Prospects of wood waste use as biological energy resources

Abstract

The paper studies the qualitative characteristics of wood waste types at forestry and analyzes the possibility of their use as fuel for pellet production. The qualitative characteristics of the nine types of waste, that are the most common waste of forestry activity, were studied. These types are: sawdust after sawmilling and woodworking, consisting mainly of pine waste with the addition of a small fraction of other species waste, sawdust from workshop for dry materials preparation selected by species types (alder, Scots Pine, oak and pear tree), forest residues (pine and pine bark) and pellets produced by forestry with a similar composition of forest species. The following qualitative parameters of wood raw material were determined during the study: moisture of air-dry wood waste; ash content of wood waste, volatile matter output; calorific value of wood waste. The results of research showed that the most effective and appropriate raw material for the production of pellets is sawdust after preparation of dry lumber, as it meets the standard of fuel pellets quality DIN 51 731. The sawdust after woodworking and sawmilling has a very high percentage of moisture, which affects the lower caloricity. Thus, this raw material should be further dried before pressing, and the use of pine needles and bark in the process of pellet production is not desirable because of a high percentage of ash and moisture which does not meet the standards and adversely affects the quality indicators of pellets.

Keywords

• forestry
• wood waste
• bioenergy
• management system
• ash content
• volatile matter yield
• lower calorific value