Title:
Respirometric Tests as a New Approach to Determine Storage Losses of Energy Wood
Author(s):
Dumfort, S., Huber, M.B., Kirchmair, C., Floerl, K., Larch, C.
Document(s):
Paper
Abstract:
During the storage of biogenic materials such as woodchips and forest residues, destruction and conversion processes take place inevitably. Microorganisms metabolizing the main wood components cause a material loss of up to 5% monthly during storage. As a consequence of the microbial activity, heat is being produced inside the woodchip pile leading to a high risk of self-ignition. This work aims to describe the degradation process of spruce wood chips by respirometric tests. The microbial activity and dry matter loss has been determined under varying ambient conditions such as water content, temperature, particle size and pH value. It could be verified that the microbial activity and wood degradation rate is increasing with increasing temperature. The water content plays a major factor during the degradation process. Drying the woodchips reduces the microbial activity and dry matter loss significantly. Increasing the pH to a minimum value of 9 does inhibit fungal growth significantly offering a good alternative for conserving biomass.
Keywords:
biodegradability, biomass, district heating, storage, wood chips, losses
Topic:
Biomass Resources
Subtopic:
Biomass feedstock, residues and by-products
Event:
24th European Biomass Conference and Exhibition
Session:
1BO.1.3
Pages:
60 - 64
ISBN:
978-88-89407-165
Paper DOI:
10.5071/24thEUBCE2016-1BO.1.3
Price:
FREE
