How does a drum wood chipper work?

An infeed roller pulls the log into the machine and pushes it against the rotating drum which carries a series of flying knives the length of it. When passing through the curved end of the drums the knives cut the wood as it moves at a set angle to the bottom stationary knife. This action generates a series of chips length controlled at the end of the cycle by an auto run disc control. Chips then deposit on a discharge belt or chute until exiting the machine. Each TC Series unit uses a hydraulic auto-fed hopper, with a gravity assisted discharge layout - as opposed to similar PTO driven hand fed units as mentioned throughout the dealership, which are designed to be mounted to a tractor for landscaping purposes. Periodic servicing goes into flying knife honing and bottom knife gap calibration, etc.

Drum chipper vs disc chipper — which is better for biomass?

Drum, in virtually all biomass situations. Drum geometry maintains chip size uniformity at high feed rates, takes larger log diameters, and is better with whole-tree input. Disc chippers are better with smaller diameter limbs and landscaping though show a wider distribution of chip length at high throughput in the industrial situation. Full decision factors appears in the comparison matrix above.

What diameter of wood can your drum chipper process?

Across the TC Series, log diameter handling spans 230 mm maximum log diameter (TC216, TC217) up to 600 mm (TC2116). For mid-range capacities, i.e. 400-450 mm, which represents most of the industrial feedstocks like pulp and pellets, the feed-size opening goes from 230540 mm on the TC216, up to 7501200 mm on the Tci616.

Can the drum chipper integrate with a biomass pellet production line?

YES—and TCPEL has the complete line. TCPEL delivers a single-vendor 6-stage chain to a TCPEL hammer mill (six chamber), rotary dryer, pellet machine, cooler and packer. Since the chip size output is standardized at 30-50 mm from all 8 chipper series, the wear rate and the hammer mill input spec downstream is the same no matter which capacities you choose.

How fast does the drum spin?

Knife-speed (rotor rpm) varies from 350 rpm on the largest TC2116 (1600 mm rotor) to 590 rpm on the small-frame TC217 (600 mm rotor). Larger drums spin slower to maintain the blade tip-speed and consequently the chip-quality operation in the same engineering window. It is tap-speed that is the relevant chip-quality variable not current rpm.

What is the chip output size?

Between 30-50 mm on all 8 TC Series models. Compact dimensions hold the (60 x 80 mm) chip window similar to the ISO 17225-4 P45S size class — the most popular input spec for industrial pellet presses, most kraft pulp digesters… — and the same chip window for 3 t/h to 60 t/h capacity is by design, so that every downstream element (hammer mill, drier, pellet die) remains identical, no matter what the chipper model.

TC Series · Industrial Drum Chipper Line

Drum Wood Chipper — 8-Model TC Series for Biomass, Pulp & Board

Engineered by TCPEL P45S · ISO 17225-4 compliant

The 3 t/h to 60 t/h, 55–710 kW, 30–50 mm uniform chip output industrial drum wood chipper line, available in 8 models. Designed for biomass pellet line, pulp mill, and particleboard plant customers.

8^models

TC216 → TC2116

60^t/h

Peak Capacity

60+

Countries Served

Request Quote For biomass pellet · pulp · particleboard plants

TC Series · Drum Chipper Astilladora de Madera para Tambor Industrial Serie TCPEL TC para plantas de biomasa, pulpa y tableros de partículas

Chip Output

30 – 50 mm · P45S

01 / Specification Overview

TCPEL TC Series at a Glance

Verified Parameters

Model Count

8TC216 → TC2116

Rango de capacidad

3 – 60tonnes / hour

Motor principal

55 – 710kilowatt

Max Log Diameter

230 – 600millimetre

Chip Size Output

30 – 50mm · P45S · ISO 17225-4

Export Reach

60+countries worldwide

Process Engineering · Astilladora de madera para tambor

Why Wood Chipping Matters — The Process Bottleneck Behind Pellet & Pulp Output

Whether you need a biomass pellet line, pulp mill, or particleboard plant, your incoming raw material — log / sapling / bark / wood scrap etc. — arrive in sizes downstream hammer mill / digester cannot handle directly. An industrial drum wood chipper per head at the start of your line reduces logs / saplings / branches / wood scrap to an identical 30–50 mm chip — the size class anticipated by your downstream process equipment.

