Wood, wood burning and wood burning stoves.
by Lewis, 4 March, 2019, 0 comments
Wood is made up of three main chemicals - cellulose, hemi-cellulose and lignin. Cellulose is a long chain-like molecule made up of glucose residues; it is the main component of both hard and soft woods. Hemi-cellulose is chemically more diverse than cellulose - with a variety of sugars present such as xylose, mannose, galactose & arabinose. Lignin is a very complex chemical, again a polymer with much cross linking. The lignin binds to and holds all the components of wood together.
When wood is burnt completely about half the mass of the wood is converted to carbon dioxide, and about half to water. This process releases large amounts of energy - approximately 20MJ per kg. This represents light energy that the tree trapped through photosynthesis. What is termed the primary combustion of wood is the burning of the solid material - the embers, the charcoal, whereas secondary combustion is the burning of the gases /fuels producing the flames of a fire. Read more...
