Investigation on wood pellet quality and relationship between ash content and the most important chemical elements

During the past four years, the European wood pellet market is currently continuing to increase. Total European consumption was about 9.8 Tg and Italian market reaches almost 1 Tg mainly for domestic supply. The present investigation provides an evaluation of pellet quality of Italian market by analysis of 88 wood pellet samples acquired randomly and directly from the sale points. Particular attention has been dedicated to relationship between ash and some elements. Results highlight that only half of samples fulfil the A1 class (best quality) requirements established in the EN 14961-2. Statistical analysis pointed out that ash content is mainly linked to sulphur, potassium and chlorine. The results show that low limit threshold values for ash content ensure low chlorine and sulphur contents. (C) 2013 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.