When chip size is not tightly controlled, pinch points move around the line.

Three failure modes that propagate through the whole feedstock chain.

FIG 01. / Process Pinch Points

Astilladora de madera de tambor industrial que opera en una línea de pellets de biomasa

01 Hammer Mill Infeed

Oversized chips bridge a hammer mill infeed.

02 Digester

Undersized fines clog the digester.

03 Knife Life

Irregular chip geometry limits knife life throughout the whole feedstock chain.

Hour-by-hour throughput of your biomass or paper products plant therefore is no a mere byproduct of equipment selection, but directly correlates with this single variable: how large is the drum wood chipper.

The Single Controlling Variable

Drum Chipper Size

Lineup Coverage

Our 8-model lineup is designed so that all chips flow into your process both reliably and consistently.

No matter whether your target capacity is as small as 3 t/h, or as large as 60 t/h, the maximum chip size remains at 30–50 mm.

— Lineup —

8 Modelos

Production-grade range

— Capacity —

3–60 t / h

Small to high-output plants

— Chip Size —

30–50 mm chip

Held across all 8 models

Below is the technical datasheet with the 8-model lineup, the decision guide for which type of chipper — drum or disc — is best suited to your bulk raw material, three real-world installation references, and the most common questions we get from buyers prior to purchase.

01 / Below

Technical Datasheet — 8-Model Lineup

02 / Below

Decision Guide: Drum Vs. Disc Chipper For Your Bulk Raw Material

03 / Below

Three Real-World Installation References

04 / Below

Pre-Purchase FAQ — The Most Common Buyer Questions

Validate Before You Buy

→ Send Your Wood Sample For Trial Chipping

02 / Technical Specifications & Matrix

TCPEL TC Series — 8 Models, 3 t/h to 60 t/h Capacity

Looking for a fast recommendation based on your target hourly throughput?

All Models 8 3 – 10 t/h 3 12 – 30 t/h 3 30 – 60 t/h 2 Showing 8 of 8 models

Modelo	Main Motor (kW)	Feeding Size (mm)	Max Log Dia. (mm)	Rotor Dia. (mm)	Knife Speed (rpm)	Flying Knives	Capacidad (t/h)
TC216	55	230×540	230	600	550	2	3 – 5
TC217	75	230×700	230	600	590	2	5 – 7
TC218	110	350×700	300	800	540	2	6 – 10
TC2110	160 / 185	450×1000	400	1000	530	2×3	12 – 15
TC2113	200 / 220	450×700	400	1300	420	3	16 – 20
TC2113D	250	450×1000	450	1300	420	2×3	20 – 30
TC4113	315 / 450	450×1300	450	1300	355	2×3	35 – 50
TC2116	400 / 600 / 710	750×1200	600	1600	350	4×3	30 – 60

Engineering Note

All eight models in this lineup are scaled such that one parameter: main motor size, log diameter, or rotor diameter, scales with the others to fit your application. For example, a 600 mm (24″), 55 kW drum on the TC216 operates on a lower tip speed 550 rpm, and a 1600 mm (64″), 710 kW drum on the TC2116 on a lower-tip speed 350 rpm, because for biomass customers, chip quality (uniformity, shape, edge quality) and knife life run better at lower tip-speed when we move up to larger drum diameters. Chip-size output remains unchanged at 30–50 mm.

03 / Recommendation Matrix

TCPEL Wood-to-Chip Capacity Map

All values from tcpel TC Series technical datasheet.

