Viabilidade técnica da produção de pellets de resíduos de madeira das espécies Dinizia excelsa Ducke e Manilkara elata (Allemão ex Miq.) Monach. para fins energéticos

Abstract

The Amazon rainforest is the largest tropical forest in the world and the use of wood resources is among the main economic activities in the Region, generating a significant amount of wood waste that has not been properly used, causing both financial and environmental damage. The aim of this work was to analyze the technical viability of the production of pellets of Dinizia excelsa and Manilkara elata sawmill’s waste from the Amazon rainforest. For the pellets production we tested 11 proportions of wood waste, represented by pure compositions (100%) of Dinizia excelsa, Manilkara elata and Eucalyptus sp., besides mixtures of these species among them. For every proportion, we analyzed the chemical composition (total lignin, extractives and ash), some physical properties (moisture content and bulk density) and thermal properties (energetic density and lower calorific value). For the pellets, we performed the same mentioned analyzes as for the wood waste and some more chemical analyzes (contents of volatile materials and fixed carbon), physical properties (unitary apparent density, diameter and length), thermal properties (maximum combustion temperature) and mechanical properties (diameter compression, percentage of fines and mechanical durability). The Dinizia excelsa and Manilkara elata wood waste were technically viable for the production of pellets. All 11 tested compositions of Dinizia excelsa, Manilkara elata and Eucalyptus sp. wood waste were technically viable for the production of pellets. Based on the results of diametrical compression and mechanical durability, the best compositions of pellets were 100% Dinizia excelsa, 50% Dinizia excelsa + 50% Manilkara elata and the mixed composition, with 33.3% of each species tested.