Combustion Characteristics of Fuelwoods

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Abstract
The combustion characteristics of different fuelwood species were investigated in a single particle combustion rig in order to provide an absolute measure which might be combined with silvicultural factors when selecting appropriate fuelwood species. A pseudo first order rate constant scheme was most successful in matching experimental data and was used to calculate rate constants for both devolatilisation and char combustion. However, no Arrhenius relation with temperature appears to exist and therefore activation energies, independent of temperature, could not be determined. The average rate of mass loss and the overall char burnout time indicate differences in combustion rates, but were also temperature dependent. Ignition time was closely related to density and provides a useful assessment of the flammability of the species. It is concluded that fuelwood ranking should not be based on the chemistry and kinetics of small particle combustion but rather on more general characteristics of density, moisture content, cracking and splitting properties and ease of ignition. These general properties of a good fuelwood are discussed.

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