Effects of outside storage on the energy potential of hardwood particulate fuels: part 1. Moisture content and temperature
Widespread use of woody materials for industrial fuels has generated interest and concern about the energy value of fuels stored outdoors. This paper reports on the effect of storage for periods up to 1 year on the temperature and moisture content (MC) of wood particulate fuels in cone-shaped piles according to the type of fuel and height of pile. Three fuels - hardwood whole-tree chips, bark, and sawdust - were stored in piles 10, 15, and 20 feet high. The experimental piles were built during the late summer of 1978 at the Union Camp woodyard in Ford, Virginia. Internal pile temperatures rose rapidly during the first weeks to highs of 45 degrees C for whole-tree chips and 73 degrees C for bark and sawdust. In the bark and chip piles these temperatures fluctuated seasonally. The interior temperature of the sawdust pile was insensitive to ambient temperature changes and declined slowly throughout the remainder of the study. Within the first 60 to 120 days of storage, the surfaces of all piles became saturated with moisture. The interior zones of the bark and sawdust piles remained at or slightly above the original MC while the corresponding regions of the chip pile exhibited some drying. After 1 year's time, the weighted average MCs of chips, bark, and sawdust increased by 84, 108, and 191 percent, respectively, over the original MCs. To minimize increases of MC in stored woody fuels, storage time should be kept to less than 60 days, chips should be preferred to bark and sawdust, and piles should be built as high as possible consistent with available space and storage procedures which limit the potential for spontaneous combustion.
- Research Organization:
- VPI and SU, Blacksburg, VA
- OSTI ID:
- 5282742
- Journal Information:
- For. Prod. J.; (United States), Vol. 33:6
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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WOOD WASTES
MOISTURE
STORAGE
CONTROL
MATERIALS HANDLING
SEASONAL VARIATIONS
SPONTANEOUS COMBUSTION
STOCKPILES
TEMPERATURE EFFECTS
TEMPERATURE MEASUREMENT
VIRGINIA
WOOD
CHEMICAL REACTIONS
COMBUSTION
FEDERAL REGION III
NORTH AMERICA
OXIDATION
SOLID WASTES
THERMOCHEMICAL PROCESSES
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VARIATIONS
WASTES
090400* - Solid Waste & Wood Fuels- (-1989)
140504 - Solar Energy Conversion- Biomass Production & Conversion- (-1989)