0 t/h 10 20 30 40 50 → 60

TC216

Log Ø230 mm

Motor55 kW

3 – 5t/h

Plant TypePilot pellet line, R&D, compact installation

TC217

Log Ø230 mm

Motor75 kW

5 – 7t/h

Plant TypeSmall commercial

TC218

Log Ø300 mm

Motor110 kW

6 – 10t/h

Plant TypeMid commercial

TC2110

Log Ø400 mm

Motor160 – 185 kW

12 – 15t/h

Plant TypeIndustrial pellet plant

TC2113

Log Ø400 mm

Motor200 – 220 kW

16 – 20t/h

Plant TypeIndustrial pellet / pulp

TC2113D

Log Ø450 mm

Motor250 kW

20 – 30t/h

Plant TypeLarge pulp / particleboard

TC4113

Log Ø450 mm

Motor315 – 450 kW

35 – 50t/h

Plant TypeMajor industrial

TC2116

Log Ø600 mm

Motor400 – 710 kW

30 – 60t/h

Plant TypeWhole-tree, 60+ t/h plants

Select log diameter and main motor for your business based on your target exact hourly throughput.

Equipo de ingeniería TCPEL

We intentionally maintain chip-size specification at 30–50 mm across our 8-model lineup. When scaling throughput from a 5 t/h pilot line to a 30 t/h industrial plant, the rest of the process chain— hammer mill, dryer inlet, pellet die—remains unchanged in geometry. Only the capacity number changes.

TCPEL Engineering Team · Equipment Design

Spec Sheet · PDF Download

All 8 models, one technical reference document.

Full kW · rpm · rotor Ø matrix
Recommended plant-type mapping
Chip-size output verified to ISO 17225-4

Download 8-Model Specification Sheet

Equipment Selection · Drum vs Disc

Drum vs Disc Wood Chipper — Why Drum Wins for Whole-Tree and High-Volume

The correct answer to the drum-vs-disc question for biomass material almost always is: drum. Disk chippers spin a steel flywheel with knives around the edge, while drum chippers rotate horizontally with knives along the cylinder's length. The differences in how they are built dictate the feedstock types each kind can process without problems.

How They're Built Dictates What They Can Handle

Rotor geometry, not horsepower, is what determines whether your chipper holds a tight chip-length window when feedstock and throughput climb.

Astilladora de tambor

Recommended

La trituradora de tambor gira horizontalmente con cuchillas a lo largo del cilindro

Rotates horizontally with knives along the cylinder's length. Uniform geometry along the rotor produces a consistent 30–50 mm output across the TC Series even at 60 t/h.

Disc Chipper

Limited Scope

La astilladora de disco hace girar un volante de acero con cuchillos alrededor del borde

Spins a steel flywheel with knives around the edge. Knife-anvil gap varies as the disc face turns relative to the feed — producing a broader chip-length distribution at high feed rates.

Chip-Size Drift — Where It Bites

Where chip-size drift becomes an issue: a downstream hammer mill rated 30-50 mm input would choke on 70 mm slivers. Disc chippers, particularly at high feed rates, produce a broader chip-length distribution due to the variation in knife-anvil gap as the disc face turns relative to the feed. Drum chippers, with uniform geometry along the rotor length, are able to produce a consistent 30-50 mm output across the TC Series even at 60 t/h.

El Decision Matrix — Seven Factors That Separate the Two Designs

Drum (TCPEL TC)

Disc (Industry Avg)

Factor de decisión

— RECOMMENDED — Drum Chipper (TCPEL TC)

— BENCHMARK — Disc Chipper (Industry Average)

Max log diameter handled

230 – 600 mm across 8 models

Typically 200 – 500 mm

Chip-length uniformity

30 – 50 mm window held across all capacity points

Wider distribution at high feed rates

Throughput ceiling

Up to 60 t/h (TC2116)

Generally lower for whole-tree input

Whole-tree / branch-laden feed

Designed for it (large throat opening, gravity feed)

Knife life suffers on irregular feed

Knife replacement cycle

2 flying knives per drum on TC216–TC218; up to 4×3 on TC2116

Disc face knives, smaller batch per change

Mejor ajuste

Pellet line, pulp mill, particleboard, whole tree chipper duty

Smaller branches, brush, landscaping

Maintenance interval

Knife rotation 200–400 operating hours depending on wood waste type and feedstock cleanliness

Disc face knife maintenance more frequent on hardwood

For biomass pellet production in particular, drum geometry combined with a consistent rotor speed (350–590 rpm through the TC Series) is what gives consistent ISO 17225-4 P45S-class chip — your pellet press feedstock specification.

Compliance Class

ISO 17225-4
P45S

Pellet Press Feedstock Spec

Comparing Drum vs Disc For A Specific Feedstock?

