NBS

PUBLICATIONS

NATL INST. OF STAND & TECH

A11107 31D13S

NBSIR 85-3127

Products of Wood Gasification

T.J. Ohlemiller

T. Kashiwagi

K. Werner

U.S. DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

National Bureau of Standards

National Engineering Laboratory

Center for Fire Research

Gaithersburg, MD 20899

April 1985

Sponsored by:

QC U.S. Department of Energy

100 Washington, DC 20585

U 5 6

85-3127

1985

C. 2
/
NBSIR 85-3127

PRODUCTS OF WOOD GASIFICATION

T.J. Ohlemiller

T. Kashiwagi

K. Werner

U S. DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

National Bureau of Standards

National Engineering Laboratory

Center for Fire Research

Gaithersburg, MD 20899

April 1985

Sponsored by:

U.S. Department of Energy

Washington, DC 20585

U.S. DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE, Malcolm Baldrige, Secretary

NATIONAL BUREAU OF STANDARDS, Ernest Ambler, Director

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Page

List of Figures iv

Abstract 1

1. INTRODUCTION 1

2. EXPERIMENTAL APPARATUS AND PROCEDURE 3

2.1 Radiant Heating Apparatus 3

2.2 Product Collection 4

2.3 Test Procedure 6

2.4 Chromatographic Analyses

3. RESULTS AND DISCUSSION 10

3.1 Time-Dependent Behavior 11

3.2 Time-Integrated Behavior 15

3.3 Characterization of the Solid Residue 24

3.4 Total Hydrocarbon (THC) Composition 28

3.5 Chemical Composition of the Organic Condensate (Tar) 29

3.6 Variability of the Organic Condensate (Tar) 32

3.7 Other Fingerprinting Techniques for the Organic Condensate 37

3.8 Comparison with Wood Stove Organic Condensate 42

4. CONCLUSIONS 44

5. ACKNOWLEDGMENTS 4 6

6. REFERENCES 46

-iii-
LIST OF FIGURES

Page

Figure 1. Schematic of apparatus showing details of radiation

source and sample chamber 49

Figure 2. Schematic of apparatus showing details of product

monitoring 50

Figure 3(a). Temperature vs time from five thermocouples in a white

pine sample; base case conditions except N

2 atmosphere ... 51

Figure 3(b). Temperature vs depth and time; cross -plotted from

Fig. 3(a) 52

Figure 4(a). Surface mass flux vs time; white pine at base case conditions except N

2 atmosphere 53

Figure 4(b). Composition of evolved products; white pine at base case conditions except N

2 atmosphere 54

Figure 5(a). Temperature vs time from five thermocouples in a white

pine sample; base case conditions except air atmosphere .. 55

Figure 5(b). Temperature vs depth and time; cross-plotted from

Fig. 5(a) 56

Figure 6(a). Surface mass flux vs time; white pine at base case conditions except air atmosphere 57

Figure 6(b). Composition of evolved products; white pine at base case conditions except air atmosphere 58

Figure 7(a). Reproducibility of integrated product composition and

weight loss for white pine at base case conditions 59

Figure 7(b). Reproducibility of integrated product composition and

weight loss for red oak at base case conditions 60

Figure 8(a). Integrated product mass and composition as a function

of exposure time; white pine at base case conditions

except for exposure time 61

Figure 8(b). Integrated product mass and composition as a function

of exposure time; red oak at base case conditions except

for exposure time 62

Figure 9(a). Integrated product mass and composition as a function

of sample thickness; white pine at base case conditions

except for thickness 63

Figure 9(b). Surface mass flux vs time; white pine at base case conditions except sample thickness is halved 64

-iv-
LIST OF FIGURES (continued)

Page

Figure 9(c). Composition of evolved products; white pine at base

case conditions except sample thickness is halved 65

Figure 10(a). Integrated product mass and composition as a function

of wood grain orientation; white pine at base case conditions 66

Figure 10(b). Integrated product mass and composition as a function of

wood grain orientation; red oak at base case conditions .. 67

Figure 11(a). Integrated product mass and composition as a function

of sample moisture content; white pine otherwise at

base case conditions 68

Figure 11(b). Integrated product mass and composition for wet white

pine as a function of exposure time 69

Figure 12(a). Temperature vs time from five theromcouples in a white

pine sample; base case conditions except for moisture

content 70

Figure 12(b). Temperature vs depth and time; cross-plotted from

Fig. 12(a) 71

Figure 12(c). Temperature vs depth and time; white pine base case conditions 72

Figure 13(a). Integrated product mass and composition as a function

of ambient oxygen percentage; white pine at otherwise

base case conditions 73

Figure 13(b). Integrated product mass and composition as a function

of ambient oxygen percentage; red oak at otherwise

base case conditions 74

Figure 14(a). Integrated product mass and composition as a function

of incident radiant flux; white pine at otherwise base

case conditions 75

Figure 14(b). Integrated product mass and composition as a function

of incident radiant flux; red oak at otherwise base case conditions 76

Figure 15. Integrated product mass and composition as a function

of wood type; all at base case conditions

Figure 16(a). B.E.T. surface area vs depth for white pine in three

atmospheres; otherwise base case conditions

-v-
LIST OF FIGURES (continued)

Page

Figure 16(b). B.E.T. surface area vs depth for white pine of three

moisture levels; otherwise base case conditions 79

1 O Figure 17(a). C-NMR spectra vs depth; white pine at base case conditions 80

Figure 17(b). C-NMR spectra vs depth; white pine at base case conditions except exposed in nitrogen 81

Figure 18(a). Capillary GC fingerprint of tar from white pine at base

case conditions 82

Figure 18(b). Identification of peaks in base case capillary GC

fingerprint 83

Figure 19. Reproducibility of capillary GC fingerprint; tar from

two separate tests on white pine at same base case conditions 84

Figure 20. Capillary GC fingerprints of tar as a function of

exposure time; white pine at base case conditions except:

(a) 1-1/2 min, (b) 2-1/2 min, (c) 6 min, (d) 12 min,

(e) 24 min exposure 85

Figure 21. Capillary GC fingerprints of tar as a function of ambient

oxygen level; white pine (a) 0% 0

2

, pure N

2

; (b) 10-1/2% 0

2

; (c) 21% 0

2 87

Figure 22. Capillary GC fingerprints of tar as a function of

incident radiant flux; white pine base case conditions

except: (a) 2-1/2 W/cm2

; (b) 4 W/cm2

; (c) 6.9 W/cm2

; (d) 7.85 W/cm2 88

Figure 23. Capillary GC fingerprints of tar as a function of

sample thickness; white pine at base case conditions (a)

and half thickness (b) 90

Figure 24. Capillary GC fingerprints of tar as a function of

sample grain orientation; white pine at base case conditions (a) and with perpendicular grain (b) 91

Figure 25. Capillary GC fingerprints of tar as a function of

sample moisture content; white pine at base case conditions except: (a) 0%; (b) 5%; (c) 33%; (d) 33%

water and 24 min exposure 92

Figure 26. Capillary GC fingerprints of tar as a function of

wood type; base case conditions: (a) white pine;

(b) red oak; (c) yellow pine 93

-vi-
LIST OF FIGURES (continued)

Page

Figure 27(a). Gel permeation chromatogram of tar from white pine

at base case conditions except in N

2 atmosphere 94

Figure 27(b). Gel permeation chromatogram of tar from white pine

at base case conditions except in air atmosphere 95

Figure 28(a). Fast atom bombardment mass spectrum of tar from white

pine at base case conditions except in N

2 atmosphere 96

Figure 28(b). Fast atom bombardment mass spectrum of tar from white

pine at base case conditions except in air atmosphere .... 97

Figure 29. High pressure liquid chromatography results for tar

from white pine at base case conditions except:

(a) N

2 atmoshpere: (b) air atmosphere 98

Figure 30. Capillary GC fingerprints of tar from: (a) red oak

irradiated at base case conditions, (b) mixed oak burned

in a wDod stove at “overnight burn" conditions 99

Figure 31. Capillary GC fingerprints of tar from: (a) yellow pine

irradiated at base case conditions, (b) yellow pine

burned in a wood stove at "overnight burn" conditions .... 100

-vii-

PRODUCTS OF WOOD GASIFICATION

T.J. Ohlemiller, T. Kashiwagi, and K. Werner

Abstract

The increasing problem of pollution from wood-burning stoves has prompted

this examination of the basic gasification process of wood under conditions

encompassing those in stoves. The emphasis is on the products generated when

wood is heated, without flaming, in atmospheres of varying oxygen concentration (0 to 21% C>2 in N

2 ). Small wood samples (typically 4 x 4 cm face, 2-4 cm

thick; white pine, red oak, plus two tests with yellow pine) were subjected to

9 uniform radiative heat fluxes (2 to 7.8 W/cm ) on one face. Other variables

were sample grain orientation, thickness, exposure time and moisture content.

Sample weight was followed in some tests; sample temperature (5 thermocouples)

was followed in others. In all tests, all evolved products were either

monitored (1^0, CO, CO

2

, total hydrocarbons not condensible at -40°C) or trapped and analyzed (condensible organic species) by gas chromatography and mass spectroscopy. Many of the trends of the major products (CO, CO

2 , ^0,

THC, total organic condensible or tar) are qualitatively intelligible in terras

of the expected impact of varying temperature or oxygen level, for example.

The extent of change in these major products is rather limited (factor of two

to four) over the range of variables explored here. The organic condensate

was difficult to analyze; it is estimated that only 20% of it was chromatographable. More than forty species in this chromatographable portion were

positively or tentatively identified and quantified. Chromatographic fingerprints of the organic condensate indicated that its composition does not vary

a great deal for the conditions examined here. The fingerprints from the

radiative heating tests bear a strong resemblance to those of the smoke

condensate from a wood stove.

1 . INTRODUCTION

Wood burning stoves have become a common means for homeowners to lessen

their heating bills. However, the popularity of these devices has brought

with it an air pollution threat [1]. There are numerous facets to this

problem of pollution from wood burning stoves [2]; that addressed here

- 1 -
concerns basic aspects of how the wood gasifies in a stove and what it is

converted to in this process. This is part of a larger study under DOE

Project No. 133A, DE-A01-76PR06010 aimed at clarifying the generation and fate

of pollutants in wood burning devices.

In the first stage of the overall study, the fate of the combustion

products in the stack of a wood burning stove was investigated [3], Permanent

gases (CO, CO 2

, O

2

) and condensibles (phenolic fraction) were monitored at the

bottom and top of a 3 meter stack during an "overnight burn" condition. This

type of burn condition, also used (as well as simulated) in the present work,

represents a severe case with regard to pollution. The air supply to the

stove is choked down to the point where a single load of wood will burn for a period of the order of eight hours. As a result of the severely limited air

supply flaming is largely or totally absent and the wood combustion process

is basically one of smoldering (surface oxidation of the wood char). A

further consequence of this low rate, oxygen- starved burning is a low stack

temperature (80-150°C). Consequently one might expect little chemical alteration of the smoke in passing up the stack; this is in fact the case [3]. The

only changes found were consistent with the physical process of material

exchange to and from the walls of the stack ( condensation/ evaporation)

.

Keeping in mind the severe "overnight burn" condition that is the focus

here, one sees that the place of origin of the pollutants that emerge from the

stack is shifted by the above result to the firebox itself or to the wood. In

the present study we focus on the products emerging from the wood. In addition, some comparisons of these products are made with those emerging from the

firebox of a stove; we are seeking an indication of the extent of product

alteration between the wood surface and the firebox exit. A further goal is

the identification of typical major species emerging from the wood so that, in

the next stage of this work, we can quantify the necessary conditions (time,

temperature, C>2 concentration) required to convert such species to CO

2 and

h

2o.

The environment in a wood stove (temperature, heat flux, local oxygen

concentration) is variable both from point to point and with time [4], This

makes the wood stove a poor device with which to do detailed studies of the

-2-
wood gasification process. In the present work, the wood was instead placed

in a precisely-controlled environment where the variables affecting the gasification process could be individually controlled and their effects examined.

The wood was subjected to a purely radiative heat source and the effects of

heat flux level, exposure time, ambient oxygen, wood type, grain orientation,

sample thickness and sample moisture content were examined. All products

evolved from the wood were collected with permanent gases being monitored in a time-dependent fashion. The organic condensibles are exceedingly complex.

They have been fingerprinted by capillary gas chromatography and to a limited

extent, identified.

2. EXPERIMENTAL APPARATUS AND PROCEDURE

2.1 Radiant Heating Apparatus

Figures 1 and 2 illustrate the nature of the radiative heating apparatus

and the associated flow system. The radiation source is an electricallyheated graphite plate contained in an argon-purged box. The plate is heated

to about 1250°C, thus it is essentially a gray body with an emission peak near

two micrometers in the infrared. Radiation emitted from the front of the

plate is collected and transferred out of the box by a square light pipe.

Essentially all of the spectral content of the radiation is transmitted

through the two infrared windows in the system. Until the start of an experiment, the radiation is intercepted by a water-cooled shutter; its removal

marks the beginning of the constant flux irradiation process used throughout

this work. The flux level is varied from test to test by simply moving the

sample chamber relative to the end of the light pipe. The apparatus can generate fluxes up to about 8 W/ cm ; the flux is uniform to within about 5% over the 4 cm x 4 cm face of a typical sample.

The wood samples (2 to 4 cm thick in this study) are placed on top of an electronic balance for continuous weight recording (1 mg sensitivity).

Thermocouples can be placed on the sample surface or within holes drilled into

the sample but when this is done the thermocouple lead wires preclude useful

weight measurements so thermocouple measurements were made in separate expert

ments. This assembly is placed inside of the sample chamber in which the

-3-
gaseous environment can be controlled. The chamber walls are water cooled to

prevent their temperature from rising during a test. The atmosphere in the

chamber is continually replenished by a slow upward flow (< 1 cm/ s) coming

through the porous plate in the base. In the present test series, this atmosphere was varied from pure nitrogen to 10-1/2% 02/89-1/2% to 21% 02/79% N

2 in separate tests.

The pressure in the sample chamber during a test was monitored largely

for safety reasons; the CaF

2 window in the front of the chamber was not

designed to withstand much stress. The pressure normally started at about

1/2 psig (relative to atmospheric pressure) due to the flow resistance of the

aerosol filter and the various gas flow lines. During a few of the tests the

pressure in the chamber rose as high as 2-1/2 psig at which point the test was

stopped. The increased flow resistance was usually due to accumulation of

products on the aerosol filter but was also caused by ice build-up in the cold

trap in tests with high moisture content samples. The increased pressure is

believed to have only a small affect on the wood gasification process.

2.2 Product Collection

The ambient purge gas plus all products (gas and aerosol) emitted by the

irradiated wood sample were collected by the funnel above the sample. In some tests that involved an exceptionally rapid product emission in the first few

minutes , there was some spillover of products from the funnel into the bulk of

the sample chamber volume. This spillover was subsequently swept out of the

chamber as the test continued. The net result is some (generally small)

distortion of the product time histories (e.g., CO, C02). Even though spillover introduced aerosol into the radiation path (between the front window and

the sample surface), the attenuation was found to be negligible (a watercooled flux gage next to the sample monitored the level during each test).

All parts of the sample product collection system likely to be in contact

with condensible portions of the products were cleaned and weighed before each

test. No attempt was made to keep material from condensing in the lines downstream of the sample chamber. (The water line in Fig. 2 was an exception; it was heated to 60 °C to prevent water condensation prior to the hygrometer

-4-
sensor. This line diverted only 5% of the flow.) Some small amounts of the

condensible organics deposited in the funnel, more condensed in the glass line

leading to the cold trap. Water and most of the condensible organics ended up

in the cold trap (cooled by a CaC^/^O slush at -35 to -45°C). The cold trap

was designed to be more than adequate in length to assure that the gases

passing through it were cooled to the trap temperature. However, aerosol

particles formed in various parts of the system were not efficiently caught in

the cold trap; this prompted the placing of a glass fiber filter immediately

downstream of the cold trap (Gelman type A/E, > 99.9% retention for particles

greater than 0.3 ym) . This system for trapping condensibles is not perfect

since it lets some semi-volatile components of the aerosol caught in the

filter escape downstream; however, the gas (plus particles) impinging on the

filter was near -40 °C so this effect should be quite small. The trap, filter,

lines and funnel were weighed to the nearest 0.01 g after each test and the

weight gain was recorded as condensible products. Methanol was used to remove

all condensate in the trap, filter, lines and funnel for subsequent analysis.

