American Energy Systems Ovation - Manual (Page 50)

Version 7.1 50
“burn out” because the combustion chamber will drop below the critical “ignition
temperature” required to ensure the release of volatile gases from the wood. Seasoned
wood, because of its dryness and low burning temperature will ensure an ample supply of
volatile and carbon matters available for a continued burn process.
As a final note, the four basic stages of wood burning are:
a) Up to 212 o F moisture is being boiled out of the wood fuel.
b) Around 575 o F gasification of the solid wood fuel occurs. The wood will
simply seem to disappear. Very little energy is released in these first two
stages and external energy (small kindling) must be used to sustain any
combustion that is occurring.
c) Somewhere between 900 o F and 1100 o F the gasified wood fuel molecules
have combined with oxygen molecules, ignite and release the majority of
the available heat energy. Some gases will still not have reached ignition
temperature. At this critical stage, if too much heat is removed from the
combustion chamber, no more fuel will be burnt. All remaining gasified
fuel will simply exhaust through the chimney system as unburned material
and the fire will potentially burn out.
d) At temperatures around 1500 o F, the remaining gases and tars will burn off
in the combustion chamber. This final combustion yields an additional 10 to
20% additional heat energy and gives a very clean final exhaust from the
burn process.
An Ovation stove, when used with seasoned wood, a proper chimney system, and sufficient
fresh combustion air, will efficiently perform providing a significant amount of heat to a
home. Proper maintenance and service will ensure a lifetime of benefit from this product.