Outdoor Wood Furnace Info

All-Purpose OWF Discussions => Fire Wood => Topic started by: mlappin on April 23, 2014, 07:50:16 AM

Title: Too dry for a gasser?
Post by: mlappin on April 23, 2014, 07:50:16 AM
Picked up a moisture meter on line, made a fresh cut in some of the dead or dying ash I've already dropped, a few are 25% most are around 20%.

Can you have wood get too dry for use in a gassifier?

My thinking is this, get em cut too length now and thru the next couple of months, then later in the summer when it isn't so hectic get split and stacked.

I have maybe another 6-8 in the one section of woods that will be inaccessible once the corn is planted, I've been dragging them up to the drainage ditch then using the grapple to maneuver one end over the ditch so I can grab em from the other side, that side is accessible always. I've also marked the wettest few I've found to be cut up first.
Title: Re: Too dry for a gasser?
Post by: LittleJohn on April 23, 2014, 01:34:38 PM
I do not think there is such a thing as firewood that is TOO dry.  Assumign you are only spliting and stacking, not kiln drying.

It is my understanding that wood will only get so dry (say 12%, as an example) when air dried out side, you would have to use some kind of mechanical system (like a kiln) to drop the moisture below that point and start to get to say 5%.
Title: Re: Too dry for a gasser?
Post by: RSI on April 23, 2014, 05:42:13 PM
If it is going to get super dry, don't split it as small. If it is too dry it can put out gasses faster than they can be burned and make the boiler smoke. Keeping the pieces larger will have less surface area that is burning.
Title: Re: Too dry for a gasser?
Post by: mlappin on April 23, 2014, 08:26:53 PM
I didn't figure too split any smaller than required. I also planned on leaving it uncovered most of the summer, then when the wet fall starts cover it.
Title: Re: Too dry for a gasser?
Post by: coolidge on April 24, 2014, 05:23:48 PM
I have had some in my 250 that just "puffs" I would assume that puffing sound would be the unburnt gasses. I think Martyinmi has experience this also