At a farm with a new grain dryer (40-ton loading), immediately after purchasing the diesel version they decided to install a solid-fuel heat generator made in Ukraine by AgroWarm. The reason — economics and autonomy.
According to the farm’s engineer, the pellet heat generator cost approximately 2.4 million UAH, while similar competitor solutions were priced at 3.3–3.6 million UAH. The price difference of around one million — combined with lower drying costs — results in a calculated payback of up to two seasons.
Key operational figures:
- Fuel cost: compared to diesel, pellet drying is roughly 50% cheaper.
- Consumption norms: approximately 1.2 L of diesel or 1.8 kg of pellets per 1% moisture removal per 1 t of grain.
- Fuel prices: pellets — about 12 UAH/kg; diesel is several times more expensive per ton-percent.
- Productivity: with corn moisture at 27–32%, one cycle lasts about 6 hours; the farm performs 3 cycles per day — around 120 t/day.
- Autonomy: during power outages, the heat generator runs from a small generator, and the dryer from a tractor or separate diesel generator; after electricity is restored, the system safely continues operation.
Technical features:
- Pellet feeding — screw type, stable combustion; the mixer of hot and atmospheric air equalizes the temperature before entering the dryer.
- The turbo mode purges and cleans the air path before ignition.
- Dust-settling chambers require periodic cleaning; with quality wood pellets, ash content is minimal.
- Immediate switch back to diesel remains available: the original burner is kept as a backup.
The farm cultivates about 300 ha of corn with a yield of 10–10.7 t/ha (around 2.6–3.0 thousand tons per season). At such volumes and the fuel price difference, switching to pellets proved economically beneficial already in the first season.
