heat and light. During this stage hydrogen, methanol, carbon monoxide, and a soup of -enes and -ines are released.

We have not had enough Threes yet. In order to have complete combustion we have another three factors to consider: time, turbulence, and temperature. Reducing any of these three will result in less complete combustion. (Note to those bugging in: incomplete combustion leads to creosote formation in your chimney. This is true for all fuels. Have your chimney for fireplace and house heater inspected annually. {cf. CSIA.org } )

How do these three affect combustion? The moisture content in fuel will affect both time and temperature. Fuel that is too wet has prolonged drying and looses heat to latent energy. Fuel that is too dry burns too quickly reducing temperature. How densely the fuel is introduced will affect turbulence. How much air can mix with the fuel will affect turbulence. Too much air will affect temperature as will too little air. A very good example of these concepts is in the "bird's nest" tinder ball. You will always notice that the "pros" have a fluffed up tinder nest with a pocket for the coal. The fluffing increases turbulence and the pocket regulates how much air is received. The "pros" always caution against blowing on it too rapidly. Of course they also always harp on the necessity of dry tinder. What is not obvious is the balance of the three factors is always there; hard won by experience.

For both survival situations and in the homestead, burning of any fuel requires wisdom and caution. Both of these are gained though practicing the use of fire. If approached with caution, playing with fire need not be pyromania, but should be considered pyrology.

by: Zee-Man