The Combustive Heat of Thirteen Deciduous Wood Species

Abstract

The heat of combustion relative to the mass, Qm, was evaluated for 13 deciduous wood species, ranging from low to high density. The maximum and minimum values for Qm ranged, respectively, from 19.01 kJ⋅g-1 (Sd = 7 J⋅g-1) to 21.66 kJ⋅g-1 (Sd = 6 J⋅g-1) for Populus tremula and Alnus glutinosa wood. The average value of the Qm for all wood specimens evaluated in the present study was 19.93 kJ⋅g-1 (Sd = 706 J⋅g-1), which is 1.6% higher than the value reported in the literature (Krzysik 1975). A high correlation, R = 0.99, was observed between the volumetric heat of combustion, Qv, and wood density, D0. No correlation was discovered among Qm, D0, the ash content in the wood, ac, as well as the content of the following elements in the ash: calcium (Ca), potassium (K), magnesium (Mg), sodium (Na), silica (Si), aluminum (Al), iron (Fe), copper (Cu), manganese (Mn), sulfur (S), and phosphorus (P).