Combustion Properties of Some Tropical Wood Species and Their Pyrolytic Products Characterization

Abstract

This paper evaluates the combustion properties of fuelwood and pyrolytic products from three selected sawmill wood residues - Gmelina arborea, Terminalia superba and Triplochiton scleroxylon. Pyrolysis experiments were performed at 450, 500 and 550 °C. The percentage oil, pH, viscosities were considered. The highest yield of oil yield was at 550°C (45.70%) for Triplochiton scleroxylon out of the three sawmill wood residues. The analysis of variance conducted on pyrolytic oil produced at 450, 500 and 550 °C for the G. arborea, and T. scleroxylon showednosignificant difference but there were significant differences in the pH and viscosity of the pyrolytic liquid produced from selected wood species at the same conversion temperatures. The result showed the proximate analysis of the selected wood residues with the ash content (2.75, 2.61, and 3.57 %); fixed carbon (10.52, 12.07 and 10.23 %); volatile (87.55, 85.48 and 86.46 %) and heating value of 32792.75, 32691.56 and 32794.15 KJ/kg for Gmelina arborea, Terminalia superba and Triplochiton scleroxylon respectively. Proximate analysis results showed that the selected wood residues have good potential for domestic cooking and the characterized pyrolytic oil produced for biofuel production, most importantly for bioenergy sustainable system.