Calorific value of wood energy

Optimising calorific value of wood chips, logs, shavings… goes through their water content measurement.

Wood moisture content and energy efficiency

The calorific value of wood depends on its quality and, most importantly, on its moisture content. Energy efficiency is inversely proportional to the water content (%) in wood.

Freshly cut wood contains about 50% of moisture in relation to its gross mass. The water content should drop to around 25% if it is to be efficient for heating as the combustion of damp wood produces more smoke than heat and causes emission of air pollutants.

Waste wood, energy valorisation

Clean waste wood can be valorised as fuel for wood heater. Producing fuel from wood waste requires a packaging platform: preliminary coarse grinding, fine grinding (knife mills or hammer mills), iron removal, even metal removal, screening.

Wood waste, whose provenance is unknown, can have been treated or dirtied by hazardous materials. This dirty or treated wood waste should be processed and eliminated as hazardous materials

Renewable energy

Wood fuel is renewable subject to sustainable silviculture (soil fertility preservation, biodiversity conservation…). Heating networks or domestic boilers, collective and industrial boilers, wood energy is for all type of fuel installation.

Logs, often used by private people, are being replaced by wood chips, wood shavings, dry sawdust or wood pellets from wood industry, in the collective and industrial boilers.