Chapter 4: Properties of Fuels from Wood Sources Check Access

Wood is a very general term to describe a wide assortment of untreated resources that can be processed in addition to being used for energy production. Wood, the oldest fuel to be used by humans, can be used to produce a variety of products. For example, wood energy products include gaseous fuels, liquid fuels, and pellets as well as briquettes, which can meet fuel demands.

The properties of products from wood are dictated by the makeup of the wood. Furthermore, the physical and mechanical characteristics of wood that are controlled by specific anatomy, moisture content, and to a lesser extent, mineral matter content, and the amount of wood that is extractable by solvents. The properties are also influenced by wood's directional nature, which results in markedly different properties in the longitudinal, tangential, and radial directions or axes. Wood properties within a species vary greatly from tree to tree and within a single axis (Bergman et al., 2010).