StihltheOne
ArboristSite Guru
Why is it that some wood leaves a ton of ash, and others hardly any? I guess that I have never gave it much thought as to why, I just accepted the fact that some does and some doesn't.
What causes some wood to leave more ash than others?
- Thread starter StihltheOne
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KsWoodsMan
Addicted to ArboristSite
I always figured the heavier wood left more ashes since they gave off more BTUs.
This article kinda summed it up for me. http://www.fao.org/docrep/t0512e/T0512e0o.htm#4.1.2 the wood gasifier goto the last paragraph where it starts with Ash content. Some biomass is higher , in the 0.9% - 0.14% by weight. few are lower.
HTH
This article kinda summed it up for me. http://www.fao.org/docrep/t0512e/T0512e0o.htm#4.1.2 the wood gasifier goto the last paragraph where it starts with Ash content. Some biomass is higher , in the 0.9% - 0.14% by weight. few are lower.
HTH
chainsawaddict
ArboristSite Guru
I think it has to do with how the wood stores cellulose. I just took a botany class last semester! I should remember this stuff, its stuff ill actually use!
I always thought it had something to do with the bark. I know it I throw cottonwood in with bark it leaves alot more ash than cottonwood without (same with dead elm).
I've found Ash to leave the most - Wonder if thats why they named it "Ash"?
I think ash wood might do that because lots of people think it is dry and ready to burn when it's not quite ready yet. Hard wood that is still a little green leaves behind the most chunks that look like small cinders. Cold fires that are starved for air generate more of them. These chunks can be tossed right back into the next fire and they will ignite and burn to a powder.
savageactor7
ArboristSite Guru
We mostly always burn wood that's been seasoned for a couple summers and notice very little difference in ashes. Ash, elm, Maple, Black Cherry, Poplar, Apple, Willow.
Also burn dry punky wood in shoulder season....very little ash with that cause it lost over half its original weight. All pretty much the same ash wise...they do coal up a little differently though, esp Locust.
Also burn dry punky wood in shoulder season....very little ash with that cause it lost over half its original weight. All pretty much the same ash wise...they do coal up a little differently though, esp Locust.
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woodguy105
ArboristSite Guru
:agree2:
My experience has been the hotter and longer the burn, the whiter and finer the ashes and the glass is clean in the morning!
Moist wood burned will end up forming kind of a chunky mat of coarse ash on the bottom of the stove.
timberwolf
Addicted to ArboristSite
http://www.fpl.fs.fed.us/documnts/pdf1993/misra93a.pdf
Very technical read about ash.
Hotter and longer burns will burn off more volitiles, but looks like a big factor in ash is mineral content of different spiecies.
Very technical read about ash.
Hotter and longer burns will burn off more volitiles, but looks like a big factor in ash is mineral content of different spiecies.
habanero
ArboristSite Guru
I didn't read the document you linked to, but you're exactly right. True "ash" (as opposed to unburnt carbon-based material) only comes from things that won't combust or aren't volatile. Rougher-barked woods, with the bark left on, do tend to leave more ash, but that's mostly because of small amounts of dirt trapped in the bark (both externally and in the bark itself from wind deposition). I don't know, but trees may store minerals in the bark or the layer just below the bark as well-that would lead to more ash from those pieces too.
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Crofter
Addicted to ArboristSite
Cant find the link to it right now but have read articles on using different biomass for pelletising and since the amount of ash formed in the cup sized burners of pellet stoves is a concern it was compared quite extensivley. Any of you that farm have burned binder twine that I think is made of sissal fibre will know what a huge mass of ash it leaves behind. I know when I burn poplar i have to empty the ash a lot more often than when burning oak. Not sure about the weight difference but sure a lot more volume.
