How do I make pellets out from wet seaweed / seagrass?

[garouza]

Hello Selfsufficients!

So, I want to throw a question for all pros in biomass handling:

Ive been pondering on creating dry pellets using the abundant seaweed around the beaches close to my town. All hotels despise them and will be grateful of a crazy guy picking them up and putting them in a truck.

Ive been looking around many machines, from expensive UK made pelletizers to amazingly ingenius italian pelletizers made from scratch. However before really committing into spending $1000 USD in something like this, Id like to know if there are low cost alternatives to make my own pellets.

Ive read through other posts where some of the experts suggest passing the biomass through a tube or solid container with a press...however, with my "City boy" (as my woman would call me) brain I dont have an idea of how to really engineer that.

I also have some remarks after researching a bit:

1) The seaweed would be fresh and I would like to make the pellets without having to dry them before, only using the pressure of the concoction I may use to make them. The reason: algae can take incredible amounts of time to dry, and in a humid place, it could be more.
I wouldnt like to have to invest in a drying drum or something similar, unless its completely necessary...

2) The seaweed contains a big amount of oil, which may be dangerous considering how hot conventional pellets come out (200F) of a machine whirring at full speed, fed by electricity or smoking diesel vapors. Sounds like the recipe for disaster!

3) I would like to add baking soda and other nutritive additives to the mix, and I wonder if that can be joyfully added to the seaweed before pelletizing.

Any solution or idea would be great, personally I would like to start with something that can be operated and built manually before committing to purchase engines, machines and other terrifying elements that make my girlfriend think Im turning crazy and I want to convert our garden into a factory.

¡Thank you!

[Zech]

Hi,

Just wondering - why do you want to make pellets? Seaweed makes excellent compost with no processing at all (OK, maybe washing the salt off first)

[garouza]

Hello! Well, yes, I read they are awesome, specially for tomato planting, but Im planning to give it a secondary use as cat litter.

Im concerned about the environment, and despite we have here those fancy, clumping sand, I know that at the end, we are so close to the coast that those materials will end in some lagoon, in the sea or filter to the underground water deposits, and that clumping sand has concrete-like ingredients that can seriously damage water life.

Here as green options, we only have imported brands of pellets from biomass or pine that are like 8 USD the 6 pounds, which is prohibitive for almost anyone who has more than one cat. (Ive got an army or five).

Im concerned about the fishy smell, that is why I want to add lots of baking soda to the mix, and anyway, I have the litter boxes isolated in a laundry room, so some sea smell wouldnt really hurt. What do you think?

Thanks for replying!

[Zech]

Well, I think that for tomatoes there's no need to make pellets, just use the seaweed as it is or rot it down first if you like (we have quite a short growing season here, so I'd rot it first). If you bury it in the soil that should deal with the smell.

For cat litter, well I don't know, but I can't help thinking there must be a better alternative than a process that uses an expensive machine and lots of power. I'd be a little concerned about large quantities of bicarb, too. Might it get too alkaline for your cats' paws?

Maybe you could find a source of waste sawdust? Or how about just sand? My cat seems quite keen on wood ash, which makes sure we keep the hearth clean Thinking about it, that suggests that alkalinity should not be a big worry. Of course, soil is what they'd use outdoors. Some people use torn up newspapers. I think there are lots of cheaper alternatives to making pellets.

[garouza]

Well, I think that for tomatoes there's no need to make pellets, just use the seaweed as it is or rot it down first if you like (we have quite a short growing season here, so I'd rot it first). If you bury it in the soil that should deal with the smell.

For cat litter, well I don't know, but I can't help thinking there must be a better alternative than a process that uses an expensive machine and lots of power. I'd be a little concerned about large quantities of bicarb, too. Might it get too alkaline for your cats' paws?

Maybe you could find a source of waste sawdust? Or how about just sand? My cat seems quite keen on wood ash, which makes sure we keep the hearth clean Thinking about it, that suggests that alkalinity should not be a big worry. Of course, soil is what they'd use outdoors. Some people use torn up newspapers. I think there are lots of cheaper alternatives to making pellets.

Hm, I think you are right. Will look at other alternatives to this. The price of the cat litter is to high, and all that wasted seaweed was sooo tempting XD.

[seasidegirl]

It's funny how sometimes you see a question like this one, and have no idea at all, but then see things around which look like solutions.

Yesterday I walked into the kitchen and my husband was making pellets, by hand, out of pork luncheon meat. The pellets are for fishing bait (lake fishing which he rarely does now). He was making the pellets with a small inexpensive tool called a bread punch which he got from a fishing tackle shop. The meat is very soft but he made a big bagfull in about ten minutes. Like a bag of frozen peas (ish).

So I was wondering to myself how this punch might work on plant material. I was thinking maybe if it was compressed and a soft seaweed it could work. Then tonight on Countryfile they showed pellets of plant material to do with rejuvanating peat beds. I think they were spagnum. I'm not really sure to be honest or how they made them.

Don't know anything about cats or what you're proposing but I do use seaweed on the garden that I collect off the beach so think finding uses is interesting.