This report compares two different types of insulation with regards to fire and moisture. The materials were tested for the company Fiskarhedenvillan AB, for a wall and a roof construction that the company currently uses in the establishment of Sweden's first certified passive house for international standards.Their current material, Rockwool, is compared to a relatively new material on the Swedish market called SEALECTION Agribalance sold by the company ISO Green AB. The material is a type of polyurethane insulation. This insulation material would result in a more efficient execution of the construction as it provides waterproofing and is applied more easily than Rockwool. From a fire standpoint, literature studies and discussions with fire experts led to results.

Fuel pellets are a refined bio fuel mostly consisting of residues from sawmills and wood industry. At Rindi Västerdala AB's combined bio energy plant in Vansbro fuel pellets are produced, while the waste heat from the process is used for district heating. The pellets are produced from sawdust, wood shavings and dry wood chips that is dried, milled and pressed into small cylindrical rods. The advantage of refining the wood material in this manner is that the energy value is greater per unit volume and unit weight, thereby the cost of transportation per energy unit is reduced. Also, less storage space is needed.Pellet manufacturing is a complex process since many parameters affects the final results.

The aim of this study was to quantify the productivity and the costs of different harvesting systems (teams), containing harvesters equipped with accumulating harvester heads and forwarders, in first commercial thinnings were an integrated harvest of pulpwood and energy wood were performed. In the beginning the plan was to study and measure 20 sites before and after harvest. Due to storms during the summer of 2010, complete data could only be obtained from 8 of these 20 sites. Seven of these sites were privately owned and one was owned by UPM, all of the sites had been pre-commercially thinned. The mean stem density before harvest was 2578 stems per ha and the mean stem volume was 0.074 m3solid over bark.On average 1518 stems/ha was harvested.

The Swedish pulp and paper industry meets higher demand for energy efficiencyi mprovements with increasing energy prices and changes in the Swedish renewable energy certificate system. One action of energy efficiency improvement is by using secondary heat, that otherwise would have been treated as waste heat, for use in a system with lower temperature demands. The aim of this Master´s thesis is to identify possible secondary heat sources in a typical Swedish pulp and paper mill and to investigate what economic benefits the secondary heat will provide when being used for pre heating of wood chips to a kraft digester.The Master´s thesis focuses on three secondary heat sources; dry warm air, warm water and moisture saturated warm air located inside the pulp or paper mill. Two types of kraft digesters are simulated within this study, a typical Scandinavian digester and a modern twin vessel steam phase digester.Due to quality aspects and low temperature level drying is the drying technology with dry warm air rejected. Using warm water in direct contact with wood chips increases the quantity of water to the evaporation plant and thus reduced pulp or paper production and is therefore also rejected.

There are many factors in a building project that has to collaborate with one another in order to reach the desired end result, how you work with moisture issues in timber is a very important one. While constructing Varbergs Hospital, the building company Skanska came in contact with the issue of extra high demands on the moisture content in timber. What they requested from us was a moisture program in which you clearly could follow the routines regarding work with moisture in timber. The aim is to use this program as a help during the work, in order to achieve a good result.We have developed this study in addition to the moisture program. The aim is that this study will give you a deeper understanding of the important factors to consider.

A change towards using more biofuels than fossil fuels is taking place in Sweden, and in many other parts of the world. This makes the use of fuel pellets increasingly popular, causing a greater demand for sawmill sawdust products. There is a trend towards the use of multiple types of shredders, instead of a single type in each sawmill. The purpose of the study was to characterize the different flows of saw particles that can be found at Sävar såg when cutting thick or thin wood with different cutting techniques. The saw particles size, shape, moisture content and heat value were analysed by the cutting stations: first cutting fast and slow, second cutting fast and slow, grading fast and slow and planning.

The aim of this study was to investigate how seasonal variations affect the quality of logging residues. The study was hosted by VIDA Energy. Logging residues can be processed and transported within different systems. Today the dominant systems are chipping at landing and bulk transportation of logging residues. In these systems the handling of the logging residues are carried out in the same manner up to the landings. Moisture content at the time of chipping is the primary quality parameter. Fine fractions of logging residues are strongly dependent on moisture content in storage.

In recent years, moisture damages have been noticed in rendered, undrained stud walls. The design is built on the principle one-stage tightening which means that there is no air gap in the construction. The damages have occurred when water has permeated through the rendering in leaking connections and fittings for windows, doors, canopies, balconies, terraces and awnings. Behind the plaster carrier, which consists of either polystyrene or rigid mineral wool, plasterboard has often been used as a wind protection barrier. In many cases the wind protection barrier and the underlying wooden studs have been exposed to mould and in some cases even rot.

