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Date of Award

Fall 2025

Document Type

Masters Project

Department or Program Affiliation

Faculty/Student-Designed MA degree in Landscape Planning

Degree Name

Master of Arts (MA)

First Advisor

Hollenhorst, Steven J.

Second Advisor

Hoffman-Krull, Kai

Third Advisor

Wang, Grace A.

Abstract

This study investigates the effects of an alternative method of conservation burn pile design on burn temperature and charcoal conversion efficiency during forestry restoration work on San Juan Island, Washington. Forest thinning treatments at both sites generated wood debris that was processed using conservation burn pile techniques. This study explores the following two research questions: Does the addition of a single-layer sheet metal heat shield during a conservation burn pile have a significant effect on the average burn temperature? Does the addition of a single-layer sheet metal heat shield during a conservation burn pile have a significant effect on the charcoal conversion rate? Forty piles were constructed and assigned either of two treatments: (1) standard open-air pile burns and (2) heat shield piles designed with a single layer of sheet metal around the pile perimeter. Statistical analysis using the Shapiro–Wilk and Bartlett tests confirmed the assumptions of normality and equal variance for the data variables in question. Two-sample t-tests (p=0.05) were used to assess differences between pile types in mean burn temperatures and charcoal conversion rates. Results indicated no significant differences in average burn temperatures between standard and heat shield piles. Similarly, results indicate no significant difference in charcoal conversion efficiency between pile types. These findings suggest that the addition of the designed heat shield did not substantially influence burn temperatures or charcoal conversion rate under the conditions tested.

Type

Text

Keywords

Conservation Burn Pile, Charcoal Conversion Rate, Pyrolysis Temperature, Fuels Reduction, Ecological Restoration, Forestry, Wildfire Resilience, Carbon Sequestration, Remote Forested Locations, Heat Shield Treatment

Publisher

Western Washington University

OCLC Number

1558599793

Subject – LCSH

Charcoal--Environmental aspects--Washington (State)--San Juan Island; Biochar--Environmental aspects--Washington (State)--San Juan Island; Slashburning--Environmental aspects--Washington (State)--San Juan Island; Restoration ecology--Washington (State)--San Juan Island; Burning of land--Environmental aspects--Washington (State)--San Juan Island; Forest restoration--Washington (State)--San Juan Island; Carbon sequestration--Washington (State)--San Juan Island; Forest thinning--Washington (State)--San Juan Island

Geographic Coverage

San Juan Island (Wash.)

Format

application/pdf

Genre/Form

masters theses

Language

English

Rights

Copying of this document in whole or in part is allowable only for scholarly purposes. It is understood, however, that any copying or publication of this document for commercial purposes, or for financial gain, shall not be allowed without the author’s written permission.

Rights Statement

http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/NKC/1.0/

Creative Commons License

Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.

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