The flow of permanent gases (plus the chamber purge gas) left by the trap

system was split into a series of parallel lines for analysis. Note that the

flow in all of the lines was measured by calibrated rotameters or, in the case

of the bypass line, by an electronic mass flowmeter. The latter device

indicated relative flow variations during a test, assumed valid for all of the

lines. This information plus the initial flows and the measured gas concentrations integrated over time give the total mass of CO, CO

2 and gaseous

hydrocarbons. The time-dependent CO and CO

2 concentrations in the present

tests were measured by an Infrared Industries non-dispersive infrared

analyzer; the time-dependent gaseous hydrocarbons were measured by a Beckman

flame-ionization instrument. Both instruments were calibrated routinely as per the manufacturer's instructions. Hydrogen was not measured since no suitable instrument was available. Some hydrogen was very likely present [5]

but its low molecular weight means that it would account for a small fraction

of the mass of the permanent gases.

In order to adequately describe equipment, it is occasionally necessary to

identify commercial products by manufacturer's name. In no instance does

such identification imply endorsement by the National Bureau of Standards . r does it imply that the particular equipment is necessarily the best avail iM.-

for that purpose.

-5 -
Measuring the time-dependent water evolution from the wood samples proved

to be quite problematical. Even though the manufacturer’s literature emphasizes the insensitivity of the hygrometer probe to chemical interferences, it

ultimately became apparent that the probe was changing its calibration with

each exposure to the numerous organic components of the wood smoke. Repeated

re-calibrations were ultimately fruitless. The data obtained on the timedependent evolution of water are qualitatively valid but quantitatively

inaccurate. The total water (integral over time) evolved from each sample was obtained separately by chromatographic analysis of the condensate in the cold

trap.

2.3 Test Procedure

Samples (usually from a single large piece of kiln-dried lumber) were cut

to size and conditioned for at least two months at 50 ± 5% relative humidity

and 21-24°C. If thermocouples were to be used in a given test, holes 0.5 to

0.6 mm diameter were drilled halfway through the wood blocks at carefully

spaced distances back from the face to be irradiated (e.g. , 5, 10, 15 mm).

Chromel/alumel thermocouples with a 0.025 cm diameter stainless steel sheath

were inserted to the bottoms of these holes and glued in place (glue at the

outer edge of the hole only). Surface thermocouples (0.005 cm diameter

chromel/alumel wire on front surface; 0.0075 cm diameter on rear surface) on pine samples were mounted by the technique developed by Attreya [6]; the

junction was held near the center of the surface by a very small amount of

general purpose glue (Elmer's Glue-All). For red oak samples the lead wires

were fed through the pores of the wood and the junction itself was again glued

in place. These mounting techniques generally succeeded in keeping the

thermocouple junction in contact with the surface (despite shrinkage) until

rather late in a test exposure.

The sample was placed on top of the electronic balance and its top

surface was covered with aluminum foil (omitted in a few tests) to prevent

excessive heating of the top by radiation reflected from the collector cone. After the sample and balance assembly were sealed in the chamber, it was purged for several minutes to assure complete replacement of air by the

environmental test gas. This was done before connecting the cold trap into

-6 -
the exhaust line so that no moisture originally in the chamber would deposit

in the cold trap. The radiant source was run for a few minutes to stabilize

its temperature. At time zero, the shutter was dropped to begin the irradiation of the front surface of the wood sample; at the same time data recording

from the various instruments was initiated by a computer. Data were recorded

at intervals of the order of 2-4 seconds. One operator monitored the radiant

flux level during a test and adjusted the source power input to hold it

constant; the other operator monitored the behavior of the sample.

Because of problems with thermal shock breakage of the infrared window on

the chamber, the irradiation was ended not by closing the shutter (except in some of the earlier tests) but rather by turning off the source power. As a result, the radiation on the sample decayed over one to two minutes. The

computer, however, stopped taking data as the source power was cut and the

cold trap was pulled from the exhaust line at this point as well. One consequence of the slow radiation decay was that the sample continued to lose some weight so that its weight after the test was not a precise measure of the

weight loss during the constant flux exposure. In tests where thermocouples

were used, and the electronic balance could therefore not be used, the sample

weight loss reported here includes the additional loss during the radiation

decay.

The cold trap, aerosol filter and glass lines with condensate were weighed immediately after the test and then extracted with methanol. The

methanol contained 0.2% of triphenyl methane as a free radical trap; this was an attempt to inhibit apparent long term changes in early condensate samples.

The methanol solutions were kept refrigerated (0°C) until analyzed.

2.4 Chromatographic Analyses

Gas chromatography was used for three purposes: to analyze the water

content of the cold trap, to analyze the mixture of hydrocarbon gases going to

the total hydrocarbon (THC) analyzer and to separate and fingerprint the

organic condensate collected from the cold trap, lines and aerosol filter.

-7 -
The water content of the cold trap condensate was analyzed on a Carle

Model 311 using a Porapak QS packed column at 120°C and a thermal conductivity

detector. It proved necessary to homogenize the trap condensate/methanol

solution in an ultrasonic bath prior to sampling because two phases were

present in many of the samples. Quantitation was done against a calibration

curve with known concentration of water and anhydrous methanol. The hydrocarbon analyses were done on a Hewlett-Packard Model 5710 using a Carbosieve-B

packed column at 275°C and a flame ionization detector. The gas samples for

this purpose were obtained by grab sampling with a syringe downstream of the

aerosol filter. Identification was done by retention time comparison with a known mixture of to hydrocarbons. The principal purpose here was to

obtain an estimate of the mean molecular weight of the gases going to the

Beckman hydrocarbon analyzer; that estimate (MW « 20 g/mole) was used in

deducing the overall mass of permanent gas hydrocarbons.

The organic condensate separations and fingerprints were done on a Hewlett-Packard Model 5793, primarily using a J&W DB-1701 capillary column

(30 m) programmed at 2°C/min from 27 °C to 280°C and a flame ionization

detector. A J&W inlet splitter with a split ratio of about 75:1 was used.

The injection port was normally at 280 °C; a few runs at 230 °C did not yield

qualitatively different results.

Not all of the organic condensate was able to be chromatographed. Some

of it never left the injection port and some stayed on the GC column after

injection. The quantity remaining in the injection port was estimated by

making 50 successive injections into the GC injection port after placing a clean, pre-weighed glass liner in it; the results showed that one third of the

injected material was non-volatile and remained in the injection port. The

fraction of injected material which actually reached the detector was estimated as follows. Flame ionization response factors were computed for the

forty or so species identified and an effective overall response factor was calculated from a mass-weighted average of these. This result (0.65) was applied to the total peak area reported by the chromatograph integrator to

estimate the total mass emerging from the column. The use of an average

response factor is, of course, crude but there was no realistic alternative.

The result was a rough estimate that only 20% of the organic condensate

-8-
injected into the chromatograph is actually coming through the chromatograph.

This, coupled with the previous result, implies that about 50% is staying

permanently on the capillary column. Gradual discoloration of the front end

of the column confirmed that some material was indeed retained there. It

should be borne in mind, then, that the organic condensate fingerprints and

analyses discussed below do not represent the total amount of material

produced and the loss is selective, i.e., the lost material represents some

set of species different than those that are seen. This situation is not

really satisfactory but it is, in fact, similar to that in previous studies on wood combustion products that have used more elaborate analysis schemes [7].

An attempt has been made to identify the major peaks in the chromatographable portion of the organic condensate. Selected samples were sent to

the Hass Spectroscopy Center at West Virginia University. These samples were chromatographed under essentially identical conditions to those used for the

fingerprinting and the output peaks subjected to mass spectral analysis.

Pattern searches were done against a library of 31,000 compounds. The output

of this search (comparing the mass spectrum obtained at the apex of each GC

peak with the library) is a listing of the five most probable compounds from

the library based on statistical measures of the closeness of fit. Nearly all

of these reported fits were ambiguous with two or three compounds (usually

completely different chemically) being suggested as equally good fits. In the case of several other major peaks, the library search produced no good

statistical fit with a known compound. Biller-Bieman enhancement of the

resolution between successively eluting chromatograph peaks failed to improve

the mass spectral identification process [8]. The cause of these difficulties

is almost certainly the co-elution of two or more chemical species from the

capillary column even for "clean" looking peaks; in spite of the very high

resolution of such columns, it is inadequate for the present purpose. Some

sort of pre-separation (solvent partitioning, liquid chromatography) would be

needed to improve the effective final separation capability of the capillary

GC column. Such resources were not available in this study and, indeed, it was not the goal here to identify the majority of the species in the organic

condensate

.

-9 -
Some sixty-two pure compounds suggested by the mass spectral analysis

have been compared with the unknown peaks on both the DB-1701 column and on a Supelco-wax 10 column (30 m capillary, programmed from 50 °C to 270 °C at

2°C/min). Retention time agreement between known and unknown on both columns

established the identity of twenty-nine compounds in the organic condensate;

about fifteen others were less-certainly identified.

3. RESULTS AND DISCUSSION

As noted previously, the wood gasification process may depend on heat

flux level, ambient oxygen level, exposure time, wood type, grain orientation,

sample thickness and sample moisture content. In view of this large number of

parameters, it was necessary to restrict the experimental plan to individual

parametric variations on a base case. The case about which each of the paraO meters was singly perturbed was as follows: heat flux of 4 W/cm , ambient

oxygen level of 10-1/2% (balance N

2

), exposure time of 12-15 min., grain

(longitudinal wood pores) perpendicular to exposed surface, sample thickness

of 3.9 cm (2.9 cm in the case of red oak), and sample moisture content

dictated by equilibration with 50% relative humidity at 24 °C. This base case and perturbations about it were run for both white pine and red oak; the base

case condition was also done with yellow pine.

The choice of the base case conditions was a result of several considerao tions. The flux level of 4 W/cm was estimated to be a mid- level value to be

expected as a result of blackbody radiation from smoldering wood surfaces in

the 600-700°C range; the results from Batelle [4] confirmed this. The oxygen

level of 10-1/2% was suggested by our previous wood stove stack measurements

[3]; again the Batelle results confirmed this [4]. The exposure time of 12-15

min. was considered to be long enough to reveal the range of wood behavior.

Sample thickness was largely limited by the 50 gram upper limit on the electronic balance that followed the sample weight. The perpendicular grain

orientation was chosen so that the high wood permeability in the direction

perpendicular to the exposed surface would facilitate product evolution and

minimize irregular splitting which could cause data scatter.

-10-
3 . 1 Time-Dependent Behavior

Consider first the behavior of a wood sample in an inert environment,

nitrogen. While the incoming radiation is the ultimate forcing function in

the wood gasification, it is the temperature within the sample which directly

dictates its degradation behavior. Figure 3(a) shows a typical set of temperature versus time plots for the five thermocouples at various depths in a sample of white pine. Inspection of Fig. 3(a) prior to 60 seconds indicates

a minor problem in the tests: some of the radiation going into the sample

chamber was finding its way to the back surface of the sample (even though the

chamber walls were painted black and were water cooled). This is a deviation

from ideal behavior but it is not likely to have any significant effect on the

results.

The slowing in the rate of temperature rise near 100 °C apparent in all

but the front surface thermocouple record is due to water evaporation. This

effect is much more pronounced in the high water content cases, as will be seen.

It is apparent that after about five minutes or so the surface

temperature is nearly constant (due to re-radiation) and the major change is

continuing inward movement of the thermal wave. This inward movement is more easily seen in Fig. 3(b) which is a crossplot of the data from Fig. 3(a). The

reversal in curvature evident in Fig. 3(b) for long times is most likely an artifact. The surface is actually regressing (with the thermocouple attached)

and has moved backward about 1-1/2 - 2 mm by the end of the test. If the last

"zero" point is moved to the right this distance, the reversal in curvature

disappears. Lee, et al [9] made a similar point.

It should be noted that in the first minute or so (up to ^ 400°C), the front

surface thermocouple record in all tests is not necessarily an exact

depiction of the behavior of the entire front of the sample; the small film

of glue in the area of the thermocouple junction always darkened faster than

the wood surface itself (initial reflectance = 30-35% for radiation used

here) so that it doubtless heated somewhat faster. By 400°C the wood was equally dark and this discrepancy disappears.

- 11 -
Under therraogravimetric (TG) conditions (constant heating rate

- 5°C/min “ 0.08°C/s), white pine begins to gasify rapidly at about 300°C. At

the higher heating rates (see Fig. 3(a)) in the wood sample, this could be

pushed up to perhaps 350°C. With a possible band of 300-350°C for the initiation of rapid gasification, it is apparent from Fig. 3(b) that by the end of

the test, the wood gasification process has penetrated about 10 mm into the

37 mm depth of the sample. On the other hand, the drying process (up to

100-110°C) appears to have penetrated the full depth of the sample.

Although the thermal wave appears in Fig. 3(b) to make rather steady

progress inward, the resultant mass efflux (Fig. 4(a)) varies considerably

with time. The mass flux is deduced from the recorded weight-time history by

numerical differentiation and subsequent smoothing. When the irradiation

starts , the sample begins to lose mass virtually immediately. The rate of mass loss accelerates rapidly as the front surface temperature climbs; successive portions of the wood inward from the surface are first dried and then

raised to the 300-350 °C range where rapid pyrolysis begins. Since the

principal components of wood (cellulose, hemi-celluloses , lignin) have

differing thermal stabilities, there will, in the first few tens of seconds of

degradation, be a tendency for selective product generation. That is, hemicelluloses with their lesser thermal stability will dominate the first instant

of gaseous product production, then cellulose products will begin evolving

followed finally by lignin degradation products [10]. This varying stability

of the wood components could be an important consideration in the piloted

ignition of wood but here it is quickly overridden by the continuing rise in

temperature. This causes all three components to degrade (at their own rates)

first at the sample surface and then in increasing depth; the evolved products

at the surface are a summation over this distributed pyrolysis zone.

Since water can move both forward and backward as the thermal wave penetrates from the front, some water probably came out the back of the

samples near the end of a test such as that in Fig. 3. In a thicker sample

this backward moving water would not have escaped. Similarly, volatile

pyrolysis products can presumably move forward and backward [10], but since

the pyrolysis wave penetrates only about one quarter of the sample depth, no escape of such products from the back is expected. The sample collection

system used here captures all products regardless of what surface they

emerge from.

- 12 -
A product of the degradation of all three components (especially lignin)

is a carbon-enriched solid or char. This solid comprises about 35% of the

original mass of the wood under TG conditions. In the present situation, this

char accumulates progressively from the front surface of the sample; during

this process it tends to shrink slightly and crack to a limited extent. In

this experiment, as in a wood stove, the heat flux from the outside is

absorbed on the front surface of the char. The char is not completely inert

but, in the absence of oxygen, it is much more resistant to pyrolysis than is

the original wood. A major role of the char then is that it forms a rather

poorly conductive barrier between the incoming heat flux and the inward propagating pyrolysis zone (and water vaporization zone). Some of the incoming

radiation is re-emitted from the char surface while a progressively decreasing

portion penetrates the thickening char by conduction and radiative transfer.

The rate of gasification must therefore decrease; Fig. 4(a) shows that the

rate decreases by more than a factor of three over a 12 minute exposure. This

type of behavior was previously observed by Lee, et al [9] and Attreya [6]; it

is predicted by the wood gasification models of Rung [11] and Kansa, et al

[12], both of which use only a single step reaction to represent the complex

pyrolysis

.

