Patent ID: 8640633

Claim:
A furnace system for heating a poultry brooder house, the furnace system comprising: a firebox for burning biomass fuel; a grate within said firebox for burning the biomass fuel thereon; a distributor plate positioned within said firebox and directly above said grate, said distributor plate comprising a plurality of apertures therethrough; a hopper assembly defining a well for receiving a volume of biomass fuel for delivery to said distributor plate; said well including an inlet for receiving biomass fuel from a supply, and an outlet communicating with an interior of said firebox and positioned above said distributor plate; a conveyor configured to deliver biomass fuel from the supply to said hopper assembly; and a shredder proximate said hopper assembly for breaking up the biomass fuel into a size suitable for processing through said distributor plate; wherein said shredder includes a plurality of blades spaced from one another by a predetermined distance, said distance being substantially the same as a dimension of one or more of said apertures of said distributor plate.