Simulation of the Temperature Field in the Crushed Wood Heap Massif

Abstract

Storage of the crushed wood materials at the wood processing enterprises is carried out in the open air in formed heaps of various sizes and shapes. The disadvantage of such storage is uncontrolled self-heating of chips to critical temperatures driven by thermophiles. The payload mass of wood gets lost, its quality significantly degrades, and a risk of flame development appears without proper control. In order to prevent negative consequences, it is necessary to reject the excess heat energy from the massif of crushed wood material into the environment. Heat rejection will allow to establish control over thermal processes and operate with temperature fields inside a heap. Production engineering measures can be carried out with the use of heat pipes. This method is effective and environmentally friendly; and does not require the involvement of commercial energy consumption. Basic studies of the processes occurring in the heap massif of crushed wood were carried out for solution substantiation. The research purpose is to identify mathematical regularities describing the influence of the key factors on the processes of self-heating of crushed wood stored as the cone-formed heaps in the open air conditions. Methods of mathematical simulation, probability theory and mathematical statistics with the use of computational software systems were used as a part of the study. As a result, a system of equations those simulate the processes of self-heating of crushed wood and allow to predict the temperature field inside a heap to a given time interval is obtained, which will allow developing methods of industrial chips safe storage.