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NW Washington | No, I am referring to the hard clumps that form when burning some pellets and especially when burning grain like corn or cereal grains. It is from the silicon in the material. Some pellet stoves are worse than others. Some stoves used to have mechanical "stirrers" to break them up in the fire box before the solidify. Here is some more on the subject that I pasted in from a Lowes site.
"Pellet stoves use two types of automatic pellet-feeding systems: top-fed and bottom-fed.
In top-fed systems, the auger is inclined at an angle and feeds the pellets into the top or side of the combustion chamber. The auger reduces the possibility of fire "burn back" into the hopper.
Top-fed systems, however, may not force ash away from the firebox grate. If this occurs, clinkers (deposits created by repeatedly heating and cooling ash) tend to form there. Clinkers may impede combustion air flow and cause the fire to die. To prevent clinkers from forming in top-fed systems manufacturers recommend burning premium grade, low-ash pellets.
Bottom-fed designs generally have a horizontal auger. Since this system moves the fuel horizontally into the fire chamber, incoming pellets shove aside ashes and clinkers, which then fall into the ash pan. It is not necessary to use higher quality, low-ash pellets in bottom-fed systems." | |
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pellet stoves
