Ash Content
The fuel contains various impurities in the form of incombustible component parts - ash. Ash itself is undesirable, since it requires purifying of the flue gas for particles with a subsequent ash and slag disposal as the result.
The ash contained in wood comes primarily from soil and sand absorbed in the bark. A minor proportion also comes from salts absorbed during the period of growth of the tree.
The ash also contains heavy metals, causing an undesirable environmental effect, but the content of heavy metals is normally lower than in other solid fuels.
A special characteristic of ash is its heat conservation property. For wood stoves, the ash layer at the bottom of the stove forms a heating surface, transferring heat to the final burnout of the char.
For heating systems using a grate, the ash content is important in order to protect the grate against heat from the flames.
Wood also contains salts that are of importance to the combustion process. It is primarily potassium (K) and partly sodium (Na), based salts resulting in sticky ash which may cause deposits in the boiler unit. The Na and K content in wood is normally so low that it will not cause problems with traditional heating technologies.
