Influence of Broadleaved Wood Conditioning by Pulsed Electric Field on Its Combustion Heat Characteristics

Abstract

This publication presents changes in sawdust of selected deciduous trees as a consequence of impulse electric field (PEF) stimulation. The analyzed changes concerned the time–temperature characteristics created during the measurement of the heat of combustion of the audited material. Based on experience from previous studies, two alternatives of electric field strength and one variant of capacitor discharges (pulses) were adopted. The results were compared with the sample not treated with PEF. The selected parameters were the result of previous studies, in which the applied variants seemed to be the most promising, i.e., they gave the most diverse results. The research presented in this work has shown that the pulsed electric field affects the time and temperature characteristics of biological material. The changes are most pronounced for the last period of the combustion process, from the moment the maximum temperature was reached to the end of the process. The obtained results indicate that birch and ash react to PEF conditioning in a similar manner. The second group, due to the similarity of the obtained results, is oak and linden. It seems that, apart from the electric field strength, the obtained results are also influenced by the cellulose content in the tested wood. The described process has a very low energy-efficiency, but the reduction of the energy needed to generate the impulse could lead to the possibility of applying the obtained results in industry.