→ WhatsApp our application engineer for a side-by-side recommendation

Get Side-By-Side Recommendation →

04 / Application Scenarios

Three Application Scenarios — Pellet Line, Pulp Mill, Particleboard

The three main plant types into which the TC Series chipper ships vary in their constraints — chip-size variance, moisture-tolerance, throughput capacity — and consequently the model-selection reasoning also varies.

01 Línea de producción de pellets de biomasa 3 – 30 t/h

02 Pulp & Paper Mill 30 – 60 t/h

03 Particleboard / MDF 20 – 50 t/h · Mixed Feed

Scenario 01 · Pellet Line

Línea de producción de pellets de biomasa

The drum chipper is head of a 6-stage pellet line: chipper, hammer mill, rotary dryer, pellet machine, cooler, packer. By engineering the entire chain the TCPEL ensures your chipper output specification matches your downstream hammer mill input specification – so there's no risk of integration delays.

For a typical 3–5 t/h pellet plant the TC216 or TC217 is the chipper of choice. Industrial pulp mills from 12–30 t/h range from the TC2110, to the TC2113, and to the TC2113D, with a matching biomass pellet machine supplied downstream by TCPEL.

6-Stage Process Chain

01 Astilladora

02 Molino de martillos

03 Secador rotativo

04 Pellet Machine

05 Cooler

06 Packer

Recommended Models

3 – 5 t/h TC216 TC217

12 – 30 t/h TC2110 TC2113 TC2113D

Scenario 02 · Pulp Mill

Pulp & Paper Mill

Pulp mills require chips to be uniform. Out-of-spec chips cause lost digester yield and selectivity. The TC Series 30–50 mm chip window matches the P45S ISO 17225-4 size class used by most kraft and chemi-thermo mechanical pulp mills.

For high volumes, the TC4113 (35–50 t/h) y TC2116 (30–60 t/h) process whole-log input volumes to match the capacity of industrial digesters and maintain the proper chip specification.

Chip-Size Specification Window

0 mm P45S · ISO 17225-4 100 mm

30 – 50 mm

0102030405060708090100

Within Spec Matches kraft & chemi-thermo mechanical pulp standards

Recommended Models · High Volume

35 – 50 t/h TC4113

30 – 60 t/h TC2116

Scenario 03 · Particleboard

Particleboard / MDF

Particleboard mills prefer a rango ligeramente más amplio de longitud de viruta que las fábricas de celulosa y disfrutar de ventajas de mayor rendimiento a expensas de una reducción de kW/tonelada. El ajuste típico para el equipo de menor capacidad es el TC2113D, y para el equipo de mayor capacidad el TC4113, con puntos de capacidad escalados al panel de prensa aguas abajo.

Además de materias primas para madera, la cortina de humo de la serie TC acepta tallos tallos de algodón, bambú y fuentes de fibra no madereras. Esto continúa ampliando la base de materia prima direccionable del fabricante de tableros de partículas en mercados donde los troncos no están disponibles. Los beneficios sobre una trituradora de madera genérica estilo disco o tambor que ejecuta alimentación mixta son más pronunciados en este escenario.

Capacidad de múltiples materias primas

W Material alimentario de madera

C Tallos de algodón

B Tallos de bambú

N Fibra no maderable

Capacidad de alimentación mixta

Recommended Models

Gorra inferior. TC2113D

Gorra más alta. TC4113

Huella operativa global

↑ Ver Mapa de capacidad arriba ↓ Ver Preguntas frecuentes abajo

La consulta operativa más frecuente que hemos recibido de nuestros sitios web específicos de ventas en el 60+ países donde hemos enviado a «, incluidos los mercados a continuación, es qué modelo se ajusta a un objetivo por hora. Nuestro mapa de capacidad ilustra esto en relación con diámetro logarítmico y potencia del motor, mientras que nuestras preguntas frecuentes a continuación lo mantienen simple.

