Search

Mountain pine beetle (MPB) (Dendroctonus ponderosae Hopkins) has become a serious infestation problem in Western Canada. The infested lodgepole pine (Pinus concorta Douglas) becomes host to blue staining fungi and the infested trees die in 4-6 years. The dead trees gradually lose their suitability for dimension lumber and pulp chips due to excessive cracking and spoilage. Recovering the killed wood and proces- sing it to pellets for bioenergy and other applications could partially avert the economic loss, and reduce overloading of the forest floor and potential for forest fires. In this study, heating value, density, and chemical composition of pellets made from MPB-infested Pine wood were measured and compared with those measured for pellets made from uninfested pine. Chemical analysis showed minor decrease in lignin and sugar contents of pellets made from MPB wood. The mean density of pellets manufactured from MPB (about 975 kg m-3) was slightly higher than the density of pellets from uninfested wood (934 kg m-3). This difference was not statistically significant (α =0.05) due to a large variation in the measured data. The high heating value (HHV) of MBP at a mean 19.20 MJ kg-1 was not significantly different from 19.05 MJ kg-1 measured for pellets made from uninfested pine. Biologically cultured MPB pellets did not show any staining fungi growth. The overall conclusion is that MBP infested wood can be used to produce comparable pellets to non-infested wood pellets. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Mountain pine beetle (MPB) (Dendroctonus ponderosae Hopkins) has become a serious infestation problem in Western Canada. The infested lodgepole pine (Pinus concorta Douglas) becomes host to blue staining fungi and the infested trees die in 4-6 years. The dead trees gradually lose their suitability for dimension lumber and pulp chips due to excessive cracking and spoilage. Recovering the killed wood and processing it to pellets for bioenergy and other applications could partially avert the economic loss, and reduce overloading ofthe forest floor and potential for forest fires. In this study, heating value, density, and chemical composition ofpellets made from MPB-infested Pine wood were measured and compared with those measured for pellets made from uninfested pine. Chemical analysis showed minor decrease in lignin and sugar contents of pellets made from MPB wood. The mean density of pellets manufactured from MPB (about 975 kg m-3) was slightly higher than the density of pellets from uninfested wood (934 kg m-3).' This difference was not statistically significant (α=0.05) due to a large variation in the measured data. The high heating value (HHV) ofMBP at a mean 19.20 MJ kg-1 was not significantly different from 19.05 MJ kg-1 measured for pellets made from uninfested pine. Biologically cultured MPB pellets did not show any staining fungi growth. The overall conclusion is that MBP infested wood can be used to produce comparable pellets to noninfested wood pellets. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]