Teor de cinzas e poder calorífico da casca e madeira de espécies do Cerrado

Abstract

Forest biomass has become an important input for the Brazilian energy matrix. Thus, the search for new sources of lignocellulosic material is increasingly necessary to meet this high demand. Thus, this work aimed to evaluate the quality of wood and bark of Astronium fraxinifolium and Enterolobium gummiferum species, characteristic of the Cerrado biome, for energy purposes. A 5 cm-thick DBH disc (diameter at 1.3 m from the ground) of three trees of the species under study was used, totaling 6 samples. Then, they were divided perpendicularly into wedges and removed as barks. Afterwards, they were ground and classified using a fraction retained between 40 and 60 mesh sieves and analysis of ash content and higher calorific value. Bark ash contents were higher than wood in both forest species. A. fraxinifolium has higher ash content in bark and higher calorific value in wood, with values of 9.06 % and 4.202 kcal kg-1, respectively. However, both the wood and the bark of E. gummiferum have favorable results, which enhance it for energy purposes.