Solid Fuels - Wood Burning | WETT Inspections for Barrie | Orillia | Midland

Solid fuel refers to various types of solid material that are used as fuel to produce energy and provide heating,oih sually released through combustion.Solid fuels include wood (see wood fuel), charcoal, peat, coal, Hexamine fuel tablets, and pellets made from wood (see wood pellets), corn, wheat, rye and other grains. Solid-fuel rocket technology also uses solid fuel (see solid propellants).

The Wood Burning Process Evaporation of water: Up to half the weight of a freshly cut log is water. After proper seasoning the water content is reduced to less than 20 per cent. As the wood is heated in the firebox, this water boils off, consuming heat energy in the process. The wetter the wood, the more heat energy is consumed. That is why wet firewood hisses and sizzles and is hard to burn while properly seasoned wood ignites and burns easily.
The emission of smoke: As the wood heats up above the boiling point of water, it starts to smoke. The smoke is the visible result of the breakdown of the solid wood as it vaporizes into a cloud of combustible gases and tar droplets. The smoke will burn if the temperature is high enough and oxygen is present. When the smoke burns, it produces the bright flames that are characteristic of wood combustion. Smoke that does not burn in the firebox is released into the inspection.com/tag/chimney/” title=”View all articles about chimney here”>chimney where it will either condense as creosote deposits or vent to the outdoors as air pollution. Unburned smoke represents an efficiency loss because it contains a large part of the total energy in the wood.
The charcoal phase: As the fire progresses and most of the gases and tars have vaporized out of the wood, charcoal remains. Charcoal is almost entirely carbon and burns with a red glow and very little flame or smoke. Charcoal is a good fuel that burns easily. However, a charcoal fire releases carbon monoxide which is a poisonous gas, so even though it is not smoky, the exhaust must be completely vented to outdoors.
In practice, all three phases of wood combustion can happen at the same time. The wood gases can be flaming and the edges of the pieces can be glowing red as charcoal burns, while water in the core of the piece is still evaporating. The challenge in burning wood effectively is to boil off the water content quickly and make sure the smoke burns with bright flames before it leaves the firebox.