Effect of Moisture Content and Species of Wood on Some Properties of Charcoal .

Abstract

Wood of five species (Acacia catechu, Rhizophora candelaria, Lcuceana leucocephala, Eucalyptus camaldulensis and Melia azedarachta) were carbonized in a 2-m³ brick beehive kiln at maximum temperature between 400-500 The average moisture contents of the acacia, rhizophora, leuceana, eucalyptus and melis specimens were 18.5-46, 15.5, 48.4, 46.7 and 43.5%, respectively. Some properties of charcoal (yield, cross sectional and longitudinal shrinkages, apparent density, heat of combustion and proximate analysis) from these specimens were determined. In addition, the effects of wood species and moisture contents of the acacia specimens on yield and sectional shrinkages of charcoal were analyzed using the t-test at 95% confidence level. The results indicated that the average yields, cross sectional shrinkages, longitudinal shrinkages and fixed carbon contents from all wood species in this report were 41.1-45.8%, 13.0-23.1%, 8.2-10.6% and 73.2-79.9%, respectively. The heat of combustion of charcoal was 7.25-7.52 Kcal/g. The apparent densities of all specimens were from 0.34 to 0.51 g/cm³. Finally, the species and moisture content of wood had little effect on charcoal yield and longitudinal shrinkage of charcoal. Both factors were however important to cross sectional shrinkage of charcoal.