The influence of spruce wood heat treatment on its thermal stability and burning process

This paper deals with the assessment of the influence of heat treatment of Norway spruce wood (Picea abies L.) on its thermal stability and burning process. Three types of samples were used for the research. The first group was comprised of untreated samples. The second group was comprised of samples heat treated according to the ThermoWood—Thermo-S thermal programme (maximum temperature during heat treatment is 190 °C), and the third group was modified according to the ThermoWood—Thermo-D thermal programme (maximum temperature during heat treatment is 212 °C). The influence of heat treatment on the burning process was assessed based on the heat release rate, effective heat of combustion and the yield of carbon monoxide. The influence of heat treatment on the thermal stability was assessed based on the resistant residue weight. Heat release rate, effective heat of combustion, yield of carbon monoxide and resistant residue weight were determined with a cone calorimeter for different heat flux densities. The results obtained prove that the spruce wood heat treatment has an important influence on the decrease of the maximum heat release rate and the increase of resistant residue weight. The results obtained further prove that the heat treatment has only a modest influence on the increase of the carbon monoxide yield, and its influence on the effective heat of combustion significantly depends on the heat flux density.