Effect of drying on the ignitability and combustibility of Pinus Halepensis needles

The flammability and the combustibility of partially dried Pinus Halepensis needles are studied using four drying methods: natural drying, a microwave oven, an infrared radiation dryer, and a climatic chamber. The partial drying techniques are used to vary the moisture content of the fuel. These techniques contribute differently to the fluctuations of ignition and residence times of the fuel. Ignition time fluctuations appear much more reduced for the microwave technique compared to the other methods, due to the very short drying time of the microwave oven. Beyond the fluctuations, ignition time depends exponentially on the moisture content for all methods. Similar values of the characteristic moisture content deduced from the exponential trend are obtained within statistical errors, except for natural drying where the fuels change from their life to dead character. The mi-crowave oven drying technique appears aggressive since it reduces slightly the residence time compared to infrared radiations and climatic chamber drying techniques.

Automated summary

The study explores the flammability and combustibility of partially dried Pinus Halepensis needles using four drying methods. It is found that microwave drying reduces ignition time fluctuations significantly, but slightly decreases residence time compared to infrared radiation and climatic chamber drying techniques.