EFFECT OF AGE AND CLONE ON THE QUALITY OF Eucalyptus spp WOOD AIMING BIOENERGY PRODUCTION

ABSTRACT

The aim of this work was to evaluate the effect of age and clone on the quality of Eucalyptus spp wood aiming the production of charcoal and bioenergy. Four Eucalyptus spp clones at the ages of 57 and 69 months were evaluated. Four trees per clone in each age were evaluated. The average basic density, the basic density at the DBH, higher heating value and contents of lignin, total extractives, ashes, holocellulose an elemental chemica analylsis (C, H, N, S and O) were evaluated. In the evaluation of the assay, and entirely randomized design in the factorial scheme 4 x 2 was used. Besides, a multivariate analysis of main components was made. In general, it was observed effect of age on wood quality. Ash, hydrogen and nitrogen contents tended to diminish with increases in age for all the clones evaluated. However, oxygen content presented an increase with the increase in age of the clones. Lignin content presented significant increase with age increase, being the contrary observed for holocellulose content. The clones at the age of 69 months presented the highest contents of lignin, but the same did not happen for basic density of wood. The clones I144 and I220 had the highest average values for this characteristic, what may be advantageous for charcoal production.

Keywords:
biomass; bioenergy; charcoal; chemical composition