Drying woodchip characteristics

1.1. Dryer setup

The woodchip drying process has been assessed experimentally in the lab. The range of flow rates and heat inputs covers the values expected from the solar thermal system, thus the dryer works at low drying velocities and low temperatures.

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The dryer consisted of the supply unit and drying chamber where the woodchip was located. The supply unit consisted of the apparatus and instrumentation necessary to deliver the air flow and control its quality. The fan used was a PASPT 10W 12DC that blows a volume of air up to 280m3/h. The air temperature was regulated by an electrical resistor that provided heat up to 1200W.

The drying chamber was an isolated wooden box that contained the tray where the woodchip was held. The volume of the chamber was defined by the height, 65 cm and the area of the tray, a square area of 51 cm side. At the bottom of one of the sides, there was a square aperture (28 cm x 28 cm) that adapted the flow input getting into the box. Once the air crosses the tray of woodchip, the air was exhausted through a cardboard chimney located on the top of the drying chamber. The tray that holds the woodchip was made of aluminium sheet on the sides and a plastic mesh (3 mm square holes) at the base that allows the air pass through.

The woodchip treated for the study was shredded wood coming from Sitka Spruce trees grown in the Scottish forests. The woodchip employed had a normal distribution of sizes and shapes. The product was characterized by the length of the blade used to chip the wood; hence 2 cm was the characteristic dimension of the woodchips. The average of the initial moisture content in the sample, MC0, for all the tests was 53% MC.