ISO 18123

Solid Biofuels — Determination of Volatile Matter

Applicability: Applies to all solid biofuels, including wood pellets, wood chips, agricultural residues, energy crops, and other biomass-derived fuels specified under the ISO 17225 series of solid biofuel product standards. The method is suitable for quality control and specification compliance testing in biomass combustion and co-firing operations. It is not applicable to coal, coke, or other solid mineral fuels, for which ISO 562 or ASTM D3175 are the appropriate methods.

Purpose: Determines the mass fraction of volatile matter by heating an air-dried analysis sample in a covered crucible at 900 ± 10°C for 7 minutes in a furnace free of air currents. The mass loss, corrected for moisture, is expressed as a percentage of the air-dried sample mass and reported as volatile matter content. Results characterize combustion behavior, flame stability, and ignition properties of solid biofuels, and are used to verify compliance with grade specifications in product standards such as ISO 17225-2 for wood pellets and ISO 17225-4 for wood chips.