Recirculation of wood ash from energy production to forest soil improves the sustainability of this energy production form as recycled wood ash contains nutrients that otherwise would be lost at harvest. In addition, wood-ash is beneficial to many soils due to its inherent acid-neutralizing capabilities. However, wood ash has several ecosystem-perturbing effects like increased soil pH and pore ...

The study presents the behaviour of wood ash / OPC concrete. Chemical analysis of wood ash, bulk density, sieve analysis and specific gravity of wood ash and aggregates, consistency, setting time and slump test of the fresh paste were conducted to determine the suitability of the materials for concrete making. Mix ratio of 1:2:4 and percentage replacement level of 0, 10, 20, 30 and 40 percents ...

Increasing use of forest fuels for energy production is generating increasing quantities of wood ash. A common understanding is that this ash should be spread in forests to counteract soil acidifi cation and potential future nutrient defi ciencies, and thus help sustain longterm forest productivity. A series of seven fi eld experiments was established in Sweden in 1988–1995 to study the stem gr...

The amount of wood ash produced in power plants is increasing with increasing use of forest biomass in energy production. Wood ash can be recycled as fertilizer especially in boreal peatland forests naturally rich in nitrogen. Improved nutrient availability and increases in soil pH can enhance microbial activities, decomposition of organic matter and greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. We studied t...

The effects of wood ash fertilization on soil chemical properties were studied in three young Scots pine (Pinus sylvestris L.) plantations and a Norway spruce (Picea abies (L.) Karst.) plantation with different site fertility in southern Finland. The dose of 3 t ha–1 of loose wood ash was applied to 4 replicate plots (25 × 25 m) at each experiment. Humus layer and mineral soil samples were take...

The value of biogas produced at small scale facilities, such as farm scale biogas plants, can increase by upgrading it to vehicle fuel quality. However, commercial upgrading technologies available today are very costly for small scale applications. Ash from combustion of wood fuels has a high content of Ca, which indicates favourable conditions for a high CO2 uptake capacity from biogas. The ob...

Wood fly ash is an industrial by-product of the combustion of different wood materials and is mostly disposed of as waste on landfills. In our preliminary experiments, wood ash exhibited antibacterial activity against urban wastewater bacteria and we focused on wood fly ash as a potential substrate for wastewater disinfection. The addition of ash at a concentration of 10 g L⁻¹ (1%) caused an in...

Intensive harvesting of forest residues for energy production may lead to the depletion of organic matter and mineral nutrients in the forest floor. In order to restore nutrient content wood ash has been suggested as a fertiliser. Ectomycorrhizal (EM) fungi are involved in the nutrient uptake of forest trees and this study investigates the influence of intensive harvesting and wood ash fertilis...

Southern yellow pine wood chips were used as the feedstock for a pilot-scale gasification unit coupled with a 25 kW generator. The pulp-grade wood chips were relatively free of bark and low in ash content. Processing this feedstock yielded a black/sooty byproduct that upon combustion in a muffle furnace resulted in an ash content of about 48%. The term ―char ash‖ was coined to account for the t...