Best way to produce bio mass briquettes

Hi guys, we have an abundance of eucalypt leaves and twigs constantly raining down on our property and the usual method of dealing with this is to rake them up and have the council take them away in the green bin. I'm just wondering about other peoples experience in briquetting this kind of biomass. I'm not really interested in the labor intensive methods of hand presses and home made dies, etc.
I was thinking more along the lines of a semi automated, hopper fed screw extrusion system. even an adaptation from the plastic injection molding industry. Has anyone played around with this method?
The other method that I've been looking at utilizes a couple of hydraulic cylinders with screw feed loading. Obviously this system requires a hydraulic power pack and controls which adds significantly to the initial outlay. I'd appreciate any feedback from anyone that has gone down this path. Thanks.
Eric

Eric Kendall : A couple of things ! Yes this research has been done; mostly the people trying to make this work settled on making wood pellets.

Here is a link to one of the more ingenious D.I.Y. Efforts to fuel with wood chips - only slightly outside of your original questions ! /// Link Below :




While you are at the Bigelow Farms Site subscribe and check out the Other Videos especially the RMH on Steriods Video

This should give you a better idea what you can expect to achieve D.I.Y. Without re-inventing the Wheel ! Good luck and good hunting !

For the Good of the Crafts ! Big AL

Thanks Allen, Yes there is some real innovation out there.

Erik Kendall : A short word of caution - - - - There is a lot of crap out there in U- Tube land. I rate U-tube videos sight unseen by the poker players full house ;

at least 3 of a kind back'd by at least a pair !

Bad) A single '' Look what I just did '' Video

Good) 3 VIDEOs, One-A watch me build it Video, Two-A see how this works for me, Three- My machine is a year old and it still runs ( modifications acceptable )

If the original poster has a couple of other videos on other subjects thats your pair to make a ''Full House'' . Also important does the original poster have a civil

relationship with people who post in the comments about his build, are his last comments recent (within two weeks) generally its a very bad sign if he has his

comments section blocked !

Good luck, and Good hunting ! For the Good of the Crafts ! Big AL

Thanks again Allen, You've really put a lot of thought analysis into the validity of what we see on You Tube!! Certainly pays to wear the "skeptic" glasses when trawling the net, Especially when it comes to fringe topics like "over unity" and "hydrogen power". (Just to name a couple.)

Well I've found quite a bit of info on this process and it looks like it's going to have to be a multi stage operation, but quite achievable for a small scale backyard operation. This looks like the best type of unit for the purpose. http://www.alibaba.com/product-detail/Widely-Used-Many-Types-Stalk-Fuel_688684505.html
It sells for around US$2700.00 but I'm going to see if I can purchase the reduction box, extruder and heating elements independently.
Here is a link to a research paper of the design of such a machine for those interested: http://www.faculty.ait.asia/kumar/rets/briquetting_Manuals/AIT/Design,%20Construction%20and%20Operation%20Details-Biomass%20Briquetti.pdf

A hammer mill is also required to size the raw material. Here is a link to an appropriate unit: http://www.alibaba.com/product-detail/CE-Approved-Mini-Grinding-Gold-Hammer_1708070682.html?spm=a2700.7724838.30.52.1tKEc6
These type of machines are fairly agricultural so it wouldn't take much to make one up at home. Here is a link to a research paper: http://www.iiste.org/Journals/index.php/JETP/article/view/12414
In fact it's worth spending some time on iiste.org. There are some interesting research papers in the back issues.