Comparison of Drying Rates of Ground Western Red Cedar with Hemlock, Birch, Aspen, and Spruce/Pine/Douglas Fir

2020 ◽  
Vol 36 (2) ◽  
pp. 159-165 ◽  
Author(s):  
Hamid Rezaei ◽  
Jim Lim ◽  
Shahab Sokhansanj

HighlightsWRC and SPF generate the largest fraction of small particles (<0.5 mm) during grinding.WRC is slightly low in total sugars, high in lignin content (should make durable pellets), and high in extractives.Aspen followed by WRC has the highest drying rate and the shortest drying time amongst all samples.Smoke point is similar for all wood species and is ~180°C.Abstract.Western red cedar () and yellow cedar () are among the most valuable tree species in British Columbia. These species make up about 20% of the coastal timber volumes and mostly are used as lumber for construction applications where resistance against decay is important. The use of red cedar for pellet production has been uncertain because it appears cedar has a tendency to cause fires in rotary drum dryers when compared to other wood species like pine and Douglas Fir. The scientific reasons for the reported fire incident are not known. The goal of the current study is to investigate the drying rates and the range of combustion temperature for western red cedar and five other wood species that either are used or have potential to be used for palletization purposes in British Columbia. Red cedar and Spruce/Pine/Fir (SPF) generate the largest fraction of small particles (<0.5 mm) during grinding. Almost 93% of cedar particles are less than 1 mm. Cedar has a high carbon content and low oxygen content that causes cedar has higher calorific value than other species. During a drying process, aspen following by cedar has the highest drying rate and the shortest drying time amongst all samples. The smoke point is similar for all wood species and is ~180°C. So, in the case of high temperature drying (beyond the smoke point) of mixed feedstocks with similar size, red cedar dries faster and starts smoking at dryer output. Keywords: Chemical composition, Drying rate, Physical characterization, Smoke point, Western red cedar.

IAWA Journal ◽  
2002 ◽  
Vol 23 (2) ◽  
pp. 201-211 ◽  
Author(s):  
Simon Ellis ◽  
Paul Steiner

Five wood species, Oregon ash (Fraxinus latifolia Benth.), Balau (Shorea spp.), Douglas-fir (Pseudotsuga menziesii (Mirb.) Franco), Western red cedar (Thuja plicata Donn ex D. Don), and Trembling aspen (Populus tremuloides Michx.) were loaded in compression longitudinally, radially and tangentially. The wood cubes were conditioned to one of four moisture contents prior to loading. Small cubes were loaded until no void space remained after which samples were released and soaked in water. Stress /strain curves were recorded over the whole range of strain and cube thicknesses were recorded at the end of the compression, after release from the testing apparatus, and after soaking in water. Denser woods resulted in a greater Young’s modulus, higher levels of stress and shorter time to densification than did less dense woods. Higher initial moisture contents apparently increased the plasticity of the wood leading to a lower Young’s modulus and lower levels of stress during compression, greater springback after release of stress and greater recovery after swelling in water. Differences observed in the radial and tangential behaviours were believed to be due to the supporting action of the rays when the wood was compressed in the radial direction in balau and trembling aspen and to the relative difference between the lower density earlywood and higher density latewood regions in ash, Douglas-fir and western red cedar.


2009 ◽  
Vol 44 (1) ◽  
pp. 16-25 ◽  
Author(s):  
Yeganeh Asadian ◽  
Markus Weiler

Abstract Interception loss plays an important role in controlling the water balance of a watershed, especially where urban development has taken place. The aim of this study was to illustrate the importance of urban trees as a form of ‘green infrastructure’ where they reduce stormwater runoff and rainwater intensity. In addition, trees cause a delay in precipitation reaching the ground. Interception loss was studied in the North Shore of British Columbia. We applied a unique methodology for measuring throughfall under six different urban trees using a system of long polyvinyl chloride pipes hung beneath the canopy capturing the throughfall and draining it to a rain gauge attached to a data logger. Different tree species (Douglas-fir [Pseudotsuga menziesii] and western red cedar [Thuja plicata]) in variable landscape sites (streets, parks, and natural forested areas) and elevations were selected to ensure that the system adequately captured the throughfall variability. Interception and throughfall were monitored over a one year cycle for which the results of seven discrete storm events for coniferous trees from the District of North Vancouver during 2007 to 2008 are presented. Cumulative gross precipitation for seven selected events was 377 mm. Average canopy interception during these events for Douglas-fir and western red cedar were 49.1 and 60.9%, where it corresponded to average net loss of 20.4 and 32.3 mm, respectively. The interception loss varied depending on canopy structure, climatic conditions, and rainfall characteristics.


1965 ◽  
Vol 41 (2) ◽  
pp. 222-236 ◽  
Author(s):  
J. D. Beaton ◽  
A. Moss ◽  
I. MacRae ◽  
J. W. Konkin ◽  
W. P. T. McGhee ◽  
...  

