AN 35 Mik Fig11

Figure 11: Sticks are piled in weekly batches to ensure uniform drying. They are TLUD pyrolized when moisture content is 20-30%. When there is moisture content of 20-30%, sticks will be brittle or crisp, when you bend them they crack and look dry with no green layers. Also if you see the stick bark blistering and bubbling on the end when you pyrolized them, they are too high in water content. At 20-30% MC the residual moisture is mainly comprised of oils, not water, which aids in the conversion of the lignin, cellulose, and hemicellulose from the woody material into char without becoming ash.