Fuel Characteristics Of Selected Four-Year-Old Trees In Nigeria

With the rising cost and decreasing availability of fuelwood, fossil fuels, and fossil-based chemical feedstock in the future, there is renewed interest in using renewable, plantation-grown, tropical wood biomass as an energy source or chemical feedstock. There is, however, a lack of information on the basic fuel characteristics and chemical constituents of short-rotation, juvenile, tropical wood biomass. Content of hot-water extractive, alcohol-benzene extractive, lignin, gross heat, sulfur, and ash were determined for the samples, as well as specific gravity and results of the proximate analysis (volatile matter, ash, and fixed carbon), and the ultimate analysis (C, H, N, S, O, and ash). These properties were determined on five short-rotation tree species, a tree nut-shell, and a commercial bituminous coal. Test specimens included stems of four-year-old gmelina, eucalyptus, cassia, teak, gliricidia, and nut-shells of tetracarpidium trees all grown in Nigerian fuelwood plantations near Ibadan. Based on chemical and fuel composition, most of the juvenile tropical species and the tree nut-shells could serve as a raw material for energy in fuelwood and charcoal industries, as well as for chemical industries