Drying characteristics of forest biomass particles of Pinus radiata

The objective of this study is to characterise, physically and thermally the forestry biomass particles (Pinus radiata D. Don) in southern Chile, in order to understand and optimise the process of drying wood particles in a fluidised bed. The basic density and anhydrous density of the biomass particles were 348 and 395 kg m(-3), respectively. Thus, the biomass has been classified as particulate material types B and D, according to the Geldart classification. The specific surface of the particles was determined by the permeametry method with values of 6530 and 5811 m(2) m(-3), for particle sizes of 1.44 and 3-56mm, respectively. The analysis of the equilibrium moisture content of the biomass showed that the Guggenheim-Anderson-Boer (GAB) model is the one that fits best to the experimental data. Thermogravimetric (TG) and differential thermogravimetric (DTG) curves show that if the drying is carried out at temperatures lower than 187degreesC, the mass loss of the solid throughout the process is caused exclusively by the migration of the humidity and not by devolatilisation. (C) 2004 Silsoe Research Institute. All rights reserved Published by Elsevier Ltd.