Our sister company, Seaway Timber Harvesting, makes Curran Pellets from wood. Our logging crews set the trees via a stroke delimber to eliminate branches and flail chippers to remove the bark, leaving clean, green stalks to be chipped for wood pellet production. The clean, green chips are then ground to 5/8″ minus put through a dryer and floor again into 3/8″ minus sawdust. The sawdust is then extruded into pellets with pure compression and no additives. Wood pellets are passed through two shaker screens to remove sawdust and lose penalties.
Curran Pellets Renewable Energy received qualification to the Pellet Fuels Institute Standards Program as one of its first participants. This app is the only one of its type in America. Producing quality fuel has always been our priority, and by taking this step, we’re ensuring constant fuel for our customers.
To fulfill the criteria of this PFI Standards Program, we work with an independent licensed auditing agency and testing lab that performs arbitrary monthly audits at our manufacturing facility to ensure we are following the premium quality program. Wood pellets are analyzed according to the program specifications throughout the PFI, and it is an accredited laboratory at Timber Products Inspection.
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About Curran pellets
Curran Renewable Energy is proud to be Rainforest Alliance Certified and recognized for meeting the strict criteria of the Forest Stewardship Council (FSC). Curran Renewable Energy and Seaway Timber Harvesting are equally FSC-certified, but our wood pellet plant is the first Biomass facility to become FSC-certified in North America. The Rainforest Alliance and FSC are independent, non-governmental, non-profit, international organizations established to promote the responsible management of the planet’s forests.
Hardwood Softwood pellets
The Massena, NY-based Curran is an interesting pellet company that produces four different varieties of pellets for home heating. They have hardwood, softwood, a 70/30 blend of hard and soft wood, and an FSC (Forest Stewardship Council) unspecified soft/hardwood blend. This is a review of the 70/30 mix.
Curran Blend pellets are 70% hardwood and 30% softwood. They are PFI “premium grade”, and claim an ash content of 1% 0r less. Fines of less than 0.05%, and the sodium content is less than 300 ppm. These pellets are being burned in a basic Englander model 25-PDVC stove. The pellets have a pleasant scent when opened and are fairly light-colored. The pellets vary in length, with most being around 1/4 of an inch, and there is very little in the way of fines in any of the bags. These pellets burn very clean, leaving only fine ash and no clinkers.
These Curran pellets come on 1.5-ton pallets, and the bags seem to be fairly thick plastic, so there were no problems with ruptured bags. I did keep a few bags left over from last winter, stored outside under a lean-to, and probably close to 50% did take on noticeable moisture, so the bags are not watertight. Upon closer inspection, I found tiny little compression holes in many of the bags, possibly due to being stacked on higher 1.5-ton pallets and travel stresses. I now store extra bags inside my home until I’m ready to use them.
Manufacturing
When locating the pellet that works best on your stove, we provide three unique varieties: Premium Hardwood/ Softwood Blend, Premium Hardwood, and Premium 100% Softwood. All our wood pellets are rated premium by the PFI Institute’s highest Residential/ Commercial Densified Fuel standard.
Made from a quality blend of soft and hardwoods, Curran Blended Wood Pellets are made from wood harvested from their sister company, Seaway Timber Harvesting.
Logging crews set the trees via a delimber to eliminate branches and flail chipper to remove the bark, leaving clean green stalks to be chipped for wood pellet production.
The Curran pellets are then ground down and put through a drier and ground. The sawdust is then extruded into pellets with pure compression and no additives. Wood pellets are passed through two shaker screens to remove sawdust and lose penalties.
Conclusion
This will be my second season using Curran Blend. So far, this year, pellets seem to burn even cleaner than last year with very little residual ash. I’ve been very happy and would have no reservations about purchasing this brand again.
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Curran is the only pellets that work in my stove .just wondering were the closest place for me to get tbem this year. Mexico NY .thank you