In the present work, we have resolved the composition of the evolved

products underlying the mass efflux pattern of Fig. 4(a); the result is shown

in Fig. 4(b). The tar (organic condensibles) evolution pattern was not

directly measured but was inferred from the other measured curves by difference (the summation of CO, CO 2 , ^0, THC and tar should equal 100% of the

products in pure pyrolysis). The tar curve is not quantitatively accurate for

three reasons. First, the mass balance for this run showed only 92% recovery,

not 100%. Second, the THC curve as shown does not include the small ( - 25%)

upward correction to its mass percentage due to the non-methane components

(see below). Third, as previously noted, the hygrometer used to follow water

evolution frequently exhibited a shifted sensitivity (generally downward) due

to interferences from some of the volatile organic constituents of the smoke;

in Fig. 4(b) the hygrometer output looks much more credible with regard to

absolute water percentage than it did for many other tests. The net result,

however, is that the indicated tar percentages as a function of time are high. Nevertheless, the basic shape should be correct.

- 13 -
Figure 4(b) indicates, as one would expect, that the initial mass evolution from the sample is essentially pure water. However, the water is

quickly followed by a large efflux of organic condensibles (tar) which dilute

the water. In Fig. 3(a) this is seen to correspond approximately to the

surface region passing upward through the 300-400 °C range. The permanent

gases (CO, CO

2

, THC) rise somewhat more slowly at about the same time.

The more interesting feature of Fig. 4(b) is the downward turn in the tar

evolution. Comparing the flux of tar at 120 s to that at 600 s for example,

o one gets (using Fig. 4(a) and Fig. 4(b)) 0.35 mg/cm s for the former and

0.04 mg/cm s for the latter. Thus the tar flux drops off more than twice as much as does the mass flux over this interval. This is consistent with, but

not proof of, the idea that the pyrolytic tars are altered as they pass

through the accumulating char on the front of the sample. It has been

suggested that these tars may undergo cracking to small hydrocarbons and/or

polymerization to a char [13, 14]. Figure 4 does not give clear evidence as to the fate of the tars as they pass through the char. It does not appear

consistent with the idea that they are converted largely to hydrocarbons since

THC does not rise nearly as much as tar falls. Figure 4 seems to suggest that

the tars are converted to water. This cannot literally be true but water

could be a product of a char formation process.

In the presence of ambient oxygen, the only new qualitative feature is

oxidation of the surface char. Under TG conditions (5°C/min in air), the char

oxidation process occurs between 400 and 500 °C; at the higher heating rates

here this could shift upward somewhat. In the present configuration, the only

clear-cut indication of the onset of char oxidation is the appearance on the

front surface of gray ash left when the local char is fully consumed. (There

is also some increase in the rate of surface temperature rise between 400 and

450°C possibly indicating the outset of the char oxidation exotherm; see Fig.

5(a).) Typically the gray ash appears along the lower edge of the sample (and

sometimes along one of the vertical side edges). Even though the heating

process on the face of the sample is essentially uniform, the oxygen supply is

inherently two-dimensional; thus oxidation progresses most rapidly along the

lower portions of the sample face where the buoyant boundary layer is

thinnest.

- 14-
Inspection of Figures 5 and 6 confirms the qualitative similarity when

ambient oxygen is present; all conditions are the same as in Fig. 3 and 4

except that air is the environmental gas. Quantitative comparisons reveal

some significant differences, however. The peak surface temperature is

100-150°C hotter in the presence of air due to the char oxidation process.

(The surface temperature indicated in Fig. 5(a) drops suddenly at about 600 s because the thermocouple broke away from the surface.) Comparison of Fig.

6(a) with Fig. 4(a) shows that the peak mass flux is nearly twice as high in

air as in nitrogen and this ratio persists throughout the exposure. This is a consequence of char oxidation which has two effects: (1) it directly

increases the rate of mass loss since the char is also being gasified, (2) it

indirectly raises the heat flux into the pyrolysis zone since the char oxidation heat supplements the external radiation.

Note that in Fig. 6(b) the tar percentage curve is not shown. Unlike the

inert atmosphere case, here we cannot assume that the summation of the five

gasification "products" adds up to 100%. Some of the oxygen in the CO, CO 2 and H

2O has come from the atmosphere in this case and our analytical approach

cannot distinguish how much. Note that by 600 s the summation of the four

products shown approaches 150%. It appears from the low height of the early

water peak that the hygrometer was probably reading 30-50% low during this

test; thus the water curve should be higher and the other curves lower.

Nevertheless, it is apparent that there is much more CO and CO

2 in this case than in nitrogen; again this is an expected consequence of char oxidation.

The hydrocarbon gases (THC) appear essentially unchanged by the presence of

oxygen. Although we cannot infer any semi-quantitative tar percentage

history, it appears probable that it would qualitatively resemble that in

Fig. 4(b).

3.2 Time-Integrated Behavior

Although time-dependent data of the above type were obtained in all of

the radiative heating tests, it is much easier to compare parameter effects

using the time-integrated data on product evolution. All of the timedependent data were qualitatively similar so the previous discussion suffices

to clarify the major trends; time-dependent data will be referred to below

only when they support some point to be made with the time-integrated data.

- 15-
Inspection of Fig. 4(b) and 6(b) indicates that the product compositions

evolving from the wood are still changing at 12 minutes, though relatively

slowly compared to the first five minutes or so of the heat exposure. Thus

the time-integrated numbers discussed below are not completely unique; they

would change somewhat if longer exposures were used. This should be borne in

mind. It Is most pertinent to comparisons in which the parameter varied

might, in some part of its range, substantially prolong the early, stronger

transient phase of gasification (e.g., very low heat fluxes or very high water

content in the wood).

Consider first the reproducibility of the product compositions integrated

over the constant flux exposure time. Figure 7(a) shows the results of four

tests on white pine at the same conditions; Fig. 7(b) shows the results of two

tests on red oak at the same conditions. Reproducibility of the permanent

gases and the total weight loss appears good. (The weight values shown dashed

are expected to be higher because the shutter was not closed at the end of the

exposure and they include weight loss during the cool-down period, as explained previously.) Only the condensibles, tar and water, show significant

scatter and this is only with white pine. Note that a high value for water

produces a low value for tar and vice versa; this is because the condensibles

consist only of these two constituents and the total quantity of condensibles

was very reproducible. It appears that the scatter in these percentages is more a result of scatter in the analytical technique rather than in the real

tar and water proportions.

From Figure 8 onward, the emphasis is on the effects of the experimental

parameters on the integrated product compositions. Table I gives all of these

results in tabular form. Note that the figures show both the total mass of

all products and the percentage breakdown of that total. On this type of

plot, a linear increase in total amount of product with an unchanging composition would result in the dashed lines all being straight and fanning outward

from a common intercept on the vertical axis.

Consider first the effect of total exposure time (Fig. 8). It was stated

previously that in selecting a base case exposure time of 12 to 15 minutes, it was expected that all of the basic behavior of the wood would be seen. This

- 16 -
is not completely true since there is a unique transient, not seen here, when

the pyrolysis zone hits the rear of the sample (see below). However, it is

apparent from Fig. 8 that there are only weak quantitative changes in product

composition over the exposure times examined. The only really prominent

trends here are the decaying percentage of tar in the products with increasing

exposure time and the increasing percentage of CC^. This trend mirrors the

tar behavior shown in Fig. 4(b); again, the former trend evidently results

from partial destruction of the tar fraction of the wood pyrolysate as it

passes through the increasingly thick char layer. For white pine, in the

presence of oxygen here, the product that appears to replace the destroyed tar

is CO

2 (consistent with Fig. 6(b)); this cannot be the sole product of tar

destruction but it is one feasible product. For red oak CO

2 again grows the

most but H

2O and CO show significant increases as well. Note that all of

these products are probably also growing in relative amount due to increasing

char oxidation as well as due possibly to tar degradation. In any event, it

should be noted that after the first five minutes or so, no component changes

its percentage of the total product by more than two and one half times.

Figure 9(a) shows the effect of halving the wood sample thickness. The

principle impact derives from the fact that the pyrolysis zone reaches the rear surface of the sample when the thickness is halved. Because of the

comparatively adiabatic behavior of the rear surface, the sample behaves as if

it was increasingly pre-heated as the thermal wave reaches the back. The

result is a late stage acceleration of the mass loss rate as shown in Fig.

9(b). Note the second maximum in the mass flux; it is probable that by this

point this mass flux is coming in part from the rear surface as well as the

front surface of the sample. The thermal wave is not very parallel to the rear surface by this stage so the intersection with the rear surface is

smeared out in time widening the second mass flux peak. Figure 9(c) shows

that this all has a significant impact on the instantaneous product compositions. The impact is greatest on CO

2 right at the end, probably because the

pre-heating effect is greatly accelerating the char oxidation rate (and

pyrolysis is nearly completed throughout the sample).

It is interesting to note that the tar content of the products from the

thinner samples is about twice as high as that of the normal thickness sample.

- 17 -
This may be the result (in part) of pyrolyzate escape from the rear of the

sample where it is not forced to pass through a hot char layer.

The effect of wood grain orientation is shown in Fig. 10. The

designation "parallel" means here that the longitudinal pores in the wood were

parallel to the incoming flux, i.e., these pores came straight out of the

irradiated face of the sample. The designation "perpendicular" means that

these pores were perpendicular to incoming flux, i.e., they ran parallel to

the irradiated face. Most wood in a stove, being in log form, burns in the

orientation designated perpendicular here. Figure 10(b) indicates that with

red oak at the base case conditions, grain orientation has no significant

impact at all on the evolved product composition. Figure 10(a) shows a small

but significant effect of grain orientation for white pine on total product

mass; nearly all of the added product mass in the perpendicular orientation is

tar whose percentage of the total product is doubled in this case. It is not

apparent why these two woods should differ with regard to grain orientation

effects nor is it apparent what causes the factor of two differences in tar

outputs for the two grain orientations of white pine. There are, of course, enormous differences in the gas permeabilities of woods between flow along and across the longitudinal pores [10]. Roberts, however, reports that cross-pore

flow resistance decreases rapidly just above 300°C [10]. Presumably, then it

is mainly water movement across the pores and not pyrolysis product movement

that is influenced by sample grain orientation. Even this effect should be

short-circuited here because of the finite sample width. Water vapor unable

to move straight out through the irradiated surface in the perpendicular grain

orientation can instead move sideways out of the sample along the pores. This

would eliminate the convective cooling effect of the water normally found when

it passes out through the heated zone in front of the water vaporization

zone. There is not much water in the base case samples, however, and it is

not clear if this diversion of a small water flux could influence the tar

generation or destruction process.

Grain orientation also has a rather large effect on the thermal

conductivity of wood. The conductivity in the parallel orientation (along the

longitudinal pores) is roughly 2-1/2 times greater than that in the perpendicular orientation for most woods [15]. A higher conductivity tends to improve

-18-
heat flow into the bulk of the wood from the surface where the incoming radiation is absorbed. For a fixed radiation flux, this means that the sample with

a higher conductivity (parallel orientation) will exhibit a lower rate of

surface temperature rise; when re-radiation begins to dominate the surface

temperature, conductivity effects become diminished. Below the surface,

however, the effect continues to be felt. At any depth, the higher

conductivity sample at first increases more rapidly in temperature but, after

some minutes (increasing time with increasing depth), the local temperature

lags that in the lower conductivity sample because the incoming heat is being

transferred more quickly to still greater depths. The net effect of the grain

orientation difference on the thermal wave depth at the end of the test or on

the mass flux history is surprisingly small (~ 10%) for both white pine and

red oak. One cannot assess the role of conductivity as the source of the

differences in Fig. 10(a) (and the lack of differences in Fig. 10(b)) without

a detailed model of the gasification process.

The effect of water content in the wood is shown in Fig. 11(a). Note

that the high water content samples were made from the same wood as was used

in all of the other tests; the wood was soaked in distilled water to increase

its water content. Note also that the total product mass for the sample

containing 30% water is somewhat high since it is based on the pre- and posttest weight, not just the constant flux exposure period.

The trends in Fig. 11(a) are somewhat more complex than those seen previously, e.g., here the variation of tar percentage is not a monotonic

function. Water as a gasification product more than doubles its percentage as one would expect; CO and CO

2 decrease considerably which is not expected.

This effect on CO and CO

2 is a result of the limited exposure time. This

exposure time was quite adequate for all other samples, as discussed

previously. However, the need to vaporize the large amount of water in the

high moisture samples considerably slows the progress of the wood gasification. In the sample with 53% water there was no ash on the surface at the end

of the test implying little or no oxidation of the char had as yet occurred;

hence the low CO and CO

2 values.

-19 -
Figure 12 shows the impact of high water loading on the temperature

history in the sample with 30% water by weight. The local temperature is held

down to 100 °C for extended periods while water is vaporized; when the

condensed phase water at the thermocouple location is finally gone, the local

temperature rises rapidly. Since 30% water content is above the fiber saturation point (20-25% water content according to ref. 16), it is probable that

some of the wood pores are initially filled with water which then moves toward

the vaporization front by capillary action; this would be even more significant for the 53% water sample. Such a phenomenon could prove very difficult

to model. In any event, the qualitative effect of this water is twofold. It

places a very large heat sink just behind the wood surface; this heat sink

moves inward only after the local wood is dry. In addition, the water vapors,

in plentiful supply, extract heat from the layer on the outside of the vaporization zone as they move out of the sample toward the front surface.

Comparison of Fig. 12(b) with Fig. 12(c) confirms that the net impact of these

two effects is a considerable retardation of the processes of pyrolysis and

char oxidation.

Going back to Fig. 11(b) one sees that when more exposure time is

permitted, the mixture of products begins to look somewhat different due to

the increasing contribution from char oxidation. The transient product evolution data reveal that even at 24 minutes, the CO

2 concentration in the gases

leaving the surface is still rising at a substantial rate so the system is not

in a quasi-steady state and the time-averaged composition would shift still

further with exposure greater than 24 minutes. (As noted earlier, this

unsteadiness in average composition is, in fact, true for all of the test

results reported here but it is more pronounced for the high water cases because they extend the early highly transient phase of gasification.)

The parameters that vary the most within a wood stove are local oxygen

level and heat flux; Fig. 13 and 14 show the effects of these parameters on

the products of gasification.

As discussed previously, the principal effect of oxygen is that it

gasifies the char left by pyrolysis. Thus the total amount of products

produced at a given heat flux increases and the composition shifts to reflect

-20-
much greater amounts of CO and CC^* This effect is apparent for white pine

and red oak in Fig. 13. It is interesting to note that the combustion of the

char has practically no effect on the fraction of combustible materials

(CO + THC + tar) in the products; for both pine and oak it is never more than

1/4 to 1/3, a surprisingly small fraction.

Comparison of Fig. 13(a) and 13(b) shows that the impact of increased

oxygen level on tar seems to vary with wood type, at least at high O

2 levels.

(Because tar measurements showed greater scatter than other product measurements , one should be cautious about apparent trends based on relatively small

changes.) Even though for both woods more solid is gasified in 21% O

2 than in

10-1/2% O

2

, the percentage of tar and the absolute amount of tar goes down

with increased O

2 in the case of white pine and up in the case of red oak.

Comparing Fig. 5(b) with Fig. 3(b) confirms that the pyrolysis zone penetrates

more virgin wood in the high O

2 case so that more primary tar is being

generated. The peak surface temperatures for both woods are comparable in

equivalent atmospheres (ca. 620°C in 10-1/2% O

2

; ca. 670-680°C in 21% O

2

) so

this does not appear to be a factor In explaining apparent differences between

wood types in the survival of the amount of primary tar that emerges as the

tar actually collected. One can speculate that since oak appears to yield a more open structured char than pine (i.e., the scale of the pores and cracks

is larger) , more primary tar passes through but this cannot be proven at this

point.

