Issues with Biomass Boiler causing a fire

[baz wheater]

hello,
Just a quick question, there has been a fire involving a Biomass boiler and I am just wondering what are the main issues with biomass boilers. Could a mechanical issue cause the fire as it has a auger fed pellet supply and the fire looks to be in the area of the motor and above (the hopper).

Any thoughts would be great.
Ta

 

[ShaunCorbs]

Did the motor have overload / stall protection as they sometimes jam the augers

 

[Rob Foster]

Another issue has been the pellets, there are plenty of dodgey supplies of these pellets
some have too little output like burning poplar wood and others ....are really too fast .I leave it to your imagination.
Its not like buying a litre of unleaded or a pint of beer etc. there is little control in this area.
I hope your gaff was not too badly damaged
centralheatking

 

[baz wheater]

hello, I have been informed that it may be due to a mechanical failure and thats all, but can't get my heat around what type of mechanical failure that would be. I presume that if something broke and it should move would heat be allowed to build up and ignite the pellets. A friend of mine suggested something called burn back ?

 

[missplumb]

a burnback is possible if the rotary valve or burnback flap has failed but this would be unlikely to allow a fire to reach your store. What make of boiler is it? Most half decent motors have a thermal overload which would usually stop the boiler, or at least trigger a warning, again its unlikely that an overheated motor is going to get into the fuel feed system and cause a fire, the more likely scenario with the motor is that it has caused the pellet dust sat on it to combust which in turn could melt the flexible auger pipe and then burn back into the fuel store. How much damage was there