Background:
Prescribed fire programs were supported a decade ago as a sensible method of ecosystems management. The objective was to dispose of slash and forest litter by prescribed burning, thereby reducing fuels that support wildfires.

 

Today, fuels reduction management ideally includes the use of Air Curtain Burners suitable for operation in and near forest location, especially in urban wildland interface areas. Open burning of collected slash is especially problematic near residential areas for obvious reasons.

EnviroQuest International Corp. (EIC) is one of the first specialty companies offering the alternative method of hazardous fuels reduction by portable, self-contained refractory walled air curtain burners introduced by Air Burners, LLC of Palm City, Florida. EIC uses exclusively Air Burners, LLC S-Series models, S-327 & S-220 (see www.airburners.com for technical details).
 

EnviroQuest S-300 & S-200 Air Curtain Burner Program:

The Air Burners portable S-Series system (S-327,
S-220, etc.) consists of a firebox that is lined with a refractory thermo-ceramic material. High velocity air is forced over the top of the firebox and into it, having two effects: (a) oxygen is forced into the box at a high rate causing over-oxygenation of the fire and (b) the air curtain over the top of the box acts as a lid trapping particulate matter, including smoke, which is re-combusted in the hot chamber limiting emissions and the effect of smoke.
  

The firebox has no bottom, and the entire systems is an integrated unit built on heavy skids to allow dragging in the harsh wildland environment. A Kubota Diesel engine powers a custom fan that provides the air volume required which is expelled through a patented air disbursement device or manifold at the upper edge of one side of the firebox. The entire systems is typically transported by a trailer and can be dragged off a tilt trailer or slide-axle and winched back on, obviating the need for a crane.

Forest litter and slash, including tree trunks and stumps, can be burned at a relatively high rate by introducing them into the firebox by use of an excavator, front loader, or the like.

Once the system has reached operating temperatures, freshly cut green wood waste may be charged into the firebox as well.

Forest rehabilitation may include the disposal of:

(a) residue from forest fires, such as partially burned tree trunks which may pose a future wildfire hazard and

(b) dead standing and fallen trees destroyed by beetle infestation or other causes. Trees that are infested with live pest that are destroying them, such that they will eventually die, should be removed as quickly as possible and reduced to ash in an Air Burners system.