Figure 14 shows that the effect of increased heat flux is quite

comparable for both wood types. For the exposure times used here, a flux of

2

2 W/ cm is just above the threshold of significant weight loss. (For longer

o exposures, this threshold moves downward; for example 1 W/cm will cause wood

in air to smolder if sustained for 45 min. or more.) Increased flux, above

the threshold level, has two principal effects. It increases the heat flux

reaching the pyrolysis zone through the char thus increasing the rate of

pyrolytic gasification. In addition, at low fluxes, it undoubtedly accelerates char oxidation by raising the char temperature. However at high fluxes

the char oxidation rate most probably becomes fully limited by the oxygen

supply rate in spite of further temperature increases; thus this contribution

becomes "saturated". (Referring back to Fig. 13, one sees no such

- 21 -
"saturation" with increased O

2 level since (>2 supply rate is proportional to

C>2 level.) The combination of these two effects probably accounts for the

decreasing slope of the total product weight with increasing flux in Fig. 14

o for fluxes up to about 7 W/cm . The upturn at the higher flux is based on one experiment only (the CaF2 window broke at this high flux). It is possible

that the upturn represents an additional gasification pathway, e.g., pyrolysis

of the char or gasification by CO

2 and l^O, but this cannot be proven at this

point.

Comparison of time-integrated data at a constant time exposure as flux is

varied widely is potentially deceptive. As was noted previously, the product

compositions are still changing at the end of the exposure. Furthermore, for

a fixed integration time, the thermal wave induced by the highest flux will

have progressed deeply into sample whereas the lowest flux case may be just

getting started. This latter situation appears to be the case at 2 W/cm but

by 2-1/2 W/cm the sample is well past the early rapid transient stage in its

12-15 min. exposure. The problem of being misled by time-dependent results is

thus not too bad here but it should be kept in mind.

2 2 Comparing fluxes of 4 W/cm and ca. 6-1/2 W/cm , one sees in Fig. 14 that

at the higher flux level both woods appear to yield lesser percentages and

absolute amounts of tar. (The 7.8 W/cm case, based on single test, is

anomalous with regard to tar.) These higher fluxes have a substantial impact

on the char temperature near the surface; the surface temperature is raised by

100°C or more at ca. 6-1/2 W/cm compared to the base cases (4 W/cm ). One

would expect this to increase fragmentation reactions in heavy tar molecules

passing through the char. The amount of total hydrocarbons (THC) is not

obviously enhanced by any such reactions; their percentage is essentially

unchanged compared to the base case. Carbon monoxide does increase but this

could come from degradation of oxygenated tar species or from CC>2 reduction on

the char

The effect of wood type has been alluded to somewhat in the previous

discussion. It is shown in (a) versus (b) comparisons of the previous

figures. It is also shown explicitly for three woods in Fig. 15. The most

striking effect of wood type in all of the figures is on the total amount of

-22-
products evolved. It is always much greater with red oak than with white

pine; yellow pine is seen in Fig. 15 to be intermediate between the two.

There are two processes responsible for the total weight loss - pyrolysis and

char oxidation. The pyrolysis weight loss is proportional to the penetration

depth of the pyrolysis zone. For the conditions of Fig. 15, this is about

10 mm (depth of 325 °C isotherm) for red oak and about 15 mm for white pine

(both measured after 15 min. of constant heating). With the assumption of

equal char fractions for these two woods (25-30%), the mass pyrolyzed from

these depths is proportional to the initial density of the wood. The initial

wood densities are as follows: white pine, 0.36 g/cc; yellow pine, 0.66 g/cc;

red oak, 0.74 g/cc. From this one infers that the mass loss of red oak due to

pyrolysis alone is 1.37 times that for white pine. The actual ratio of total

mass losses is 1.55 so the difference is evidently due to a slightly higher

degree of char oxidation in the case of red oak. Without a detailed model of

the wood gasification process one cannot be more precise as to the cause of

these variations due to wood type; existing models in the literature have not

been applied to such questions.

The effect of wood type on the composition of the gasified products is

not large; this is apparent from Fig. 15 and from (a) versus (b) comparisons

of the earlier figures. Red oak and white pine do not differ greatly in gross

composition. The following data are from ref. 17:

Northern Eastern

Red Oak White Pine

Total carbohydrates 69% 68%

Alpha cellulose 46% 45%

Klason lignin 24% 27%

Ethanol/ benzene extractives 5% 6%

On the other hand, the chemical nature of the hemi-cellulose portion of

the carbohydrates does differ significantly between a hardwood like oak and a softwood like pine; the lignins differ also, but to a lesser degree [18].

These detailed chemical differences appear to impact the production of

The total product mass for white pine in Fig. 15 is for a 12 min. exposure

whereas that for the other two woods is 15 min.; Fig. 8(a) shows that whit*'

pine would lose 7.8 g at 15 min.

-23 -
specific compounds within the tar such as certain types of phenols, for

example (see below), but they obviously do not greatly affect the gross

product distribution.

3.3 Characterization of the Solid Residue

As is apparent from the previous discussion, one of the products of

incomplete wood gasification is a solid sample with a continuous gradient

(front to back) in its degree of degradation. It is of interest to examine

this material to see what it may reveal about the overall gasification

process. Samples were sliced with a fine saw into a series of layers

(typically 3-5 mm thick) as parallel as possible to the pyrolysis front. This

front was not flat in some cases nor was it necessarily parallel to the rear surface of the sample (in spite of the fact that the outer 6 mm of each of the

four side faces was first removed and discarded to minimize edge effects). As

a consequence the effective position of each slice relative to the exposed

surface of the wood is uncertain to about ± 2 mm. The slices were characterized in two ways: the internal surface area was measured and the chemical

functional groups were characterized by NMR spectroscopy.

The internal surface area of a solid is a factor of prime importance in

its reactivity with oxygen. Here that area was measured by one point B.E.T.

experiments using nitrogen at -196 °C and a Quantasorb Surface Area Analyzer.

(A check showed that multi-point B.E.T. measurements did not give appreciably

different results.) Figure 16 shows the results. Note first that the intact

O wood deep within the sample starts with a surface area of about 0.4 m /g (the same as one finds on an unheated sample of this white pine). This area is

essentially that due to the walls of the longitudinal pores in the wood. In

Fig. 16(a) where only the ambient atmosphere was varied, one sees a slight

increase in surface area about 1 cm below the exposed face of the sample;

thereafter the increase is substantial. However up to about 4 mm (or less)

below the surface, the increase is essentially independent of ambient O

2 level. At shallower depths the intermediate O

2 level (10-1/2% O2

) yields much

more internal surface area near the exposed face of the sample. Interestingly,

the high O

2 case (air) is back down to a surface area comparable to the zero O

2

(pure N

2

) case.

-24-
When oxygen attacks a carbonaceous material it tends to bore holes into

the solid, especially in locations where catalytic metal atoms exist [19].

This phenomenon, which leads to a variable surface area, has been studied

extensively for coal chars [20]; the surface area typically increases and then

decreases as the char approaches full consumption. Evidently what one has in

the surface layer of the char here is a similarly oxygen-modified material.

In the 10-1/2% O

2 case, oxygen has been reacting at a moderate rate when it

encounters the char so that it penetrates to some significant depth (Zone II

behavior in ref. 19). Because of the slicing technique used here one cannot

say for certain what this penetration depth is except that it is <_ 4 mm. In

the 21% O

2 case, the boost in temperature accompanying the faster O

2 transport

rate speeds up the local char/02 reaction rate and decreases the oxygen penetration depth (Zone III behavior). In the limit (ideal) no oxygen penetrates

the sample face because it is consumed at the front surface; then the internal

area behind the front face is undisturbed from the no oxygen case. This

description, adapted from the coal char literature, appears appropriate here.

In Fig. 16(b), the O

2 level is the same in all three cases; only the

water level in the sample varied. Water can participate in carbonaceous char

gasification (yielding CO and H

2

) but it reacts rather slowly unless heavily

catalyzed [19]; its direct influence here is probably secondary since the

temperature of the char is below 650 °C. Given the rather rough nature of the

sample slicing process, one should not take the extrapolations to zero depth

in Fig. 16(b) too seriously; thus it is not clear whether differences greater

than the measured factor of two in internal surface area exist in these three

cases. One expected effect is clearly present: the 50% water case with its

greatly compressed thermal wave (above 100°C) shows also a greatly compressed

region of increased surface area.

Some of the same sample slices as were used for the surface area analyses

1

were also characterized by C-NMR. The solid-state, proton-decoupled spectra

were acquired at 15.08 MHZ with cross-polarization and magic angle spinning

techniques on a home-built instrument. The spectra shown in Fig. 17 are the

result of approximately 20,000 scans with 1024 data points for scan at a dwell

time of 50 ps . The time between scans was 3 s and the spinning frequency was

2300 HZ. The chemical shifts (ppm along the abscissa) are relative to tetramethylsilane.

- 25 -
Figure 17(a) shows successive slices from a white pine sample exposed to

4 W/cm in 10-1/2 ©

2

* The lowest spectrum is for the unheated wood. Note

that the carbohydrate portion of the wood provides a series of fairly sharp

peaks (^60 to 110 ppm); the lignin, however, contains a variety of carbon

atoms with overlapping resonances that yield a less sharply defined portion of

the spectrum (110-160 ppm). The material from slice 3, centered about 7 mm

below the exposed surface, varied in color from black to a medium brown.

Figure 17(a) shows that despite this considerable discoloration, the carbohydrate portion of the spectrum still dominates (the relative amount of a given carbon atom in the spectrum is proportional to the area under its peak)

These peaks appear even sharper in some cases, probably reflecting the

disappearance (by destruction or re-arrangement) of less-ordered areas of the

carbohydrate chains. The fact that the specific surface area is up by about

4x (Fig. 16(a)) implies substantial disruption of the physical structure of

the wood. The temperature- time history for this condition indicates that at

this position in the wood the temperature just reached about 410°C at the end

of the exposure (but the gradient from back to front of the slice was nearly

100°C). Earl [21] found roughly comparable changes in oak above about 310°C

but his samples were exposed to this temperature for 4-5 minutes; the present

material (slice 3) progressed from 300 to 410°C over a period of about 5-1/2

minutes

There are other significant changes in the slice 3 material (Fig. 17(a)).

The broad peak between 110 and 140 ppm has grown indicating an increase in

aromatic species (substituted and unsubstituted). There is also a low, broad

peak below 50 ppm indicative of a range of aliphatic carbons.

Slice 2 (Fig. 17(a)) centered about 4 mm below the exposed surface is

drastically different than the material immediately below it. The surface

area is increased about 2x (Fig. 16(a)) indicating some further physical

disruption but the chemical nature has changed enormously. Essentially all of

the carbohydrate structure is gone and the spectrum is completely dominated by

a broad aromatic peak. (The abruptness of the change in chemical structure is

consistent with thermoanalytical data showing rapid pyrolysis of such carbohydrates as cellulose in a narrow temperature range around 300°C at 5°C/min.)

Most of the persisting peak is due to unsubstituted and carbon-substituted

-26-
benzene ring structures. There is a weak shoulder at 150 ppm corresponding to

oxygen-substituted aromatics; these could be due to the persistence of methoxy

groups attached to aromatic rings which are present in the original lignin

structure. Earl [21] found these groups to be persistent up to at least 390°C

(5 min. exposure) in both oak and spruce. Here there is also some hint of

persistent aliphatic carbons.

In slice 1 (Fig. 17(a)) the structure of the charred wood at and just

below the sample surface (centered at about 2 mm) is further simplified,

probably as a consequence of further heating. The slight aliphatic peak is

gone and the oxygen-substituted shoulder on the aromatic peak is reduced to a mere hint. Recall that this is the slice that showed indications of oxygen

attack in its large surface area. This spectrum implies that very little of

that oxygen stays in the structure of the solid; evidently it extracts carbon

in the form of CO or CO

2 and leaves.

2 Figure 17(b) shows comparable spectra for white pine exposed at 4 W/ cm

in nitrogen. The deepest sample, centered about 16 mm below the exposed

surface has no change in its surface area (Fig. 16(a)) and no substantial

changes in its chemical structure. Figure 3(b) indicates that the 16 mm region

reaches less than 250°C by the end of twelve minutes. Slice 2 (Fig. 17(b)) is

centered at about 9 mm below the exposed face and reached about 350 °C at the

end of the exposure; it is quite similar in appearance to slice 3 from Fig.

17(a) even though that slice reached significantly higher temperatures (on

average) . The same chemical changes apply apparently.

The material in the next spectrum of Fig. 17(b), denoted as being between

slices 1 and 2, was collected separately because it appeared to be physically

homogeneous. It constituted the black frangible char-like material easily

scraped off the sample leaving an intact, tough, more wood- like (though

blackened) material beneath it. The NMR spectrum indicates it is in a state

of transition with what appears to be some of the carbohydrate structure still

present. Thus it seems that the abrupt physical transition in the sample

(found also in all other sectional samples) from a woody structure to a frangible char coincides with the rapid pyrolysis of the carbohydrate portion of

the wood. Even though the internal surface area undergoes no abrupt change In

-27 -
this region, it seems probable that the gas flow resistance of the wood may go

down rapidly in this region. Roberts [10] reported the onset of a permeability increase at 310°C (heating conditions not described). The material

here has reached more than 400 °C (on average), but it is most likely the

coolest region of this slice (~ 350°C) that contributed the carbohydrate

structure

The top spectrum in Fig. 17(b) bears a strong resemblance to slice 2 in

Fig. 17(a) and presumably represents the same chemical structure. The peak

surface temperature in the N£ atmosphere (550 °C) is about 100 °C less than that

in 10-1/2 percent 02* The lower temperature thus probably accounts for the

persistence of the 02~substituted aromatic shoulder on the main peak of this

surface layer material.

3.4 Total Hydrocarbon (THC) Composition

The permanent gases passing through the cold trap were grab-sampled with

a syringe and analyzed by gas chromatography. Identification was done by

comparison with a known mixture of gases on one GC column only. The known

mixture contained methane, acetylene, ethylene, ethane, propyne, propylene,

propane and butane so it was these gases whose presence or absence could be

sensed in the test samples. In no case were acetylene, propylene or butane

seen; the other five gases were seen in varying proportions. The apparent

presence of propyne is unexpected. The peak identified as this gas was seen with both white pine and red oak but it did not show up consistently (e.g., it was seen with red oak at 2-1/2 W/ cm and 6.2 W/cm but not at 4 W/cm or

6.9 W/cm ) . This raises the possibility that the peak was some kind of

artifact, even though, when it did show, it was large (30-60% by weight of the

measured hydrocarbons).

The measured compositions sometimes seemed to vary smoothly and weakly

with some parameter, such as ambient O

2 level, then in other tests they were substantially different. It is difficult to give a typical composition other

than the following. Methane was always present, usually comprising ca. 50% of

the measured hydrocarbons but it varied from 20% to 80% in some cases;

ethylene varied from 0 to 50% of the measured hydrocarbons from red oak but

-28 -
was usually 0-10% from white pine; ethane varied from 0 to 30% from both

woods; propane was seen in only one test (with white pine) in which it

comprised 10-20% of the measured hydrocarbons.

3.5 Chemical Composition of the Organic Condensate (Tar)

The composition of the tar was investigated by means of capillary gas

chromatography coupled with mass spectroscopy. Recall that our best estimate

is that the chromatograms or fingerprints represent only about 20 percent of

the mass of the tar injected; the remaining 80 percent stayed either in the

injection port or in the column. Where possible, specific components of the

tar which did pass through the chromatograph were identified. Figure 18(a)

o shows a capillary chromatogram for the base case with white pine (4 w/ cm , 10-1/2 percent oxygen, 3.8 cm thick, wood pores perpendicular to irradiated

face of sample, normal water content, 12 minute exposure). The original

chromatogram which is about five feet long was recast into the form shown.

