Potential of forestry residue briquetting of Seridó region species in Rio Grande do Norte State, Brazil

Abstract

This study aimed to evaluate the potential use of waste generated by forestry species that occur in semiarid northeastern at Seridó region, Rio Grande do Norte, for the briquettes production, determine the physical and mechanical briquettes properties, and to correlate the wood density with the density after the briquettes production and briquettes density with the compressive strength. Thirty-two trees were collected (eight species with four replications). The wood physical and chemical properties evaluation were held under a completely randomized design. For the variables related to briquette, it was adopted the same design with three replicates for each species, totalizing 24 sampling units. The briquettes produced with jurema-preta wood stood out as a function to higher fixed carbon content, calorific value and higher compressive strength flat. The briquettes made from waste of imburana wood had the worst performances for the studied parameters. It was observed a negative correlation between the wood density and the gain of apparent relative density of the briquettes and a positive correlation between the briquettes density and the compressive strength of flat.