Calorific Value of the Degraded Stem Wood of Spruce Picea abies (L.). P. 179–188

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UDС

630.81:536.662

DOI:

10.37482/0536-1036-2025-6-179-188

Abstract

The popularity of bioenergy is increasing in the light of the development of the green economy and the desire to achieve carbon neutrality in production. In this regard, various types of energy raw materials, their properties and waste disposal possibilities are being considered. The purpose of the study has been to assess the calorific value of spruce wood damaged by wood-destroying fungi. An automated ABK-1B bomb calorimeter has been used to measure the calorific value of spruce stem wood. Separately, pellets have been pressed from wood, bark and knots and dried in a drying cabinet at a temperature of 105 °C. The pellets have been burned in a completely dry state. The ash weight has been determined as the difference between the weight of the crucible with residues after combustion of the sample in a calorimeter bomb and the weight of the empty crucible. The calorific value of healthy spruce wood is 20,180–20,232 J/g. In the cross section of the spruce stem, the calorific value varies in the range from 18,900 to 21,700 J/g. The lowest values are typical for the pre-edge zone of the degraded wood. Wood damaged by corrosive rot has a lower heat capacity compared to healthy wood by 1.5–6.2 % (18,926–19,868 J/g). The calorific value of wood damaged by destructive rot exceeds that of healthy wood by 1.5–10.5 % (20,487–22,301 J/g). As the stage of destructive rot of spruce wood increases, its calorific value grows. The calorific value of pellets from degraded spruce wood can be estimated by their appearance. The yellow and mottled colors of the pressed raw material indicate a significantly lower calorific value compared to pellets of brown and orange colors. The ash content of degraded wood of different types is at the same level. The ash content of wood damaged by stage 3 corrosive rot is significantly higher than that of healthy wood and wood at previous stages of decomposition by 96–129 %. The calorific value of the bark of spruce stems damaged by rot is at the level of the calorific value of healthy wood, and the ash content is 3 times higher. The calorific value of a knot is 7 % higher than that of healthy wood, while the ash content remains at the same level.

Authors

Olga N. Tyukavina^1, Doctor of Agriculture, Assoc. Prof.; ResearcherID: H-2336-2019, ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-4024-6833
Sergey A. Vaskin², Candidate of Agriculture, Leading Engineer, ResearcherID: AHB-7358-2022, ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-6160-5140
Dmitriy Yu. Korepin², Engineer, ResearcherID: KYR-2226-2024, ORCID: https://orcid.org/0009-0003-0063-3879
Pavel A. Feklistov³, Doctor of Agriculture, Prof.; ResearcherID: AAC-2377-2020, ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-8226-893X
Vladimir I. Melekhov¹, Doctor of Engineering, Prof.; ResearcherID: Q-1051-2019, ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-2583-3012
Sergey S. Makarov⁴, Doctor of Agriculture; ResearcherID: AAK-9829-2021, ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-0564-8888

Affiliation

¹Northern (Arctic) Federal University named after M.V. Lomonosov, Naberezhnaya Severnoy Dviny, 17, Arkhangelsk, 163002, Russian Federation; o.tukavina@narfu.ru, v.melekhov@narfu.ru
²Federal Forestry Agency – the Federal Budgetary Institution “Russian Center of Forest Health”, ul. Nikitova, 13, Arkhangelsk, 163062, Russian Federation; serzh.vaskin.2015@mail.ru, korepin.mitya@yandex.ru
³N. Laverov Federal Center for Integrated Arctic Research of the Ural Branch of the Russian Academy of Sciences, prosp. Nikolskiy, 20, Arkhangelsk, 163020, Russian Federation; pfeklistov@yandex.ru
⁴Russian State Agrarian University – Moscow Timiryazev Agricultural Academy, ul. Timiryazevskaya, 49, Moscow, 127550, Russian Federation; s.makarov@rgau-msha.ru

Keywords

calorific value, spruce, wood, stem, corrosive rot, destructive rot

For citation

Tyukavina O.N., Vaskin S.A., Korepin D.Yu., Melekhov V.I., Feklistov P.A., Makarov S.S. Calorific Value of the Degraded Stem Wood of Spruce Picea abies (L.). Lesnoy Zhurnal = Russian Forestry Journal, 2025, no. 6, pp. 179–188. (In Russ.). https://doi.org/10.37482/0536-1036-2025-6-179-188

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