Self-Heating, Drying, and Dry Matter Losses of Stockpiled Stemwood Chips: The Effect of Ventilation

The comminution of fuelwood for efficient transportation and handling exposes the material to various biological chemical decomposition processes. stockpiling fuel chips can result in significant dry matter losses (DML) consequent release CO2 into atmosphere. processes could be controlled by managing chip moisture content (MC). MC control utilizing self-heating stockpiled stemwood together with wind-driven ventilation was tested a practical storage experiment, using uncovered plastic-covered piles as references. data were analyzed linear mixed models. predicted DML 2.4–3.8% during monitoring period 5.9 months, but no differences appeared between treatments. increase basic density decreased DML. On average 1.7–3.5% recoverable energy lost experiment. decline ca. 4–8 percentage points (p.p.). samples stored under plastic tarp 4–5 p.p. lower than those piles. Heat generation within modest due high quality chips, solution only marginally affected drying process mitigation