Concentration of nitrogen, phosphorus, potassium, calcium, magnesium and sulphur in needles of alpine fir, amabilis fir, western red cedar, Douglas fir, western hemlock, lodgepole pine, Engelmann spruce and Sitka spruce trees growing in a number of areas of British Columbia was determined.Concentration of N, P, K, Ca, Mg and S in current needles of three groups of alpine fir seedlings was 1.05-1.85, 0.18-0.26, 0.70-1.08, 0.29-.044, 0.07-0.11, and 0.12-0.16 per cent, respectively. The nutrient content in the same order was 0.99, 0.16, 1.20, 0.30, 0.08, and 0.12 per cent in a single group of amabilis fir samples.In the lone set of western red cedar samples the concentrations of N, P, K, Ca, Mg and S were in the order of 0.73, 0.13, 0.52, 1.16, 0.10 and 0.07 per cent.The percentage of the six nutrients in current Douglas fir needles from seven locations was 0.88-1.37, 0.12-0.22, 0.38-0.70, 0.16-0.44, 0.07-0.18, and 0.14-0.25 for N, P, K, Ca, Mg and S, respectively.The nutrient content of current needles of western hemlock from three sites was N = 0.86-1.17, P = 0.11-0.19, K = 0.28-0.57, Ca = 0.18-0.27, Mg = 0.08-0.12 and S = 0.10-0.15 per cent.Nitrogen, P, K, Ca, Mg and S concentration in current needles from three lots of lodgepole pine seedlings was 1.18-1.77, 0.15-0.18, 0.45-0.62, 0.16-0.26, 0.11-0.14 and 0.12-0.21 per cent, respectively. The corresponding values in needles from older trees were in the order 0.97-1.12, 0.09-0.12, 0.35-0.39, 0.15-0.16, 0.08-0.12 and 0.09-0.11.Per cent N, P, K, Ca, Mg and S in current needles of three groups of Engelmann spruce seedlings was in the order 1.26-1.72, 0.21-0.29, 0.71-0.80, 0.44-0.58, 0.13-0.15 and 0.13-0.19. Concentration of these nutrients in older trees was 0.92-1.08, 0.20, 0.70-0.88, 0.28-0.33, 0.11-0.12 and 0.12-0.14 per cent, respectively.


1983 ◽  
Vol 20 (5) ◽  
pp. 873-885 ◽  
Author(s):  
Linda E. Heusser

Varved, black clayey silts deposited in the marine waters of Saanich Inlet yield unusually abundant and diverse pollen assemblages derived from the coastal Douglas-fir (Pseudotsuga) and western hemlock (Tsuga heterophylla) forests of southwestern British Columbia. The 12 000 year palynological record chronicles the development of vegetation since ice left Saanich Inlet: the succession of pine (Pinus contorta) and alder (Alnus rubra) woodlands by forests characterized by Douglas-fir and oak (Quercus) and later by western hemlock and red cedar (Thuja plicata). Rapid deposition of annual layers of pollen, charcoal, and other terrigenous particles provides detailed evidence of changes in land use during the past few hundred years: settlement, logging, farming, and urbanization. Vegetational and climatic changes inferred from pollen spectra in the marine sediments of Saanich Inlet compare favorably with changes inferred from correlative pollen assemblages previously described from adjacent parts of Vancouver Island and the Fraser River valley.


1983 ◽  
Vol 13 (4) ◽  
pp. 666-671 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jennifer L. Parke ◽  
R. G. Llnderman ◽  
J. M. Trappe

Preparation of forest regeneration sites prior to conifer planting often includes slash burning or physical removal of soil organic matter. Experiments were conducted to determine if organic matter contributes to the mycorrhizal fungus inoculum potential in forest soils and to compare the growth of Douglas-fir (Pseudotsugamenziesii (Mirb.) Franco) and western red cedar (Thujaplicata J. Donn ex D. Donn) seedlings with and without litter. Litter and humus were found to include inoculum of both vesicular–arbuscular (VA) and ectomycorrhizal fungi. Litter amendment usually enhanced growth of host seedlings, but growth enhancement could not be fully attributed to addition of mycorrhizal inoculum or nutrients provided by litter. These findings suggested that other biological factors stimulated the growth of conifer seedlings and (or) activity of mycorrhizal fungi.


1987 ◽  
Vol 17 (11) ◽  
pp. 1348-1354 ◽  
Author(s):  
S. Eis

Root systems of eight western hemlock (Tsugaheterophylla (Raf.) Sarg.), eight western red cedar (Thujaplicata Donn.), and six Douglas-fir (Pseudotsugamenziesii (Mirb.) Franco) trees, average age about 50 years, average dbh 26.3 cm, were hydraulically excavated. The sizes and shapes of the root systems are given and the root systems and roots are described. Fresh and dry weights of roots of all vegetation averaged 36 and 14 t/ha and were similar for all three species. Fine absorbing roots were distributed mainly in the organic horizon and immediately below it, i.e., in the top 10 or 15 cm of the soil; their turnover appears rapid. Their ovendry weight averaged 210 g/m2 and their length averaged 4 km/m2.


