Emissions of monoterpenes an VOCs during drying of sawdust in a spouted bed

The central aim of this thesis is to support the efforts to counteract certain environmental problems caused by emissions of volatile organic compounds. The purpose of this work was (1) to develop a method to establish the amount of emitted substances from dryers, (2) to determine the effect of drying medium temperature and end moisture content of the processed material on emissions of monoterpenes and other hydrocarbons, (3) to examine the emissions of monoterpenes during production of pellets, and (4) to examine the natural emissions from forests with an eye to implications for modelling. The measurement method (1) resolves the difficulties caused by diffuse emissions, and also solves the problems associated with high moisture content of the drying medium. The basic idea is to use water vapour to determine the exhaust flow, while a dry ice trap is used both to preconcentrate emitted volatile organic compounds and to determine the moisture content of the drying medium. The method as used in this paper has an uncertainty of 13% using a 95% confidence interval. Emissions from a spouted bed (2) in continuous operation drying Norway spruce sawdust at temperatures of 140°C, 170°C or 200°C was analysed with FID and GC-MS. When the sawdust end moisture content was reduced below 10%wb, emissions of terpenes and volatile organic compounds per oven dry weight increased rapidly. Increased temperature of the drying medium increased the amounts of emitted monoterpenes when sawdust moisture content was below the fibre saturation point. Examination of sawdust and wood pellets from different pellets producers (3) revealed that most of the terpene emissions happened during the drying step, with rotary dryers causing higher emissions than steam dryers. Almost all of the volatile terpenes remaining in wood after drying were released during pelleting. When sawdust with higher moisture content was used in the pellets press, the terpene emissions were increased. Terpenes emitted naturally from vegetation can have an adverse environmental impact. Factors affecting terpene emissions from tree species in Sweden were reviewed (4). Models for prediction of terpene fluxes should include not only temperature but also light intensity, seasonal variation, and a base level of herbivory and insect predation. Prediction of high concentrations of ambient terpenes demand sufficient resolution to capture emission peaks e.g. those caused by bud break.