For any component, the vertical ordinate is proportional to the total peak

area; the abscissa is the retention time of that peak. All subsequent fingerprints like this have been normalized to the same total amount of tar as was present in Figure 18(a). The 60 or so peaks shown were those that emerged

above a rather arbitrarily chosen threshold. They represent the "major” peaks

present (few percent by area to a few hundredths of a percent coming through

the chromatograph of the tar). A large number of minor peaks has thus been

dropped.

The weight percentages reported in Fig. 18(b) are based on calculated FID

correction factors. They are percentages of the material coming through the

gas chromatograph; since this is only about 20% of the injected tar, their

percentage of the original tar is one-fifth of that shown.

The species identifications noted in Figure 18(b) fall into two differing

levels of certainty. The higher level (with no parenthetic T after the

species name) were for the most part tentatively identified by mass spectroscopy and then confirmed by matching known and unknown retention times on two

different capillary columns (DB-1701 and Supelcowax 10). The lower level

(with a parenthetic T after the species name) emerged from the mass spectro-

-29 -
scopic library search with very good scores for matching to the library

spectrum. Their identification must be regarded as tentative since they have

not been checked with regard to chromatographic retention time.

Nearly all of the compounds listed in Figure 18(b) have been previously

found in pyrolysis or combustion products of cellulose, lignin or wood. For

example, 22 of the first 31 compounds are products of cellulose pyrolysis

[22]. These include a variety of small acids (plus methyl esters possibly

resulting from the methanol solvent though some small fraction of the methanol

is also a pyrolysis product), aldehydes and furan derivatives; a curious

feature is the nearly total lack of ketones. Some of the phenolic compounds

(up to peak 31) can also be produced by cellulose pyrolysis but are more readily produced from lignin [22, 23]. Levoglucosan (peak no. 40) is a primary product of cellulose pyrolysis [22]; its decomposition may be a source

of several of the smaller oxygenated species. The levoglucosan peak was

always present and virtually always one of the most abundant species in the

tar. However, the appearance of the peak varied considerably and it sometimes

was treated by the chromatograph integrator as a series of small peaks or occasionally the integrator was fooled by its gentle leading slope and it

reported only a small area value. The "pure" known compound also gave a rather complex peak of similar shape suggesting that the levoglucosan may

typically be accompanied by lesser amounts of similar anhyro-sugars . Some of

the more complex phenols (eugenol, isoeugenol, vanillin) have been isolated

from wood decomposition products [24, 25] and are readily relatable to the

There are three scores used in the matching process. Purity is a measure of

the similarity between the unknown and the library mass spectrum; a score of

1,000 means the two spectra are linearly proportional to each other. Fit is a measure of the degree to which the peaks in the library spectrum are contained in the unknown spectrum; a perfect fit yields a score of 1,000.

Reverse fit is a measure of the degree to which the peaks in the unknown

spectrum are contained in the library spectrum; again a perfect score is

1,000. Since the species leaving the capillary columns are virtually never

fully separated and 100 percent pure, scores of 1,000 are not achieved but scores above 800 (criterion used here) are highly suggestive of a species

identity. Nevertheless, the identification must be scrutinized for general

plausibility in light of the nature of wood and its elemental composition;

e.g., species which received high scores in the library search but contained

nitrogen were rejected. Compounds having other structural features

seemingly incompatible with the circumstances of the experiment (e.g., a four carbon ring) were also rejected.

-30-
structure of lignin [26]. Compounds 41 to 46 (except no. 42 which was added

to help stabilize the tar) appear to be derived from the extractives present

in vrood [26],

Some of the compounds in Figure 18(b) (nos. 18, 20, 22, and 23) were not

reported in the preceding references nor in a large compilation of compounds

isolated from wood distillation [27], Of course these sources, while fairly

comprehensive, are not exhaustive. Furthermore, the gasification techniques

used in all of these sources differed from that used here. Nevertheless, this

does add a note of caution about the tentative identification of peaks

numbered 18, 20, 22, and 23.

Inspection of the compounds listed in Figure 18(b) reveals that nearly

all are fairly small molecules; only the last half dozen are rather large.

The only polycyclic compound on the list (no. 46) could well be derived from

the resin acids in the extractive portion of the wood [26]. There is no other

representative of the numerous polycyclics (benzofurans , naphthalenes,

anthracenes, pyrenes, etc.) that have received so much attention in wood stove

emissions [7, 25]. For the chromatographic conditions used here, one would

expect that many of these compounds will be eluted though those without polar

functional groups attached may not be well separated. In fact, the presence

of about eight compounds in this category is suggested by the mass spectroscopic library search. They were not included in Figure 18(b) either because

they fell below the threshold level (approximately 0.1 percent of the tar) or because their scores for matching the library spectrum did not meet the

criterion used here (at least 800 for all three measures of matching). All of

the following scored at least 900 with regard to fit between the unknown peak

and the library spectrum (although their other scores were below 800 except as noted): naphthalene, 2, 3-dihydrobenzofuran (scores for methyl benzaldehyde

were as good for this peak), 7-methyl benzofuran (scores for 3-phenyl, 2-

propenal were somewhat better for this peak) , 1 or 2-methyl naphthalene (other scores also above 900), 3-methoxy, 2-naphthalenol (other scores were above

850), phenanthrene with extensive aliphatic substitutions (C^gf^^) and tetramethyl phenanthrene (3, 4, 5, 6- or 2, 4, 5, 7-). Phenanthrene itself and

another highly substituted derivative also received fit scores between 800 and

900 for two other peaks. All of this suggests that a variety of polycyclic

-31 -
compounds can be evolved directly from wood when it is gasified. It is

possible that other bigger polycyclics are present but fall below the detection limits for the techniques used here. The threshold level for Figure 18

corresponds to about 100 mg of a given species per kilogram of wood gasified.

Formation of this much of a given polycyclic during wood combustion (in a stove) is evidently highly unlikely; typical levels appear to be one or two

orders of magnitude less [25].

3.6 Variability of the Organic Condensate (Tar)

In the discussion of Figures 7 to 15, all of the condensible organic

materials were lumped into a single category called tar. The amount of this

tar varies only by a factor of four over all of the parameter ranges

indicated; most of the parameters altered total tar quantity by a factor of

two or less. Thus, tar would appear to be no more variable than the other

major constituents. On the other hand, when one considers the origin of the

tar in the pyrolytic break-up of cellulose, hemicelluloses and lignin coupled

with the harsh environment through which it must pass on leaving the wood (hot

char sometimes containing hot oxygen), one anticipates a greater variability

in at least some of the constituents of the tar. Since they comprise the

products of a large number of parallel degradation reactions, their relative

amounts should vary with the heating rate of the wood. Furthermore, some species should be more thermally or oxidatively labile than others.

First it should be noted that the fingerprint for the tar from a given

test was found to be reproducible but this reproducibility required certain

precautions. As noted previously, the methanol solution of the tar frequently

yielded two liquid phases. These had to be uniformly interdispersed before

they could be reliably sampled with a syringe. An ultrasonic bath was used for

this purpose.

The reproducibility of a tar fingerprint for separate samples of the same wood exposed to the same gasification conditions was good though not nearly as good as that just noted above. Figure 19 shows an example. The qualitative

reproducibility is very good; it is even better than it appears because most

of the peaks missing from Figure 19(b) are present in the original chromato-

-32-
gram but fell below the threshold for Inclusion. One peak seems to be

genuinely absent (or too small for detection) in Figure 19(b), that between

peaks 26 and 27 in Figure 18(a). Presumably the missing peak is a phenolic

compound.

The quantitative reproducibility is not as good as the qualitative

reproducibility. Some of the variation in relative peak areas is due to

variability in the amounts of minor species that, in effect, confused the

chromatograph integrator as to when larger peaks were beginning and ending.

However, some of the peak areas vary by a factor of two between Figure 19(a)

and 19(b); e.g., the group including peak no. 16 (furaldehyde) , peak 17

(furfuryl alcohol), peak 22 (tentatively, 1-acetyl cyclohexene), and peak 32

(cresol). Peaks missing from Figure 19(b) that are greater than two relative

area units in Figure 18(a) (and conversely) also must have varied by a factor

of two or more. The reason for this kind of relative peak size variability

must lie in the wood and/or the gasification process itself.^ Probably the

most variable feature of the latter is the pattern of cracks in the char. The

larger cracks provide cooler pathways out through the hot char for pyrolysis

products generated behind the char. The proportion of products going this way

versus through the finer pores in the char where they would be heated to the

char temperature depends on the statistical variability of the crack pattern.

Such a mechanism could lead to a random variation in the concentrations of

those tar species most subject to thermal degradation (and, conversely, in the

products of such degradations).

There are some systematic differences in retention times of equivalent peaks

that result mainly from small variations in column carrier gas flow rate.

Comparisons discussed below are all based on superimposing two fingerprints

and aligning characteristic patterns of peaks irrespective of retention

times which can vary by a few minutes

^ There is also significant scatter in the absolute size of all peaks in the

fingerprint as a whole. It was noted previously that all of the

fingerprints have been normalized to the same amount of tar as that injected

for Figure 18(a). However the absolute tar determinations are subject to an uncertainty of about ± 30 percent on average since the tar was the minor

component in a mixture with methanol and water and could only be determined

by difference.

- 33-
Figure 20 shows the effect of exposure time to the thermal radiation for

otherwise base case conditions; the wood is white pine. The first two fingerprints in the series (1-1/2 minutes, 2-1/2 minutes) show differences that

appear to be significant (greater than the sample-to-s ample variability). In

the following discussion, the retention times are those for the base case (Figure 20(d)). The acetic acid peak (#13, ca. 8 minutes) is greatly

suppressed. The group of small to medium peaks between 12 and 16 minutes,

including #14 and #15 (tentatively, ethyl benzene and propionic acid,

respectively) is suppressed (all are present in trace amounts). The group of

peaks between 20 and 24 minutes is strongly suppressed except that #17

(furfuryl alcohol) is present just below the threshold. Essentially all of

the other differences represent changes in relative proportions rather than

total suppression of a peak since all peaks in the base case are present at

least at the trace level. From exposure times of 6 minutes to 24 minutes, the

differences are less and less significant, with corresponding peaks falling

mostly within a factor of two with regard to absolute or relative size.

The reasons for the differing fingerprints at short times are at least

twofold. First, the surface temperature is still climbing significantly: it

is 525 °C at 1-1/2 minutes, 580°C at 2-1/2 minutes, and it then rises only

another 40°C to 620°C by 6 minutes. This means that in the first few minutes,

the relative proportions of products arising from the different wood constituents is changing more rapidly than it does after the thermal wave becomes

more "quasi-steady", penetrating inward with a nearly fixed peak temperature.

Relative thermal stability of the wood constituents counts more with regard to

gaseous product emissions in these first few minutes than it does subsequently. Second, there is no char layer initially so any reactions in such a layer

are suppressed. Unfortunately, in the absence of more specific information on degradation rates and products, we cannot discern which of these mechanisms is

primarily responsible for the product variations noted above.

Figure 21 shows the effect of ambient oxygen level on the fingerprints of

the tar from white pine. The fingerprints from pure nitrogen and from 10-1/2

percent O

2 are extremely similar (as good as the reproducibility of a fingerprint from one sample to the next) . The fingerprint from the ambient air case has all of the same peaks (though several fall below the threshold). However,

-34-
there are substantial differences in the sizes of most of the peaks with the

air case yielding peaks half the size of those in 10-1/2 percent O

2

. Given

the uncertainties here, this difference is on the borderline of being significant so it is difficult to assign a meaningful interpretation.

Figure 22 shows the effect of incident heat flux varied about the base

case (4 w/cm ) for white pine. In this series, virtually all of the same

peaks are present; those that appear to be missing fell below the threshold

for inclusion. Most of the relative peak height variations fall near or just

outside a factor of two and therefore cannot be judged to be significant. One

apparent exception is compound number 32 (cresol) which shows peak height

variations of a factor of four among the various cases. In fact, the very

large cresol peak for the base case (Figure 22(b)) is exceptional; other base

case runs show this peak reduced by about a factor of two relative to the

other peaks present. Red oak showed a similar lack of significant effects due

to flux level.

Sample thickness and grain orientation had a similar mild impact on the

tar fingerprints. Figures 23 and 24 are included for completeness.

Figure 25 shows the tar fingerprints obtained with white pine where only

the water content of the wood was varied about the base case value. The

difference between the oven dry case and the base case is not significant;

this is not surprising since the base case water content was only about 5 percent. The presence of 30 percent or more of water in the wood has a significant impact on the tar composition. Comparison of Figures 25(b) and (c)

shows that the higher water case yields a fingerprint where many of the peaks

are suppressed. Note that the phenols are less suppressed (the decreases are

of borderline significance) than the numerous oxygenated species probably

arising in large part from the carbohydrate portion of the wood (cellulose and

hemi-celluloses) . Most, if not all of these latter degradation products are

in fact present but their relative quantities are decreased by factors of 4 to

10. About half dozen of them re-emerge above the threshold in the case with

ca. 50 percent water (Figure 25(e)).

-35-
It was noted earlier that the base case 12-15 minute exposure times may

have been too short in some cases such as with high water content because the

early transient is distended. The case of ca. 30 percent water was repeated

with a 24 minute exposure (Figure 25(d)) and it shows essentially no significant changes in the tar fingerprint as a result of this longer time even

though greater char oxidation was clearly evident in the test. Thus,

relatively short exposure time is not the cause of these fingerprints

differing from the base case.

The peak surface temperature (ca. 650 °C) is about the same for 33 percent

water and for the base case. Furthermore, in the extended exposure case just

mentioned, the char layer is ultimately comparable to the base case as well.

Thus, there would appear to be no reason to expect differing degrees of tar

alteration upon passage through the char. However, there are some differences

here that may count in this regard. Recall that most of the tar is evolved in

the first few minutes (Figure 4(b)). During this time, the high water content

does indeed keep the char substantially cooler as a comparison of surface

temperature histories shows:

. Base Case 33% Water

Time (min) Surface Temp.(°C) Surface Temp.(°C)

2 575 325

4 600 495

6 625 590

8 630 620

In addition there is a physical difference in the chars that may well

yield differing degrees of thermal contact; the char in the high water cases

always was perforated by a fairly regular array of cracks (1-2 mm wide). This

yielded 2-3x more large crack area for sub-surface volatile escape than was seen in low water cases (all cases are for the wood pores perpendicular to the

irradiated sample face).

It is tempting to infer that it is levoglucosan degradation (or the lack

thereof) that accounts for the bulk of the differences in the high water/low

water tar fingerprints. While some of the high water cases do indeed show

high levoglucosan levels, there is not a consistent significant trend.

-36 -
One expects some significant differences in the tar fingerprints when

different types of wood are compared, particularly hard wood versus soft

wood. Figure 26 compares base case fingerprints for white pine, yellow pine

and red oak. Hard wood lignin contains many more dimethoxy phenolic moieties

than does soft wood lignin [28]. The hemi-cellulose constituents also differ

significantly [26]. The degradation products from the latter probably cover a very large spectrum of species and may not yield distinctive differences

between hard and soft woods. The lignin, on the other hand, is the major

precursor of the various phenols so one anticipates significant changes in the

range of such species in the tar. Figure 26 does show some significant

changes in the phenolic make-up between the two types of pine and red oak but

the changes are not very dramatic. Once again, peaks not shown are present

below the threshold. The biggest identified change is in the quantity of

species no. 39 (vanillin). Contrary to expectation, since this is monomethoxy phenol, the red oak yields significantly more than either type of

pine. The other large change is the tall peak at about 59-1/2 min in the red

oak fingerprint. This is a complex peak and it is unclear whether the bulk of

it is due to compound no. 36 (eugenol) or to eugenol plus some other species

(likely another phenol in this region of the chromatogram). In any event it

is surprising to note that no dimethoxy phenol is definitely identified in the

red oak fingerprint. The other differences among wood species are of borderline significance.