2007 ◽  
Vol 139 (5) ◽  
pp. 685-689
Author(s):  
Regine Gries ◽  
Robb G. Bennett ◽  
Grigori Khaskin ◽  
Gerhard Gries

AbstractIn a field trapping experiment in an abandoned seed orchard of western red-cedar, Thuja plicata Donn × D. Don, in British Columbia, we show that attraction of male red-cedar cone midges, Mayetiola thujae (Hedlin), to the pheromone blend (2S,12S)-, (2S,13S)-, and (2S,14S)-diacetoxyheptadecane is reduced in the presence of a blend of all other stereoisomers, or of the three SR- or RR-stereoisomers. The three RS-stereoisomers, in contrast, had no significant effect. Thus, synthetic pheromone for monitoring M. thujae populations must not contain the SR- or RR-stereoisomers of 2,12-, 2,13-, and 2,14-diacetoxyheptadecane. This result will allow development of a less expensive design for synthesizing the pheromone.


1946 ◽  
Vol 24c (5) ◽  
pp. 158-181 ◽  
Author(s):  
D. C. Buckland

Investigations of decay in Thuja plicata D. Don. in British Columbia have shown that the major heart-rotting fungi of living western red cedar on the Coast, in decreasing order of importance, are Poria asiatica (Pilát) Overh. (brown cubical pocket and butt rot), Poria albipellucida Baxter (white ring rot), Fomes Pini (Thore) Lloyd (white pitted trunk rot), Merulius sp. (brown crumbly butt rot), and Poria subacida (Peck) Sacc. (spongy white rot). In the Interior of the Province they are Poria asiatica, P. Weirii Murr. (yellow ring rot), Fomes Pini, Polyporus balsameus Peck (brown cubical butt rot), Merulius sp., and Poria subacida. Other fungi attacking the heartwood of living trees less extensively are Fomes annosus (Fr.) Cke., F. nigrolimitatus (Romell) Egel., F. pinicola (Sw.) Cke., Armillaria mellea (Fr.) Quél., Omphalia campanella (Fr.) Quél., Polyporus Schweinitzii Fr., and Coniophora cerebella Pers.On the areas investigated, loss through decay in stands 50 to 450 years of age never exceeded growth increment. It was indicated that decay in younger stands was of importance. Loss through decay and incidence of infection was appreciably higher in the Interior than on the Coast. No reliable external indications of decay in the standing tree were found.Deterioration in felled trees was caused by Poria Weirii, P. albipellucida, P. subacida, Armillaria mellea, Omphalia campanella, Fomes annosus, F. nigrolimitatus, and F. pinicola. Polyporus cuneatus (Murr.) Overh., and Hymenochaete tabacina (Sow.) Lév. were the major decay organisms of cedar sapwood and slash. Polyporus abietinus (Dicks.) Fr., P. versicolor (L.) Fr., P. semipileatus Peck, P. hirsutus (Wulf.) Fr., and Poria isabellina (Fr.) Overh. were restricted in distribution or of irregular occurrence.To assist in the identification of cultures all the major heart-rotting organisms were grown on tannic and gallic acid media. Seventy-seven species of Basidiomycetes were collected on living and dead Thuja plicata in British Columbia from 1943 to 1945.


1987 ◽  
Vol 17 (12) ◽  
pp. 1585-1595 ◽  
Author(s):  
Phillip Sollins ◽  
Steven P. Cline ◽  
Thomas Verhoeven ◽  
Donald Sachs ◽  
Gody Spycher

Fallen boles (logs) of Douglas-fir (Pseudotsugamenziesii (Mirb.) Franco), western hemlock (Tsugaheterophylla (Raf.) Sarg.), and western red cedar (Thujaplicata Donn) in old-growth stands of the Cascade Range of western Oregon and Washington were compared with regard to their physical structure, chemistry, and levels of microbial activity. Western hemlock and western red cedar logs disappeared faster than Douglas-fir logs, although decay rate constants based on density change alone were 0.010/year for Douglas-fir, 0.016/year for western hemlock, and 0.009/year for western red cedar. We were unable to locate hemlock or red cedar logs older than 100 years on the ground, but found Douglas-fir logs that had persisted up to nearly 200 years. Wood density decreased to about 0.15 g/cm3 after 60–80 years on the ground, depending on species, then remained nearly constant. Moisture content of logs increased during the first 80 years on the ground, then remained roughly constant at about 250% (dry-weight basis) in summer and at 350% in winter. After logs had lain on the ground for about 80 years, amounts of N, P, and Mg per unit volume exceeded the amount present initially. Amounts of Ca, K, and Na remained fairly constant throughout the 200-year time span that was studied (100-year time span for Na). N:P ratios converged toward 20, irrespective of tree species or wood tissue type. C:N ratios dropped to about 100 in the most decayed logs; net N was mineralized during anaerobic incubation of most samples with a C:N ratio below 250. The ratio of mineralized N to total N increased with advancing decay. Asymbiotic bacteria in fallen logs fixed about 1 kg N ha−1 year−1, a substantial amount relative to system N input from precipitation and dry deposition (2–3 kg ha−1 year−1).


Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document