Enviado a Alemania Finlandia Rusia Nueva Zelanda Corea del Sur Pakistán India Bangladesh Vietnam Malasia Turquía + 49 mercados más

Herramientas avanzadas de ingeniería de astilladoras de madera para tambores

Comprobador de compatibilidad del tamaño de las virutas del tambor https://tcpel.net/drum-chipper/drum-wood-chipper/drum-chip-size-compatibility-checker/ Calculadora de rendimiento de madera a barco https://tcpel.net/drum-chipper/drum-wood-chipper/wood-to-chip-throughput-calculator/ Herramienta de decisión de astilladora de madera de tambor vs disco https://tcpel.net/drum-chipper/drum-wood-chipper/drum-vs-disc-wood-chipper-decision-tool/

Base de conocimientos · Precompra

Pregunta frecuente Preguntas

Un rodillo de alimentación introduce el tronco en la máquina y lo empuja contra el tambor giratorio que lleva una serie de cuchillos voladores la longitud de la misma. Al pasar por el extremo curvo de los tambores, las cuchillas cortan la madera mientras se mueve en un ángulo determinado con respecto a la cuchilla estacionaria inferior. Esta acción genera una serie de virutas de longitud controladas al final del ciclo mediante un control de disco de ejecución automática. Luego, los chips se depositan en una correa de descarga o conducto hasta salir de la máquina. Cada Serie TC la unidad utiliza una tolva hidráulica alimentada automáticamente, con un diseño de descarga asistida por gravedad, a diferencia de unidades similares alimentadas manualmente por toma de fuerza como se menciona en todo el concesionario, que están diseñadas para montarse en un tractor con fines de paisajismo. El mantenimiento periódico se centra en el bruñido de cuchillas voladoras y la calibración del espacio de las cuchillas inferiores, etc.

Tambor, prácticamente en todas las situaciones de biomasa. La geometría del tambor mantiene la uniformidad del tamaño de las virutas a altas velocidades de alimentación, toma diámetros logarítmicos mayores y es mejor con la entrada de árboles enteros. Las astilladoras de disco son mejores con extremidades de menor diámetro y paisajismo, aunque muestran una distribución más amplia de la longitud de las virutas con un alto rendimiento en la situación industrial. Los factores de decisión completos aparecen en la matriz de comparación anterior.

En toda la serie TC, se extiende el diámetro del tronco 230 mm diámetro máximo del tronco (TC216, TC217) hasta 600 mm (TC2116). Para capacidades de rango medio, es decir. 400-450 mm, que representa la mayoría de las materias primas industriales como pulpa y pellets, de donde proviene la apertura del tamaño de la alimentación 230540 mm en el TC216, hasta 7501200 mm en el Tci616.

SÍ« y TCPEL tiene la línea completa. TCPEL entrega un cadena de 6 etapas de un solo proveedor a un molino TCPEL hammer (seis cámaras), secador rotativo, máquina peletizadora, enfriador y empacador. Dado que la salida del tamaño del chip está estandarizada en 30-50 mm de las 8 series de astilladoras, la tasa de desgaste y la especificación de entrada del molino hammer en sentido descendente son las mismas sin importar las capacidades que elija.

La velocidad de la cuchilla (rpm del rotor) varía de 350 rpm en el TC2116 más grande (rotor 1600 mm) a 590 rpm en el TC217 de bastidor pequeño (rotor 600 mm). Los tambores más grandes giran más lentamente mantener la velocidad de la punta de la pala y, en consecuencia, el funcionamiento con calidad del chip en la misma ventana de ingeniería. Es la velocidad del grifo la variable relevante de calidad del chip, no las rpm actuales.

Entre 30-50 mm en todos los modelos de la Serie 8 TC. Las dimensiones compactas mantienen el (60 x 80 mm) ventana de chip similar a la ISO 17225-4 P45S clase de tamaño « la especificación de entrada más popular para prensas de pellets industriales, la mayoría de los digestores de pulpa kraft... « y la misma ventana de chip para 3 t/h până la 60 t/h la capacidad es por diseño, de modo que cada elemento aguas abajo (molino hammer, secador, matriz de pellets) permanece idéntico, sin importar el modelo de astilladora.

¿aún no aparece una pregunta arriba?

→ Hable con un ingeniero de aplicaciones TCPEL sobre su materia prima

Pregúntale a un ingeniero →