In summary, the preceding results imply that, except for the case of wet

wood or of normal wood exposed only briefly, the chromatographable portion of

the organic condensate does not vary in the relative concentrations of most of

its constituent species by more than a factor of two or three.

3.7 Other Fingerprinting Techniques for the Organic Condensate

The preceding result is more than a little surprising given the wide

range of conditions under which the tars were generated. Recall that the

capillary GC fingerprints only represent about one-fifth of the tar. This

being the case, it is highly desirable to attempt to confirm this apparent

invariance by some other technique that does not select a portion of the tar

in the same way as does the gas chromatograph. Three further techniques wer<*

-37 -
tried, gel permeation chromatography, fast atom bombardment mass spectrometry

and liquid chromatography. Neither of the first two techniques is very satisfactory in that the fingerprint is relatively featureless. Both look essentially at the distribution of molecular sizes in the tar and not at functional

groups on the molecules. The third technique produces a detailed fingerprint

but it has other limitations.

Gel permeation chromatography (GPC) is a form of liquid chromatography

that separates molecules based on their effective size in a given solvent.

The stationary phase, in this case Waters Micros tyragel , has a graded microporosity that retards the forward motion of molecules through the column to

varying degrees as a function of the molecules size-dependent ability to

penetrate the pores. The injected sample thus elutes from the column as a function of time with the smaller molecules exiting last. The concentration

of the eluting molecules is measured by a differential ref ractometer. The

calibration of elution time with molecular weight is done with known

compounds. In the present case this calibration was done with narrow molecular weight fractions of polystyrene so the calibration is not exact; it could

easily be off by a factor of two but that is not crucial for the present

purpose

Figure 27 shows GPC results for the organic condensate from two white

pine samples exposed differently, one in nitrogen (Fig. 27(a)) and the other

in air; other exposure conditions are those of the base case. These two cases were chosen because one might expect significant differences in the composition of the condensate; inspection of Fig. 3 and Fig. 5 indicates that the

peak sample surface temperatures differ by more than 100°C. Both spectra are qualitatively quite similar showing a main peak at MW - 220-250; both also

show a significant number of molecules of MW > 1000. (Recall, however, that

the absolute molecular weight calibration is approximate here.) Both GPC

chromatograms have been truncated at just below MW=100 because the water and

methanol present cause a large negative peak. It should be noted also that

about 15% of the height of the lower molecular weight peak is due to solvent

impurities. Quantitative differences between the two cases can be seen but

they are probably not significant; they fall within the spread of results seen

when condensate from two different wood samples , exposed identically, is

-38-
subjected to GPC analysis. The same ambiguity about the significance of

quantitative differences also was found with condensate from samples exposed

2 2 at very low and very high radiant fluxes (2-1/2 W/ cm vs. 7.8 W/cm )

Fast atom bombardment (FAB) mass spectroscopy provides a measure of the

molecular weight distribution of a sample as well. The sample is coated on a metal surface (along with some glycerol) and bombarded with fast neutral atoms

(cesium in the present case) which both vaporize and ionize the molecules.

The ions (positive or negative) are then sorted according to mass/charge ratio

as in normal mass spectroscopy. Fragmentation of the molecules is relatively

small but it does yield some distortion of the molecular weight distribution,

biasing it toward smaller sizes.

Figure 28 shows FAB mass spectra of the organic condensate from the same

two white pine samples as were used for Fig. 27. Figure 28 does not show a significant difference in the FAB spectra. Both samples yield a broad flat

distribution of ions extending to 1000 amu and beyond (note that the inset

graphs provide magnified views of the high end of the mass unit scale). The

tall peaks at 93 and 185 amu are due to the glycerol; the peak at 133 amu is

due to cesium ions; the peak at 43 amu is a common hydrocarbon fragment that

could arise from many different parent molecules.

An interesting feature here, as with the GPC chromatograms, is the

indication of an appreciable amount of high molecular weight material. The

capillary gas chromatograms did not reveal material heavier than about

200 amu. Figure 28 implies that perhaps 40-50% of the organic condensate mass

lies above this value. (Figure 27 implies a high molecular weight portion

more like 25-30%.) One might at first infer that such material is largely

polycyclic organic material. While some of it undoubtedly is, it seems unlikely that the majority is. Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons become

rapidly less volatile with increasing size; coronene (M.W.=300) has a boiling

point of 525 °C. Unlike the wood stove situation in the radiative heating

experiments such molecules cannot form in the gas phase away from the wood.

They must form in the wood sample and then leave; the temperatures are not

adequate for the requisite vaporization in most of the sample.

- 39 -
A more probable explanation of these large molecules is that they are polymers (oligomers) of some of the smaller species. The furans, phenols and

aldehydes are capable of reacting together to form condensation polymers

[29], Such polymerization of the organic condensate from wood gasification

has been previously reported [24,30]; acid or base catalysis can be involved.

Such large molecules would be equally unlikely to vaporize from the wood

during radiative heating. They could conceivably form in the aerosol droplets

as the cooler temperatures away from the wood surface allow condensation; in

this case they would not be artifacts. The alternative is that they are artifacts which formed in the sampling system or during sample storage. The

capillary GC chromatograms have not changed systematically with age over many

months; this implies that any such polymerization would have to go essentially

to completion fairly soon after sample generation, perhaps during the process

of being extracted from the cold trap (the samples spend up to two hours at room temperature). Unfortunately, we do not have enough information to resolve this issue.

Liquid chromatography, based on a solute's chemical interaction with a stationary phase (rather than a physical interaction as in GPC), can produce a more detailed fingerprint. In the form used here (reverse phase), the tar

/

solvent sample is injected on the head end of a high pressure liquid chromatographic column (HPLC) where it is subjected to a flow of an eluting solvent

whose composition is slowly changed. An important advantage here is the lack

of any sample heating such as occurs in gas chromatography; this method is

non-destructive so the losses that occurred in the capillary GC inlet are absent here. The HPLC column was a Vydac 201 TP C^g column; the eluting

solvent was initially 10% methanol in water and it was programmed to 100%

methanol over a 30 min. period. The net solvent polarity thus decreased with

time so the first eluted components are the most polar. Since 100% methanol

is still fairly polar, non-polar constituents of the sample would not be

eluted; it is not expected that any great amount of totally non-polar species

is present anyway.

A difficulty with HPLC is the lack of a highly sensitive universal

detector. A refractive index detector, such as that used in the GPC studies,

is universal but here it showed only two or three peaks (probably solvents

-40-
present). An ultraviolet absorption detector (254 ran) was used to generate

Q / the fingerprints in Figure 29. Such a detector is 10-10 times more sensitive but it is selective for species absorbing at the wavelength chosen.

Generally this means species with conjugated double bonds or aromatic

resonance. This could include, for example, the various phenols, furans,

polycyclic aromatics and carbonyl compounds with 6 unsaturation. Since ultraviolet absorbance peaks are quite broad, many compounds whose absorbance does

not peak very near 254 nm will be seen anyway but the apparent peak height

will be relatively suppressed.

What this means is that HPLC with an ultraviolet detector should

definitely produce a fingerprint with a differing set of biases from those in

gas chromatography. Since it relies on solubility and not volatility, it seems reasonable to expect that it also will elute nearly all of the sample,

i.e., the higher molecular weight species (at least those soluble in methanol,

which appear to be a majority) should elute as well as the smaller species.

Figure 29 presents HPLC fingerprints for two of the same samples as were

used in the other techniques. It is clear that HPLC lacks the resolution of

capillary gas chromatography, however, the fingerprint has a good deal of

detail. Comparison of the fingerprints for the condensate obtained from two

substantially differing gasification conditions (white pine in air and in

nitrogen) shows very little difference. As with the other techniques, the

most obvious differences (which are few) are in relative peak heights only.

These additional fingerprinting techniques tend to confirm the borderline

significance of variations in the composition of the organic condensate as the

conditions of its generation are varied. The first two indicate that the bulk

of the material missing from the capillary GC fingerprints is of high molecular weight (MW >_ 200)

most likely polymers of some of the smaller molecules.

If these (presumed) polymers were prevented from forming, the capillary GC

fingerprints would look different because some of the furan, aldehyde and

phenol peaks would be enlarged (we cannot say which at this point). However,

since the amount of high molecular weight material apparently does not varv greatly with the conditions of condensate formation, we can only infer at this

point that the fingerprints with polymerization suppressed would not vary "inch

-41 -
differently with sample exposure conditions from those obtained here. The

mechanism for such comparative invariance of the condensible organic species

remains unclear.

3.8 Comparison with Wood Stove Organic Condensate

It is of interest to see to what degree the fingerprints of the tar from

the radiative heating tests correspond to those for similar woods burned in a wood stove. The stove used for this purpose was airtight and non-baffled with

a firebrick lining; it had a glass window on one side that allowed limited

viewing of the combustion of the wood load. Duplicate runs with two kinds of

wood were made under the "overnight burn" conditions mentioned earlier, i.e.,

the air supply was choked down to the point that flaming was absent more than

95% of the burn time. The resultant stack temperature (about two feet from

the stove exit) was in the range 100-115°C. The stove was filled to about

two-thirds of full capacity after a bed of coals was first established. Smoke

from the stack centerline (about two feet from the stove exit) was sampled

continuously during the next 5-1/2 to 6 hours of burning. The stove air vents were adjusted manually during this time to keep the stack temperature in the

range indicated. The sampling system was essentially identical to the cold

trap and aerosol filter used in the radiative heating tests except that a second spiral cold trap was added In series with the first to preclude breakthrough at long times; this proved to be unnecessary. The sampling rate was

kept low (500 cc/min) so as not to warm up the cold traps excessively at long

times. About 5 g of material was collected over the test duration.

Extraction and fingerprinting techniques were identical to those for the

radiative heating tests. Two runs were made with mixed oak wood (red, white

and pin oak) and two were made with yellow pine. The logs were split pieces

with a minimum thickness dimension in the range of one to three inches; bark

was included in the oak but not the yellow pine tests. Moisture content of

the wood, checked with an impedance meter, was 8-10%.

Figure 30 shows the fingerprint of the organic condensate from a stove

burn with mixed oak and that of the condensate from radiative heating of red

oak at the base case conditions. It should be noted that the heating rate and

ambient oxygen history around the wood in the stove most probably differ

- 42-
substantially from point to point in the stove and also, of course, they

differ from that seen by the red oak sample in the base case radiative heating

test. However, the preceding discussion of the fingerprints from the radiative heating tests implies that these differences will not have a major impact

on the condensate composition. In fact Fig. 30 shows that the fingerprint

from the stove is generally quite similar to that from the radiative heating

apparatus. At the same time there are a few differences that are more definite than those existing among the radiative heating fingerprints.

Several of the peaks in the retention time range of 14 to 17 min (Fig. 30(a))

are present only at trace levels in the stove fingerprint. The peaks at 28.14

(tentatively, solketal) and 28.35 min (3 or 5-methyl furan 2-aldehyde) (Fig.

30(a)) are completely absent in the stove fingerprint. The peak at 55.8 min

(2-tert butyl phenol) (Fig. 30(a)) is suppressed by an order of magnitude.

Three or four other peaks due to unidentified products are similarly

suppressed by an order of magnitude. Levoglucosan (79-80 min) is present in

substantially reduced amounts though this compound varied widely in the radiative heating tests. The reasons for the absences noted is not clear.

Presumably these compounds were generated in the wood but were preferentially

degraded as the smoke underwent recirculation through the smoldering bed of

wood before leaving the stove.

Figure 31 shows a similar comparison for yellow pine. Again the two

fingerprints are largely alike although here the stove case has a few both

added and subtracted peaks. For the identified species the major differences

are as follows. The peak at 28.41 min (3 or 5 methyl furan 2-aldehyde) (Fig.

31(a)) is much less in the stove as it was for oak above. The peak at 29.58

min (butyrol lactone) (not shown in Fig. 31(a) because it is below the

threshold) is an order of magnitude bigger in the stove. The peak at 59.34

min (eugenol) (again below the threshold in Fig. 31(a)) is about 5x bigger in

the stove. Contrary to the oak case, the levoglucosan peak (79-80 min) is

somewhat bigger in the stove than in the radiative heating situation. There

are about half a dozen other unidentified peaks which differ in size by a factor of 5 to 10 between the two heating situations.

The major implication of this result is that, in this "overnight burn"

condition, the majority of the products leaving the wood stove (and becoming

-43-
air pollutants) arise directly from the wood surface during its self-sustained

smoldering process. Passage through the stove for the most part involves

dilution and cooling of the wood gasification products. Some recirculation

through the smoldering bed of wood is inevitable and this causes some re- contact with the hot wood surfaces but the net alteration is comparatively

small. It is possible that the differences between the stove and radiative

heating fingerprints seen here have more to do with the differences in the

mode of wood gasification rather than any further reactions in the stove.

This point will be checked in future experiments on two-dimensional, selfsustained smolder of wood.

4. CONCLUSIONS

The products of the gasification of wood have been extensively

characterized for a wide range of conditions incorporating those in wood

burning stoves. The major products (CO, CO

2

, water, tar, THC) vary rapidly

with time only in the first two or three minutes but their rate of emission

continues to vary more slowly with prolonged heat exposure. When timeaveraged major product compositions are compared as a function of the conditions of wood gasification (varying heat flux, ambient oxygen, sample thickness , grain orientation, exposure time, water content and wood type, one variable at a time about a base case), they are found to change by no more

than a factor of four for all conditions examined; in many cases the variation

is within a factor of two.

The organic condensate or tar is extremely complex In composition,

probably exceeding two hundred constituents above trace levels in the

chromatographable portion alone. Twenty-nine species were positively identified by a combination of gas chromatography and mass spectroscopy. An

additional fifteen species were tentatively identified by the same techniques.

Nearly all of these species have been previously seen in other types of wood

and/or wood component gasification processes. Except in the cases of very

short time exposures or high water content in the wood, the relative levels of

the main constituents in the chromatographable portion of the tar (ca. 20% of

the mass) varied by no more than a factor of two or three despite the wide

variations in sample exposure conditions . In the former two cases , there was

-44-
some hint (but no definitive evidence) that the significant differences could

be due to lesser degradation of primary tar components in the hot char through

which they must pass in order to leave the gasifying wood.

An interesting finding is the general similarity between the fingerprints

from the radiative heating experiments and those from "overnight burning" of

the same woods in a stove. This implies that, for this type of burn condition, most pollutants issuing from a woodstove are coming directly from the

smoldering wood.

The results of this study (and others preceding it) imply that predicting

even the major components (CO, CO2 , ^0, tar, THC) of wood gasification in the

presence of oxygen requires a chemically complex model. Kinetic descriptions

are needed for the temperature (and possibly oxygen) dependent rate of gasification of the three major component classes (cellulose, hemi-celluloses

lignin). For ignition studies where the most volatile components count

heavily, the extractives may also be important. Strictly speaking each of

these major wood components requires a multi-step description of the degradation and gasification in order to be broadly applicable and this still

neglects any interactions among the basic wood constituents. A complete

description of the stoichiometry of major product formation from each wood

component is also necessary. The char oxidation process may be fairly simple

chemically but it has physical complications inherent in it; the char is

porous and it goes through large changes in internal surface area as it is

consumed. Some description of this is needed. Secondary gasification

reactions (CO 2

, H

2

, H

2O attack) complicate the char behavior at temperatures

above about 650°C. Finally there is the ambiguous issue of reactions between

primary tar products and the hot char (forming either smaller molecules or more char). More direct evidence on this is needed. Presumably the same experiments which could provide the direct evidence could also provide some empirical rate information. Secondary tar reactions are also coupled to the

physical state of the char - the degree to which it contacts the primary tar

passing through or largely bypasses material through cracks. Prediction of

char cracking patterns is a fundamentally intractable problem so some appropriate empirical description of this process would be required.

