Air Curtain Burners: A Tool for Disposal of Forest Residues

Abstract

Open pile burning (OPB) forest residues have been limited due to several concerns, including atmospheric pollution, risk of fire spread, and weather conditions restrictions. Air Curtain Burner (ACB) systems could be an alternative to OPB and can avoid some of the negative effects that may result from OPB. The main objective was to compare the burning consumption rates and costs of two types of ACB machines, the S-220 and BurnBoss. In addition, we tested a hand-pile burning (HPB) consumption rate for a comparison with BurnBoss unit. The S-220's burning consumption rates ranged between 5.7 and 6.8 green metric ton (GmT)/scheduled machine hour (SMH) at a cost between US $12.8 and US $10.8/GmT, respectively. Costs were 70% higher when using the BurnBoss unit. Burning residue consumption rates and cost of disposal were considerably different: they were highly dependent on machine size, species, and fuel age of forest residues. Particularly, BurnBoss test burned over 40% more than HPB method and produced clean burn by airflow. The results from this study suggest that ACBs can be a useful tool to dispose of forest residues piled in many forests areas with less concerns of air quality and fire escape risks.

Mobile Biochar Production and the Clean Air Act of 1990

“…This could be a good solution for improved environment instead of leaving forest residues on piles without any use, and producing GHG emissions that could exacerbate climate change both when they are left for decomposition on the long term, or when they caught fire. Han and Lee (2017) comparing open burning vs ACB for disposal of forest residues agreed with the previous statement since they concluded that ACB burning is being adopted in many forests to control emissions, smoke, and embers improve oxygen, and heat supply by high velocity of airflow during the burn, making this technology much more efficient reducing the negative environmental and societal impact of disposing forest residues. Susott et al (2017) found out that the ACI burning technology traps unburned fine particles under the curtain in the zone where temperatures can reach up to 1000 o C, and the increased combustion time and turbulence results in more complete combustion of the forest residues.…”

Policy and Regulations for Mobile Biochar Production in the United States of America

“…This could be a good solution for an improved environment instead of leaving forest residues on piles without any use and producing GHG emissions that could exacerbate climate change, both when they are left for decomposition in the long term or when they catch fire. Lee and Han [90] compared open burning vs. ACB for disposal of forest residues and agreed with the previous statement since they concluded that ACB burning is being adopted in many forests to control emissions, smoke, and embers to improve oxygen and heat supply by the high velocity of airflow during the burn, making this technology much more efficient in reducing the negative environmental and societal impact of disposing forest residues. Susott et al [91] found that the ACI burning technology traps unburned fine particles under the curtain in the zone where temperatures can reach up to 1000 • C, and the increased combustion time and turbulence result in more complete combustion of the forest residues.…”

Advances in biological techniques for sustainable lignocellulosic waste utilization in biogas production

“…Quantity of hardwood and softwood production and residues in 2020. production that may have a significant impact on the profitability of the entire timber trade value chain, offsetting the negative impacts of forestry operations on ecosystem services and biodiversity. The added value of producing biofuel from these wood waste also comes from reducing fire risk, mitigating forest management costs, and eliminating additional emissions from degradation [49,50]. Direct large-scale combustion of wood waste to generate energy or electricity is no longer considered an efficient and environmentally appropriate option.…”