THE EFFECT OF TEMPERATURE OF PRE-HEAT TREATMENT OF SOLID WOOD FUEL ON THE PERFORMANCE OF COMPLEX FOR DRYING OF WOOD

Currently one of the most energy intensive processes in the timber industry is the drying of wood. With the aim of reducing the energy consumption in such processes, most attention is paid to the use of the alternative energy sources: to the production of heat by burning of waste wood. In this regard, a complex for drying of wood was developed, which consists of convective drying chamber with a heat pump, operating the internal combustion engine. A generator gas obtained by gasification of waste wood is used as fuel for the engine. The article examines the impact of characteristics of torrefied solid wood fuel on the performance of the proposed complex. As a result of the experiments it was found that the generator gas with the best calorific value in comparison with the gasification of raw wood is exuded during the gasification of torrefied solid wood fuel. For this reason the power of the engine increases, that has a direct impact on the efficiency of the heat pump causing thereby the effective dehumidification of the drying agent. In addition, the generator gas produced during the gasification of torrefied wood fuel has a higher temperature, which affects the temperature of the drying agent. Ultimately, in the course of conducting research the dependence of temperature and relative humidity of the drying agent from the temperature of heat treatment of wood fuel was found. Based on the results of these studies it was found that the use of torrefied solid wood fuel allows increasing the productivity of the entire complex.