-45-
5 . ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

Mr. William Wooden and Dr. Arvind Attreya helped extensively in carrying

out the radiative heating experiments. Dr. Attreya also provided extensive

assistance in the tedious job of installing the fine surface thermocouples.

1

Dr. William Manders ran the C-NMR experiments on the wood residue and

interpreted the spectra.

Mr. Robert Smith of the West Virginia University Mass Spectroscopy Center

performed all of the mass spectral analyses.

Mr. James Brown ran the gel permeation chromatograms on the organic

condensate. Dr. Michael Welch ran the Fast Atom Bombardment mass spectral

analyses. Dr. Stephen Wise ran the liquid chromatography analyses. Mr. Frank

Guenther provided helpful advice from time-to-time on the capillary gas

chromatographic analyses.

6. REFERENCES

[1] Cooper, J. and Malek, D. , Residential Solid Fuels; Environmental Impacts

and Solutions , (Proceedings of the 1981 International Conference,

Portland, Oregon), published by Oregon Graduate Center, Beaverton,

Oregon, 1982.

[2] Bendersky, C. , "Results of the Residential Wood Program Emissions Think

Shop", Pyros Inc. Report 1011. Rl, August 1980.

[3] Gann, R. , "Comparison of Principal Combustion Products from a Wood Stove

as a Function of Height in the Chimney", Final Report for FY 1982 on DOE

Project No. 133A, DE-AOI-76PR06010 from the National Bureau of Standards

(October 1982).

[4] Murphy, M. , Allen, J. and Longanbach, J. , "Residential Heating with

Solid Fuels, Task 2: Characterization of Wood Charge Utilization in

Woodstoves" , Final Report to USDOE from Batelle Columbus Laboratories,

Columbus, Ohio (April 1984).

[5] Dyer, D. , et al., "Improving the Efficiency, Safety and Utility of

Woodburning Units", Quarterly Report WB-4, Vol. II on ERDA Contract

EC-77-S -05-5552 , Auburn Univ. Dept, of Mech. Eng., September 1978.

[6] Attreya, A., "Pyrolysis, Ignition and Fire Spread on Horizontal Surfaces

of Wood", Ph.D. Thesis, Harvard University (1983).

-46 -
[7] DeAngelis , D. , Ruffin, D. and Reznik, R. , "Preliminary Characterization

of Emissions from Wood-Fire Residential Combustion Equipment",

Environmental Protection Agency Rept., EPA-600/7 -80-040 , March 1980.

[8] Rose, M. and Johnstone, R. , Mass Spectroscopy for Chemists and

Biochemists , Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, England, 1982,

p. 54 ff.

[9] Lee, C. , Chaiken, R. and Singer, J. , "Charring Pyrolysis of Wood in

Fires by Laser Simulation", Sixteenth Symposium (International) on

Combustion , The Combustion Institute, Pittsburgh, PA (1976), p. 1459.

[10] Roberts, A.F., "A Review of Kinetics Data for the Pyrolysis of Wood and

Related Substances", Combust. Flame 14 , p. 261 (1970).

[11] Kung, A.C., "A Mathematical Model of Wood Pyrolysis", Combust. Flame 18 , p. 185 (1972).

[12] Kansa , E. , Per lee, H.E. and Chaiken, R. , "Mathematical Model of Wood

Pyrolysis Including Internal Forced Convection", Combust. Flame 29 , No. 3, p. 311 (1977).

[13] Madorsky, S. , Thermal Degradation of Organic Polymers , Inter science , New

York (1964) p. 238.

[14] Kanury, M. and Blackshear, K. , "Some Considerations Pertaining to the

Problem of Wood Burning", Comb. Sci. Technol. 1 , (1970) p. 339.

[15] Summitt, R. and Sliker , A. (eds.), CRC Handbook of Materials Science , Vol. IV, Wood , CRC Press, Boca Raton, Florida, 1980, p. 38.

[16] ibid , p. 26.

[17] Rowell, R. (ed.). The Chemistry of Solid Wood , ACS Advances in Chemistry

Series No. 207, American Chemical Society, Washington, DC, 1984,

p. 78 ff.

[18] ibid , p. 62 ff.

[19] McKee, D. , "The Catalyzed Gasification Reactions of Carbon", Chemistry

and Physics of Carbon, Vol. 16 (P. Walker and P. Thrower, eds.), Dekker

New York (1981), pp. 1-118.

[20] Laurendeau, N. , "Heterogeneous Kinetics of Coal Char Gasification and

Combustion", Prog. Energy Combust. Sci. 4 , (1978), p. 221-270.

[21] Earl, W. , "An Investigation of Wood Pyrolysis Using Solid State ^C

Nuclear Magnetic Resonance", in Residential Solid Fuels , op. cit.,

p. 772.

[22] Molten, P. and Demmitt, T. , "Reaction Mechanisms in Cellulose Pyrolysis:

A Literature Review", Batelle Pacific Northwest Laboratories Report

BNWL-2297, Richland, Washington, 1977.

-47 -
[23] Milne, T. , "Pyrolysis - The Thermal Behavior of Biomass Below 600°C" in

"A Survey of Biomass Gasification, Vol. II - Principles of

Gasification", Solar Energy Research Institute SERI/TR-33-239, Vol. II,

July 1979.

[24] Goos, A., as quoted in Jahnsen, V., "The Chemical Composition of

Hardwood Smoke", Ph.D Thesis, Purdue University, 1961.

[25] Hubble, B. , et al., "Experimental Measurements of Emissions from

Residential Wood-Burning Stoves" in Residential Solid Fuels;

Environmental Impacts and Solutions , op. cit. p. 79.

[26] Sjostrum, E., Wood Chemistry; Fundamentals and Applications , Academic

Press, New York, 1981, Chap. 4 and 5.

[27] Hawley, L., "Combustion of Wood" in Wood Chemistry, Vol. 2 (2nd ed.),

L. Wise and E. Jahn (eds.). Reinhold, New York, 1952, pp. 846-850.

[28] Rowell, R. (ed.), op. cit., p. 66.

[29] Roberts, J. and Caserio, M. , Basic Principles of Organic Chemistry , W.A. Benjamin, New York (1965) pp. 1102-1103.

[30] Polk, M. and Phingbodhippakkiya , M. , "Development of Methods for the

Stabilization of Pyrolytic Oils", EPA Report EPA-600/2-81-201 , Atlanta

University, Atlanta, Georgia, September 1981.

-48-
§1

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51
Table

1

(Continued)

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05

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rH <U rH C

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fa H

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53
CO

co2

THC

Aerosol

filter

Graphite

plate

10x13 cm

1 250°C

r-*-

3

Pyrex

cold trap

(-40°C)

Argon

Exhaust

i_

Pyrex

transfer

line

Gasif. products

CaF2

Ar purge

gas —

Detector

window

\U

Collector

cone

Q)

c

o

03

n

u

<D0

[JL

NaCI

window-*-

T

/

TC*^ Sample

I

Shutter Balance

f1 f1

—i

Power supply

in:440V 60A

out: 12V 2000A

Square light pipe

(gold coated inside wall)

9x9 cm

Porous

metal

plate

Test

gas

Figure 1. Schematic of apparatus showing details of radiation

source and sample chamber

-54 -
0

c

T3

0

4—1 as0

sz

c

Aerosol

filter

Trap

(-40°C)

CO

C02

Bypass

THC

Purge

0— m(t) -

Figure 2. Schematic of apparatus showing details of product monir.riv

- 55-
(Oo) 3fciniVH3dW31

-56-

Figure

3(a).

Temperature

vs

time

from

five

thermocouples

in

a

white

pine

sample;

base

case

conditions

except

atmosphere
700

o

CD

CO

CM

CO

CD

CM

CM

O

CM

CD

CM

CD

O

o O O o o

o o o

CD LO CO CM

(Oo) 3UniVU3dW31

o o

o

SI

u.

57 -

DEPTH

BELOW

ORIGINAL

SURFACE

(mm)
(s • 3 iuo/6iu) Xflld SSVI4I

-58-

TIME

(seconds)

Figure

4(a).

Surface

mass

flux

vs

time;

white

pine

at

base

case

conditions

except

N~

atmosphere
xmd ssvw aovddns do iNaoaad sv lonaoad

- 59 -

TIME

(seconds)

Figure

4(b).

Composition

of

evolved

products;

white

pine

at

base

conditions

except

N

2

atmosphere.

Tar

curve

is

computed

at

points

shown

by

subtracting

the

sum

of

the

other

products

from

100%.
o

00

-60-

TIME

(seconds)

Figure

5(a).

Temperature

vs

time

from

five

thermocouples

in

a

white

pine

sample;

base

case

conditions

except

air

atmosphere
(Do) 3an±VH3dW31

3

bf u.

- 61-

DEPTH

BELOW

ORIGINAL

SURFACE

(mm)

*e

5(h).

Temperature

vs

depth

and

time;

cross-plotted

from

Fig.

5(a)
WHITE

PINE

4

W/cm

2

AIR

(s- jUJO/Buj) Xflld SSVI/M

O

C\J

NOO

CO

O

00

CO

"O

c

o

o o

CO CD

00 w

o

CVJ

o

CVJ

-62-

Figure

6(a).

Surface

mass

flux

vs

time;

white

nine

at

base

case

conditions

except

air

atmosphere
xrru ssvw aovdbns

do ±N30H3d sv lonaodd

-63-

120

240

360

480

600

720

TIME

(seconds)

Figure

6(h).

Conposi

t

ion

of

evolved

products:

<vh i

te

nine

nt

hasp

cese
100

O

00 O

(6) sscn 10M 1V101

CO CM

<

H

O

ho

ZDO H

O I

cc g 0- LLI

Li- 5

>i

t <

g o

geo

°?ccCL %

LLI ^

O

cr o

c

E

LO

^ 7

CM

CM

o

CM

co O

O

x.E

U-»CM

ie

x

o

00

o

CO

sionaoad adidisvo do iNaoadd iom

-64-

WGT.

LOSS

Figure

7(a).

Reproducibility

of

integrated

product

composition

and

weight

loss

for

white

pine

at

base

case

conditions.

Dashed

weight

loss

is

based

on

preand

post-test

weights,

not

iust

weight

loss

during

constant

heat

flux

period.
o

C\J

CD O

( 6 ) SS01 ‘ 10M 1V101

CO

&

5

o

X

Io

o

CNJ o

o

<

lo

X

sionaoud adidisvo do iNdOddd -iom

c\j

CO

o

o

o

CO

o

CD

O o

CNJ

-65 -

Htfure

7(h).

Reproducibility

of

Integrated

product

composition

and

weight

loss

for

red

oak

at

base

case

conditions
TOTAL

MASS

OF

PRODUCT

(g)

EXPOSURE TIME (min.)

Figure 8(a). Integrated product mass and composition as a function of

exposure time; white nine at base case conditions excent for

exposure time

-66-
TOTAL

MASS

OF

PRODUCT

(g)

EXPOSURE TIME (min)

Figure 8(h). Integrated product mass and composition as a function >f exposure time, red oak at base case conditions extent for

exDosure time

- 67-
TOTAL

MASS

OF

PRODUCT

(g)

Figure

14

12

10

8

6

4

2

0

0 1 2 3 4 5

SAMPLE THICKNESS (cm)

9(a). Integrated product mass and composition as a Function of sample

thickness: white pine at base case conditions except for

thickness

-68-
WHITE

PINE

4

W/cm

2

10-1/2%

0

2

;

1/2

THK.

o

(s gOio/Bui) xnu ssvw

o

00

O

C\J

NO

CD

c

"O

c

O

00

o

o

0

CO

LU

O H

CD

00

O

''t

C\J

o

C\J

-69 -

Figure

9(h).

Surface

mass

flux

vs

time:

white

pine

at

base

case

conditions

except

samnle

thickness

is

halved
do lNaoudd sv lonaoad

o

oo

o

CM

1^

O

o

CO

o

00

Mo

CD

00

O

CM

O

CM

O

-70-

Figure

9(c).

Composition

of

evolved

products;

white

pine

at

base

case

conditions

except

sample

thickness

is

halved
TOTAL

MASS

OF

PRODUCT

(g)

Figure 10(a). Integrated product mass and composition as a

r uncti )

grain orientation; white pine at base case condirLi;

-71-
TOTAL

MASS

OF

PRODUCT

(g)

GRAIN ORIENTATION

Figure 10(b). Integrated product mass and composition as a function of

wood grain orientation: red oak at base case conditions

-72-
20

18

16

14

12

10

8

6

4

2

0

1 1 ( a

T

1 1 1 1 1 1 T

1

WHITE PINE EXPOSED 11-15 min.

TO 4 W/cm2

in 10-1/2% 0 2

15

31

16

32

12

A

//'

J, • /// '

/// /

/// / /

fit , '

/ /

• /

//

£'l

22

130

jK l

71

12

/

40

0 20 40 60 80

MOISTURE (Percent of sample weight)

Integrated product mass and composition as a function of „ir ' moisture content; white nine otherwise at hasp case conditions

- 73-
20

18

16

14

12

10

8

6

4

2

0

F

1 1 1 WHITE PINE (30-33% water)

EXPOSED TO 4 W/cm2

IN 10-1/2% 02

68

i i i i

i 5 10 15 20 25

EXPOSURE TIME (min)

e 11(b). Integrated product mass and composition for wet white

nine as a function of exnosure time

,e

/> .-4

V'

/'

A

/

V /

CO

co2

TAR

5 . r'22

/

/ /

/

/

/

/

- 74 -
CO

TD

C

o

o

CD

CO

cr v-/

cs>

0

u

U.

(Oo) 3aniva3dW3i

-75-

Temperature

vs

time

from

five

theromcouples

In

a

white

nine

sample:

base

case

conditions

except

for

moisture

content
(Oo) 3UniVU3dYM31

-76-

DEPTH

BELOW

ORIGINAL

SURFACE

(mm)

Figure

12(b).

Temperature

vs

depth

and

time;

cross

-plotted

from

Fig.

12(a)
o

CO

CO

crcc (N

CO

CO

CN

<N

O

C\J

CO

C\J

00

0) u o

o o o o o o o o o

o o o o o o o o

00 CO ID CO C\J T-

(Oo) 3amva3dW3i

- 77 -

DEPTH

BELOW

ORIGINAL

SURFACE

(mm)
TOTAL

MASS

OF

PRODUCT

(g)

Figure 13(a). Integrated product mass and composition as a function of

ambient oxygen percentage: white pine at otherwise base case conditions

-78 -
TOTAL

MASS

OF

PRODUCT

(g)

J I U I l_l I 0 5 10 15 20 25

PERCENT OXYGEN

Figure 13(b). Integrated product mass and comnosition as a function ‘ ambient oxvgen percentage: red oak at otherwise has* r.i conditions

- 79 -
10

9

8

7

6

5

4

3

2

1

0

re 1. RADIANT HEAT FLUX (W/cm 2

)

a). Integrated product mess and composition as a function of

incident radiant flux: white pine at otherwise base case conditions

-80-
18

16

14

12

10

8

6

4

2

0

RADIANT HEAT FLUX (W/cm 2

)

. Integrated product mass and composition as a function f incident radiant flux; red oak at otherwise hasp ca conditions

-81-
20

18

16

14

12

10

8

6

4

2

0

Figi

EXPOSED TO 4 W/cm 2

for 12-15 min. in 10-1/2% O 2

12

30

12

t

40

/

/ /

,y

S.' '

jr ' s

*

'M. /

T

/ >> ^11*

/

10^

24

23

13

THC

CO

C02

-

TAR

"

White Yellow Red

Pine Pine Oak

TYPE OF WOOD

15. Integrated product mass and composition as a function

of wood tvpe: all at base case conditions

-82-
SURFACE

AREA

(m

2

/g)

DISTANCE FROM EXPOSED SURFACE (cm)

Figure 16(a). B.F.T. surface area vs depth for whit** nine in r' r. , atmospheres: otherwise base case rondi t t >n ;

-83-
SURFACE

AREA

(m

2

/g)

DISTANCE FROM EXPOSED FACE (cm)

Figure 16(b). R.E.T. surface area vs depth for white pine of three

moisture levels: otherwise base case conditions

-84-
CHEMICAL SHIFT (ppm)

13 Figure 17(a). C —NMR sDectra vs depth; white pine at base case conditions

-85-
I 3 Figure 17(h). C-NMR spectra vs depth: white pine at base case conditions except exposed in nitrogen

-86-
CVJ

o

o

o

CO

o

CO

o

o

CVJ

o

GO CO

^ CVJ O

V3HV >JV3d 3AI1V13H

LU

1

K

H

Z

LU

I—

LU

OC

87

Figure

18(a).