Byggsektorn har fortfarande svårigheter med att hantera fuktproblematiken.  Vi har valt att fokusera på hanteringen av material i produktion. Den informationssamling vi utfört ligger till grund för vår analys och slutsats. Vi har intervjuat flera olika entreprenörer från byggbranschen för att ge oss en helhetssyn av fuktsäkerheten ute på byggarbetsplatserna. Studien påvisar att det råder brister både på beställar- och entreprenörssidan. Vi ser att det finns potential för förbättring när det så krävs.

Hårdgörning av trä syftar till att göra materialet hårdare. Detta går att åstadkomma genom komprimering, det komprimerade materialet tenderar dock att återgå mot sin ursprungsform då materialet utsätts för fukt om ingen låsning sker. Låsningen kan ske mekaniskt i en treskiktskonstruktion som motverkar träets fuktrörelser. Dessa skivor har dock visat sig vara instabila och tidigare försök har uppvisat deformationer i form av kupning. Denna undersökning syftar till att utreda förutsättningarna för att använda komprimerad asp samt att ta fram underlag för framtagning av en kommersiell produkt.Praktiska tester har genomförts för att studera hårdhet, återfjädring och densitet hos det komprimerade virket.

This study was carried out at the request of the bio energy company Naturbränsle. The company handles annually 750 000 m3 of chips from logging residues from a large area, from Östergötland in the south to Härjedalen in the north. In that area, about 50 bio fuel plants are customers. When Naturbränsle deliver chips from logging residues to their customers, the moisture content varies from 30 % to 60 %. The aim of the study was to sort out the affecting factors on the moisture content in the chips during handling and storage processes.

The author has, with the help of AK Consultancy Indoor Air AB, formed a series of questions regarding moisture problems in buildings and how these are handled in extreme climates with high temperatures and a high relative humidity. Furthermore to analyse and indentify key material that makes a construction safe against moisture problems. Ventilation, AC and the choice of materials have in a later stage of the thesis been investigated to enhance the knowledge of moisture protection. The research for this report includes measurements on existing buildings, calculation models on the building envelope for analyses and the ingoing materials of the envelope. The health aspect of moisture problems related to ?sick building syndrome? has been included and interviews have been conducted to gather relevant information.A study of the American system, ASHRAE, American Society of Heating, Refrigeration and Air Conditioning Engineers and the standards used in Singapore has been made to highlight the difference.

Moisture damage in kitchens is an area that many people believe to be irrelevant andnot a subject to concern, however the problems encountered might be larger thananticipated.The purpose of this essay is to get a view of how problematic moisture damagecurrently is as well as what can be done to prevent damage during the constructionand building of new housing.Statistics regarding moisture damage as well as several tools for damage preventionhave been studied and investigated. Industrial regulations have been reviewed tounderstand the requirements construction companies must legally follow during theconstruction and building of new kitchens. Home manufacturers and largerentrepreneurs have been contacted in order to get their point of view regarding theproblems with moisture damages in kitchens.The knowledge of moisture safe constructions is prevalent by home manufacturers,insurance companies and entrepreneurs. Despite this knowledge, the constructioncompanies predominately follow the industries regulations, which normally onlyimplement the minimum requirements.In order to get construction companies to design and build kitchens with increasedmoisture security, stricter industrial regulations might be needed to be implemented.Unlike bathrooms and laundry rooms, kitchens are not defined as a ?wet room? andthe regulations for the construction of kitchens are more lenient.It is difficult to detect water leaks in an early state and the moisture damage is usuallyextensive before it is discovered and repaired if the kitchen lacks moisture securedconstruction and water security.

Title: Kvarteret Tvättstugan, an apartment building with massive wood construction. A thesis about acoustic and fire requirements and a comparison of energy and moisture aspects. Earlier restrictions in the Swedish legislation have resulted that only a small percentage of the apartment buildings that have been built are designed with a massive wood construction. It has been allowed to build unrestricted with wood since 1994 as long as the function of requirements are fulfilled. This change in the rules together with the great environmental benefits of wood has led to that more companies choose to build apartment buildings with wood. One of these companies is Folkhem Production AB.

The swedish national board of housing, Building and Planning,recommends that all stakeholders in the construction industryperform a moisture control design to make sure that the buildingachieves good moisture resistance. Since June 1, 2006 there are nospecific requirements or quantitative values for air leakage.Although the swedish national board of housing does presentrequirement that the building envelope must be sealed so that theclient?s requirements for specific energy consumption and installedelectric power for heating purposes are met. Despite this, studiesfrom SP shows that few buildings meet the client?s requirements inspecific energy, which increases the risk of occurrence ofcondensation-related moisture damage.This study aims to evaluate curtain walls connections from airsecurity and moisture safety.