment framework required relevant undertakings to be registered and permitted before operation. The project therefore treated environmental permitting, dust control, waste management and fire planning as part of the plant package rather than as items to address only after commissioning.

RICHI MACHINERY

Equipment Shipping to Kumasi

Major equipment was shipped from Qingdao to Tema in 2023 and then moved inland to the Kumasi area by road. The shipment departed on July 15 and arrived on August 22, using two 40-foot containers for the main equipment package.

These figures belong to this 2023 shipment and should not be treated as current freight quotations. For a new Ghana project, container rates, port charges, duties, route conditions and inland trucking need to be recalculated at the time of shipment.

RICHI MACHINERY

Project Investment Structure

The completed project fixed investment was approximately US$142,000. Because the customer used an existing leased industrial property, this investment was concentrated on the processing equipment, international delivery, local electrical work, equipment foundations, workshop adaptation, installation, commissioning and essential safety systems rather than land purchase or construction of a new factory shell.

This distinction prevents a common budgeting error. A buyer comparing only machine prices can underestimate the cash required to start production, while a buyer with an existing industrial building may avoid a large part of the civil-investment burden faced by a greenfield project.

RICHI MACHINERY

Project Timeline

The customer moved from site preparation to commissioning within the same 2023 project cycle. Because the property already existed and the process did not require construction of a large dryer and furnace section, the implementation path was shorter than a greenfield wet-sawdust plant.

1. Raw-material and market confirmation: verify dry sawmill-residue supply, product size and annual sales target.
2. Process and layout design: confirm no-dryer route, equipment flow, workshop clearances, dust collection and storage zoning.
3. Equipment manufacturing: produce and inspect the main machines, electrical system and conveying equipment.
4. Shipping: dispatch the main equipment from Qingdao in July 2023 and receive it at Tema in August.
5. Inland transport and installation: move equipment to the Kumasi area, complete foundations, electrical work and assembly.
6. Commissioning and training: test the line with the client’s own wood residues, set pellet-mill parameters and train operators before routine production.

RICHI MACHINERY

What RICHI Supplied for the Project

RICHI’s scope covered the processing route from coarse wood preparation through finished pellet handling, together with engineering support needed to place the line inside the client’s existing site.

• Process design for clean sawmill waste without a thermal drying section
• Main equipment selection and matched conveying between crushing, grinding, pelleting and cooling
• Dust-collection planning for fine-material handling points
• Electrical and layout drawings for local installation coordination
• Installation supervision and commissioning support
• Operator training covering start-up, shutdown, die and roller adjustment, hammer-mill maintenance and routine inspections
• Initial spare-parts planning for wear parts such as dies, rollers, hammers, bearings, belts and filter bags
• Remote technical support after commissioning

The engineering focus was to keep the biomass pellet production line simple without deleting the stages that protect product quality and operating safety. Removing a dryer because the feedstock is genuinely dry is a process decision; removing cooling, contamination control or dust extraction would be a different kind of compromise.

RICHI MACHINERY

What This Ghana Project Shows

This case is useful for buyers who have access to relatively dry sawmill residues but do not need a large export-oriented pellet factory. The investment logic is based on matching the process to the material already available: control moisture at purchasing and storage, perform reliable size reduction, use a correctly sized pellet mill, cool and screen the pellets properly, and keep dust under control.

• A no-dryer line can work when incoming wood is genuinely dry enough and moisture is actively controlled.
• Multiple sawmill suppliers reduce dependence on one source, but incoming quality rules must remain consistent.
• For a 12,000 T/Y target on 4,800 operating hours, a 2–3 T/H line is a realistic capacity class.
• Existing industrial property can reduce civil investment, but usable space must still be zoned for storage, traffic, fire access and maintenance.
• Equipment-package cost should not be confused with total project capital, especially when local electrical work, site modifications and working capital are outside the machinery contract.

If your project uses sawmill offcuts, wood chips or other clean dry residues, RICHI can configure the line around the actual moisture, incoming size, required pellet diameter, annual operating hours and available workshop. For a new biomass pellet project, send us your raw-material photos, moisture range, target capacity and site dimensions so the equipment and layout can be sized from your real conditions rather than copied from another plant.