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Comparison of Moisture Prediction Models for Stacked Fuelwood

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Abstract

The objective of this study was to develop, compare and validate model prototypes for estimating the optimal storage time of fuelwood stacks stored outdoors based on average moisture changes. Multivariate models for estimating moisture changes in different drying environments were created for this purpose. Experimental data were gathered during 7 to 14 months for most common wood fuel raw materials. In addition to taking moisture samples manually, load cell-based automated data recording for fuelwood moisture content change estimation proved a feasible option to obtain data for fuelwood drying models. The major factors considered in this study for predicting woody biomass moisture content change were precipitation, cumulative precipitation, evaporation, cumulative reference evaporation and fuelwood type. Multivariate drying models can help optimize deliveries of fuelwood and therefore increase the efficiency of the whole fuelwood supply chain.

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Acknowledgments

This article was written in cooperation with the INFRES project, which is co-funded by the European Union Seventh Framework Programme. We thank the University of Eastern Finland, the School of Forest Sciences, the Finnish Forest Research Institute, the European Regional Development Fund, the Finnish Funding Agency for Technology and Innovation (Laava – project), the Sustainable Bioenergy Solutions for Tomorrow research programme coordinated by Finnish Bioenergy Cluster Ltd and Cluster for Energy and Environment Ltd, and the European Union Seventh Framework Programme (FP7/2012–2015, INFRES – project 311881) for funding this study. Special thanks go to the research team of Mekrijärvi Research Station for implementing drying rack experiments.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. VTT Technical Research Centre of Finland, PO Box 1603, FI-40101, Jyväskylä, Finland

    Jyrki Raitila & Veli-Pekka Heiskanen

  2. Natural Resources Institute Finland, Yliopistokatu 6, FI-80101, Joensuu, Finland

    Johanna Routa & Lauri Sikanen

  3. University of Eastern Finland, PO Box 111, FI-80101, Joensuu, Finland

    Marja Kolström

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  1. Jyrki Raitila
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  2. Veli-Pekka Heiskanen
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  3. Johanna Routa
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  4. Marja Kolström
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  5. Lauri Sikanen
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Correspondence to Jyrki Raitila.

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Raitila, J., Heiskanen, VP., Routa, J. et al. Comparison of Moisture Prediction Models for Stacked Fuelwood. Bioenerg. Res. 8, 1896–1905 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12155-015-9645-7

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12155-015-9645-7

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