Abstract

APOLINAR-HIDALGO, Flora; HONORATO-SALAZAR, José Amador  and  COLOTL-HERNANDEZ, Gertrudis. Energetic characterization of the wood of Acacia pennatula Schltdl. & Cham. and Trema micrantha (L.) Blume. Rev. mex. de cienc. forestales [online]. 2017, vol.8, n.39, pp.71-82. ISSN 2007-1132.

Tree biomass is used primarily as solid fuel in the rural communities for purposes of cooking and heating, but it can also be used to produce fluid and gaseous fuel. Studies on the energetic properties of the wood as raw material for fuel are still limited in Mexico; therefore, the objective of the present work was to characterize the wood of Acacia pennatula and Trema micrantha energetically in terms of heat value, moisture content, basic density and proximal analysis, according to the ASTM norms. The data of the various assessments were subjected to a variance analysis, followed by a mean comparison with the t test (α = 0.05). The wood of these species showed significant differences (p < 0.05) in all the assessed energetic characteristics. In average, the wood of Acacia pennatula had a heat value of 18.54 KJ g-1 cal g-1, a moisture content of 9.15 %, a basic density of 0.571 gcm-3, 86.56 % of volatile matter, 1.07 % ashes and 12.37 % fixed carbon, while the wood of Trema micrantha had a heat value of 17.76 KJg-1, a moisture content of 8.25 %, a basic density of 0.243 g cm-3 of volatile matter, 0.79 % ashes and 16.31 % fixed carbon. The fuel value index was 10 814 for A. pennatula and 9 345 for T. micrantha. Because of its heat value and its proximal analysis, the wood of both taxa can be considered as raw material for the production of energy, although, due to its basic density, the wood of A. pennatula can be more appropriately used as fuel.

Keywords : Fixed carbon; ashes; basic density; fuel value index; broadleaves; firewood.

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