For a pungent scent, juniper and cedar are ideal. A uniquely rich scent is produced by white oak, and black walnut has a pleasingly nutty aroma. Fir, spruce, and pine can fill your home with the smell of a Christmas tree, but these logs contain a lot of resin, which contributes to creosote build-up in the chimney. Not only does fir and pine smell like Christmas trees, these types of logs create a pleasant crackle and pop in your fire. These are softwoods which dry quickly, are easy to split, and create lovely crackling fires.
Before burning fir or pine, be aware that the popping throws a lot more sparks than other firewood. Softwoods create a pleasant fire that doesn't generate a lot of heat, but typically produces a nice crackling fire. Softwoods make great starter wood. The logs ignite quickly and burn quickly. A study which sought to determine which type of firewood causes the most creosote buildup in chimneys showed that seasoned softwood burns more cleanly than hardwood.
The wood is sublimating changing state from solid to gas , and the gases produce the flames. If the temperature isn't high enough to ignite the gases, they dissipate — together with unburnt wood particles — as smoke.
Wood isn't as solid as it looks. It's filled with microscopic cells with walls made of cellulose, which is the substance that sublimates during combustion. As the cellulose changes state and releases gas, the gas is trapped in the pores between cells.
As the temperature rises, the gas quickly expands and puts pressure on the cell walls that haven't yet sublimated. The combination of expanding gas and weakening cellulose eventually ruptures the cell walls and allows the gas to escape in a mini explosion, which produces the familiar cracking and popping sounds associated with a wood fire.
The structure of a typical log isn't uniform. It may have a knot or a void. Firewood can only be seasoned down to a certain moisture level depending on the humidity of the air around it. The higher the moisture level of firewood, the more pop and crackle noises can be produced as the excess water tries to escape.
Some types of wood popping and crackling more than others can be as a result of the difference in moisture and sap content. Seasoned softwood logs have the potential to produce more pops compared to kiln dried hardwood logs because of higher moisture and sap levels.
Wood with higher sap content, such as softwood logs, can act much like trapped moisture escaping the wood and making the traditional fireplace sounds. Firewood with the right amount of moisture and higher in sap content will be able to produce more of your favorite fireplaces sounds.
A Guide To Seasoned Firewood. Save my name, email, and website in this browser for the next time I comment. The main things that influence how much firewood pops and crackles are: The type of wood being burnt. The moisture content level of the firewood. The efficiency of the combustion process. Type Of Wood The type of firewood burning in a fire can have an effect of how many pops and crackles you can hear from your fireplace.
Moisture Content Of The Wood The moisture content level of firewood can also influence how much firewood will crackle and pop in a fire. Oxygen is like food for fires — it makes them burn really bright. As wood burns, the mix of expanding gases and cellulose breaking down makes the pockets of trapped steam burst open from the wood, one by one.
This is why you hear the crackling and popping noises. So the more water and sap there is inside the wood, the noisier the fire will be. It has many tiny holes, too small for our eyes to see, and these holes have water and sap inside them. We know wood comes from trees. And when trees are alive, they stay healthy by carrying water up their trunk through these tiny holes, which are called xylem vessels.
When the tree is chopped down to make firewood, there is still water trapped inside these xylem vessels. There are other ways water can get inside wood.
0コメント