Wood quality of ten clonal progenies of rubber tree as raw material for bioenergy

Abstract

Abstract: The use of wood as a bioenergetic source requires knowledge of its technical properties. The rubber tree Hevea brasiliensis has an economic life cycle of 25 to 30 years in Brazil. It is used for extracting rubber and generating residual wood for fuel. Our goal was to characterize the wood quality of 10 clonal progenies as a source of raw material for bioenergy. Ten clonal progenies of 12-year-old Hevea brasiliensis from an experimental planting in Selvíria municipality were evaluated. Three trees per clone were evaluated for individual properties of Higher Heating Value, immediate chemical analysis, chemical composition, fiber dimensions, thermogravimetric analysis of wood under nitrogen atmosphere and Fourier Transform Infrared Spectroscopy analysis. We highlight clone IAC 311 for fuel because it presents elevated Higher Heating Value and fixed carbon and less volatile material. However, the other genetic materials studied also meet the specifications for energy use and can be highly viable given their physical, chemical, energy, and thermal properties.