Western red cedar (WRC) is among the most valuable tree species in British Columbia. Application of WRC for pellet production is uncertain because unlike spruce/pine/douglas fir, WRC tends to combust in rotary drum dryers. The scientific reasons for the reported fire incident are not known. The goal of this research is to assess whether WRC has a higher tendency to emit combustible gases than SPF sawdust when these species of wood are heated. In controlled experiments, the composition of emitted gases during heating of WRC and SPF samples at 140 °C was measured. The GC-measured data showed that WRC released a lower amount of carbon monoxide, methane, and hydrogen than SPF. Flammability analysis showed that the concentration of the emitted gas mixture for WRC and SPF samples did not reach a flammable level. Theoretical calculations showed that the volumetric composition of carbon monoxide at 12%in the presence of ample oxygen is prone to combustion. This means that if the biomass smokes in the drum, the level of carbon monoxide might reach to flammable level.

西部红柏（WRC）是不列颠哥伦比亚省最有价值的树种之一。WRC在颗粒生产中的应用尚不确定，因为与云杉/松木/花旗松不同，WRC倾向于在转鼓式干燥机中燃烧。所报告的火灾事件的科学原因尚不清楚。这项研究的目的是评估加热这些种类的木材时，WRC是否比SPF锯末具有更高的排放可燃气体的趋势。在对照实验中，测量了WRC和SPF样品在140°C加热期间排放气体的成分。GC测量的数据表明，WRC释放的一氧化碳，甲烷和氢气的含量低于SPF。可燃性分析表明，WRC和SPF样品的排放气体混合物浓度未达到可燃水平。理论计算表明，在充足的氧气存在下，一氧化碳的体积成分为12％时，容易燃烧。这意味着如果生物量在转鼓中抽烟，则一氧化碳的水平可能会达到可燃水平。