Capillary

CC

fingerprint

of

tar

from

white

nine

at

base

ease

conditions;

areas

not

corrected

for

FID

response

factors;

neartv

all

of

peak

#2

is

the

methanol

solvent:

peak

(trinhenvl

methane)

was

added

as

a

stabilizer.
Fig.

18(b)

Identified

peaks

in

base

case

capillary

GC

fingerprint

of

white

pine;

(T)

means

identification

is

tentative.

Percentages

are

based

on

amount

of

material

that

passed

through

chromatograph;

all

are

corrected

for

calculated

FID

response

factor.

ug

0)ou

<D Pmx

00

•HG3

LO ON rH CN vO CN vO VO CN o CN <r

m o CO o vO •<r 00 <1- rH ON in r^. oo 00 o 1—

rH o o o o CN o o rH o o rH o <r

<DCOI GaG GCG

4-> ""s g H

H

H

G V-/ /—N CU G H o rH rH rH rH G 'w' rH o O o •H O rH CO

CJ

g

G

GaG

O o X)

rO i—

rH 0) 0) rH i—

a; <3 0) rH

GG

a •H

O

O

OX JP o o rH rH ^G rH

O CD •H

G

O

cj rH co Pm Pm CO Cfi o X o Pm o •H 00 rH rH <3 CN G o g a; at co X •H e X G rH 00

•H

g

u rH rHH Vj o O rH a) a; *H o O

r CO 0) CJ

XX CJ

u 0)

H

X oo CL) o G > •H CO 0 X, i JP X i i H G •u 3 G CO G G O

pp o Pm o H 4-1 e cu CJ CN Pm

G

w (1) pH > G

CJ 0) 0) PQ

NG 1 a £ c a

CO •H •H 4-4 0) 0) n Q H CQ X ** G G

PC CO

m

H CNX

O * r. •N CD 1 CN CN CN rH X CN

OG

0) Pm

CN

LO vO

CN CN

r^* oo

CN CN

ON

O

cn co

r—I CN CO CO

co <r

co co

LO vO

co co

oo

co co

on o

co

gG

CJHG

P*X

00

•H

0)

oo 00m

O VO ON 00 o <fr o CN CN <r o vO o o CN CO o CO o m vO •<r o rH o o CN o o o o o 00 o o o rH rH o H'w' d)C H /TV c ^ CO <u H CO H X /—

H

4-1 V4 4-1

H N^r 1—

CU cfl 3 w

—

o

<v -aG

C

G [H CU X)X

u tn

U

O

G XI

X <u •H o

CO

X

G •H <u

H rH fH

X c O o r—S e CU 4H O. T3 G Ph X o X 0) c (U rH H c X G O PH Pm U3 CU X *H N X <5 S-M* o tH a u X 4H X) 4J CJ c o tH

br rH c CO <3 PH 01 rH a> rH CU < 0) •H

X rH rH

O iH

C T3X e CO 6 <u 03

C CU >rG

rH c <u

O rH iH rH

X •H c •H o c o X

u 4J tn co rH •H X >» CO 4H Q o Q •H <u rH *H rH 3 G

.c

x o D.

X

X 4-1G 4J 4-1 3 tH

a CO M—

uw

H

O JJ 4J a) £ '.n

O rH

G

r—rC 0 l-lH rH

a> CU

O

H

G CU o r>H rs CJ

O

U

H 3 3 0 S s C PH s S <c CN CN U rH < H W Ph tH iH CO

OG

0) P<

rH CN co

m vo oo on vOr^CO^OrHCNCO rHrHrHrHCNCNCNCN

88 5

Methyl

Furan 2

Aldehyde

1.90

42

Triphenyl

Methane 3

Methyl

Furan 2

Aldehyde

43

Methyl

10

Octadecenoate

(T)

0.37

Butyrolactone

1.59

44

Methyl 9

Octadecenoate

(T) 1

Acetyl

Cyclohexene

(T)

1.17

45

Methyl

Linoleate

0.19

Benzyl

Alcohol

(T)

0.43

46

Phenanthrene

Carboxylic

Acid

0.25
V3dV >iV3d 3AI±V~13d

o

V3dV ><V3d 3AllV“l3d

c

E

LU1

z

O

LU

t-1 LU

DC

89

Figure

19.

Reproducibility

of

capillary

GC

fingerorlnt;

tar

from

two

separate

teats

on

white

pine

at

same

base

case

conditions
RELATIVE

PEAK

AREA

RELATIVE

PEAK

AREA

RELATIVE

PEAK

AREA

RETENTION TIME (min.)

Figure 20. Capillary GC fingerprints of tar as a function of exposure time; white pine at base case conditions except: (a) 1-1/2 min,

( b) 2-1/2 rain, (c) 6 min, (d) 12 min, (e) 24 min exposure

90
V3UV *V3d 3AI±V~13H V3dV >JV3d 3AI1V13H

-91

RETENTION

TIME

(min.)
RELATIVE

PEAK

AREA

RELATIVE

PEAK

AREA

RELATIVE

PEAK

AREA 8

6

4

2

0

t f f I I t I I V t t T ?’ '"I T

' >

I I I I WHITE PINE BASE CASE

EXCEPT IN PURE N 2

1 — *f I

1 40

r

1 1 - i ) T"

A

20 60 80

RETENTION TIME (min.)

100 120

—

1 iii—r—i1 i 1 r i i » i i i i i i WHITE PINE BASE CASE 4 W/cm 2

, 10-1/2% 02

I I I l

8

6

4

2

0

2 '12

1

23 \

26

27 31 28

2

9' >\

43/

B

-

46

20 40 60 80

RETENTION TIME (min.)

100 120

20 40 60 80

RETENTION TIME (min.)

100 120

Figure 21. Capillary 0C fingerprints of tar as a function of ambient oxygen

level: white nine (a) 0% 0 2% pure N

2

: (b) 10-1/2% 0

2

: (c) 21% 0

2

-92 -
00 CD Tt CM o

V3HV >1V3d 3AllV13a

00 CD Tt CM O

V3HV >IV3d 3AllV~13d

c •• C CM — e c u

u 3

<5

X

3

U.

93

RETENTION

TIME

(min.)
E

E

LU

2

HZ

111 H

w

EE

CO CD rt CM O

V3dV >IV3d 3AI1V13U

CO CD Tj- CM O

V3dV >iV3d 3AI±V~l3d

94 -

RETENTION

TIME

(min.)
CO CD rf C\J O

V3UV >IV3d 3AI1V13H

c

z

HI

I—

LLJ cc

o

CM

CO

CO

LUz

*

0

1

o

o

<

I

H

CL

111 O

X

LU

LUCO

<

0

LUCO

<

DOLUZ

CLLUH

1

£

O

CO

o

CO

o

Tjo

CM

b .. w

:i i x T~" ' I 00 CO Tt CM O

V3HV MV3d 3AI1V13H

95

RETENTION

TIME

(min.)
o

CM

O

O

O

00

o

CD

o

"t

o

CM

O

00 CD CM O

V3HV >W3d 3AI1VI3U

c

E

LUI

I-O

hz

LU

I—LU

CC

00 CD Tj- CM O

V3dV >lV3d 3AllV“l3d

-96 -

Figure

24.

Capillary

GC

fingerprints

of

tar

as

a

function

of

sample

grain

orientation;

white

nine

at

base

case

conditions

(a)

and

with

perpendicular

grain

(b)
V3UV >IV3d 3AI1V13U

co

CM O

CM

I O

CME

o

IUCO<

0

LUCO

<

COHIz

0-

LLI H

1

CO o

-.? ,/To

CM

O

O

O

CO

O

CD

O

o

CM

00 CO rt CM O

V3dV *V3d 3AI1V13H

Hi

> ..

97

RETENTION

TIME

(min.)
i—i—i—i—i—i—

oc

LU

I-<

£

o

CO

CO

I-Q.

LUO

X

LU

LU

CO

<

o

LU

CO

<

m

_ LUK

LUH

X

u

o

CM

o

ho

o

00

00 CO Tt CM o

vaav wad aAiivnaa

c

E

yj

o

<o

o

z

LU

\—

LU

DC

O

CM

ui |

uj O

LU X

CO LU

LO.E

LU

CO

<

CD

CM

mg

Z L—

0L <

m ^

x

*

^ CO

J I I L J I I L

o

CM

O

O

00

o

CO

o

''t

o

CM

00 CO Tt CM o

vaav wad aAiivnaa

RETENTION

TIME

(min.)
RELATIVE

PEAK

AREA

RELATIVE

PEAK

AREA

RELATIVE

PEAK

AREA

tt 1 1 1 1 1—i r -i 1 r—i—

-p 1 1 r- WHITE PINE BASE CASE 4 W/cm 2

, 10-1/2% 02 8 h

6

4

2

0 I

1 9 & 20

23 ^

27 3 1 30

4 3 /

A

-

II I I

1

I

1—T- i i 20 40 60 80

RETENTION TIME (min.)

100 120

8

6

4

2

0

0 20 40 60 80 100 120

RETENTION TIME (min.)

-\ 1 1 1 1

I 1 1 1 1

1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 r- RED OAK BASE CASE 4 W/cm 2 10-1/2% 0 2

i r

-i 1 1 1 r

—I—i

1 1 1 1—I—i r—i—i

1 1 1 1 1 1—i1 1 r YELLOW PINE BASE CASE 4 W/cm 2 10-1/2% 02

“i—i—i—i—i—

8

6

4

0

C

-

v—“i—i " r i r i f I I f i r t' i i r—i t i i

' r —

0 20 40 60 80 100 120

RETENTION TIME (min.)

Figure 26. Capillary GC fingerprints of tar as a function of wood type h* .. case conditions: (a) white pine; (b) red oak : (c) vellow pine

-99 -
NOI1VU1N3DNOO 3AI1V13U

-100-

1800

1280

900

620

435

310

200

150

105

APPROXIMATE

MOLECULAR

WEIGHT

Figure

27(a).

Gel

permeation

chromatogram

of

tar

from

white

nine

at

base

case

conditions

except

in

N

0

atmosnhere
T

00

C\J

o

o

oo

CD 00 D- COLOTf 00 CM

NOIlVdlNBONOO 3AI1V13H

- 101-

D

900

620

435

310

200

150

105

APPROXIMATE

MOLECULAR

WEIGHT

(VI

narmoa

t

ton

chroma

tovtrnm

oF

tar

From

whi

tp

pina

at

hasp

caso

conditions

i»xcept

In

air

atmosnhore
Oia) iNBuano noi 3Aiiviaa

-102-

200

400

600

800

1000

1200

MOLECULAR

WEIGHT

(amu)

Figure

28(a).

Fast

atom

bomhardment

mass

spectrum

of

tar

from

white

nine

at

base

case

conditions

except

in

atmosphere
x

3

D

eo a; E

u u

u- a; X

CO u a

ct cr o w ±-> o

e o H

U_ 4-1 C * CD I g ^ O C *

i > LU u c

0) 5

c

O' 4_l c. cc

T. U

<C X <

e a; _J

4-> CT. c C O 3

0J c

e — O o

T3 JJ u —

LU

W T3

jc c —1 e c o V

o

£.

9! C <C

LJ T

05 C3 rr X

b

X

ac

u.

co in co c\j

Oia) iNgaano noi aAiiviaa

-103-
1-0

o

aoNvaaosav An aMivnaa

o

aoNvaaosav An aAiivnaa

-104 -

RETENTION

TIME

(min)

RETENTION

TIME

(min)
CM o

se

C\J

i o

CME

o

LUCO

<

o

LUCO

<

CO*

<

o

o

LU

CC

"i 1 1 r T“

<

O

CM

O

hO

O

00

c

E

LU o

CO

.o

LU

HLUoc

o

CM

00 CO CM O

V3EIV >IV3d 3AI±V"13d

00 CO Tt C\l O

V3dV >IV3d 3AI1V13H

- 105-

RETENTION

TIME

(min.)
RELATIVE

PEAK

AREA

RELATIVE

PEAK

AREA

Figure 31. Canillary GC fingerprints of tar from: (a) yellow pine irradiated

at base case conditions, (b) yellow pine burned in a wood stove

at "overnight burn" conditions

-106 -
U.S. DEPT. OF COMM.

BIBLIOGRAPHIC DATA

1. PUBLICATION OR

REPORT NO.

2. Performing Organ. Report No. 3. Publ ication Date

SHEET (See instructions) NBSIR-85-3127 February 1985

4. TITLE AND SUBTITLE

Products of Wood Gasification

5. AUTHOR(S)

Thomas J. Ohlemiller, Takashi Kashiwagi, Kathleen E. Werner

6. PERFORMING ORGANIZATION (If joint or other than NBS, see instructions)

NATIONAL BUREAU OF STANDARDS

DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

)»®SttUffiXHKXHXXXXKKX Gaithersburg, MD 20899

7. Contract/Grant No.

8. Type of Report & Period Covered

9.

SPONSORING ORGANIZATION NAME AND COMPLETE ADDRESS (Street. City, State. ZIP)

U. S. Dept, of Energy

Washington, D.C. 20585

10.

SUPPLEMENTARY NOTES

| | Document describes a computer program; SF-185, FIPS Software Summary, is attached.

11.

ABSTRACT (A 200-word or less factual summary of most significant information. If document includes a significant

bi bliography or literature survey, mention it here)

The increasing problem of pollution from wood-burning stoves has prompted this exam- ination of the basic gasification process of wood under conditions encompassing those

in stoves. The emphasis is on the products generated when wood is heated, without

flaming, in atmospheres of varying oxygen concentration (0 to 21% 0

2 in . Small

wood samples (typically 4 x 4 cm face, 2-4 cm thick; white pine, red oak, plus two^

te^ts with yellow pine) were subjected to uniform radiative heat fluxes (2 to 7.8 W/ cm ) on one face. Other variables were sample grain orientation, thickness, exposure

time and moisture content. Sample weight was followed in some tests; sample temperature (5 thermocouples) was followed in others. In all tests, all evolved products

were either monitored (1^0, CO, CO

2

, total hydrocarbons not condensible at -40°C) or trapped and analyzed (condensible organic species) by gas chromatography and mass spectroscopy. The extent of change in these major products is rather limited (factor

of two to four) over the range of variables explored here. The organic condensate

was difficult to analyze; it is estimated that only 20% of it was chromatographable

More than forty species in this chromatographable portion were positively or tentatively identified and quantified. Chromatographic fingerprints of the organic condensate indicated that its composition does not vary a great deal for the conditions

examined here. The fingerprints from the radiative heating tests bear a strong resem- blance to those of the smoke condensate from a wood stove.

12.

KEY WORDS (Six to twelve entries; alphabetical order; capitalize only proper names; and separate key words by ier : - 5 air pollution; gasification; radiative heat; stoves; smoldering combustion;

thermal degradation

13.

AVAILABILITY

[X] Unlimited

| | For Official Distribution. Do Not Release to NTIS

Order From Superintendent of Documents, U.S. Government Printing Office, Washington, D.C. 20402.

fXl Order From National Technical Information Service (NTIS), Springfield, VA. 22161

14. NO. OF

PRINTEO PAGES

114

IS. Price

$13

UlCOuU'OC 4)»l


T