Experimental validation of green wood peeling assisted by IR heating – some analytical system design considerations

Abstract

Experimental results have been used to validate a 2D simulation model in order to check its reliability in predicting the heating of a green log rotating under an IR heating source. For the purpose of validation, it was assumed that this experimental situation could be described by simplified analytical solutions. This assumption has been confirmed. Knowing the thermal and physical characteristics of green wood, two methods are now available to calculate rapidly the temperature within the wood and the maximum surface temperature reached by a green log rotating under an IR heating source: (1) by numerical simulation and (2) by analytical equations which dispense with the computationally intensive finite element method. Experimental results, validated by both methods, show that an IR heating system embedded on an industrial peeling machine would not warm-up green wood to the required peeling temperature at current peeling speeds.