Conversion of infected pine wood into energy charcoal material based on a transportable carbonization system

To prevent the spread of pine wilt disease (PWD), a transportable carbonization equipment was designed for in-situ treatment of infected pine wood (IPW). The equipment killed all pine wood nematodes (PWNs) in IPW when carbonization temperature was up to 200 °C. The optimal laboratory process of infected pine wood charcoal (IPWC) was carbonization temperature of 500 °C, heating rate of 3 °C min −1 and holding time of 0 min. Based on the optimal laboratory process, the transportable carbonization equipment produced IPWC with a fixed carbon content of 79.82%, and ash content of 1.14% and a moisture content of 7.83%, which meets the requirements of EN 1860-2:2005(E) standard. The economic efficiency of incineration (T1 mode), crushing (T2 mode), and transportable carbonization (T3 mode) was evaluated. For each ton of IPW treatment, the profit generated was −75.48 USD in T1 mode, 26.28 USD in T2 mode, and 51.91 USD in T3 mode. T3 mode had the highest economic efficiency. These findings will be helpful to provide guidance for the control of PWD and value-added utilization of IPW. Graphical Abstract Highlights A transportable carbonization equipment was designed for in-situ treatment of IPWs The transportable carbonization equipment killed all PWNs of IPW when carbonization temperature was up to 200 °C. In the transportable carbonization mode, the income generated from treating each ton of IPW was 51.91 USD.