IMPORTANCE OF WOOD DRYING TO THE FOREST TRANSPORT AND PULP MILL SUPPLY

Antonio Jose Vinha Zanuncio,Amelia Guimaraes Carvalho,Marcela Gomes Da Silva,José Tarcisio Lima

doi:10.1590/01047760201723022223

Antonio Jose Vinha Zanuncio, Amelia Guimaraes Carvalho + Show 2 more

Open Access

https://doi.org/10.1590/01047760201723022223

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Abstract

ABSTRACT The forest transportation represents a great proportion of raw material cost for pulp and paper production and, for this reason, the wood moisture content should be low to reduce these cost. The objective was to relate the wood moisture with fuel consumption per kilometer in each vehicle and the number of trips to supply a pulp mill. Three trees of Eucalyptus urophylla clone and three of Corymbia citriodora from seeds were used. These trees were felled and their logs removed from its base and at 50 and 100% of the commercial height. The basic density and initial moisture of wood were determined and the air drying monitored during 90 days. The fuel consumption to transport one ton of dry wood and the number of trips required to supply a pulp mill were estimated based on the number of air drying days. Air drying reduced the fuel consumption and the number of trips to supply the pulp mill. The accuracy of models to estimate the wood moisture, fuel consumption and the number of trips based in days of drying was high. Therefore, wood drying is an essential tool to reduce forest transport costs.

Highlights

All freshly cut timber has high quantities of water when harvested (KOLLMANN; CÔTÉ, 1968; BRAND et al, 2011; TAHVANAINEN et al, 2014), requiring drying before transporting this material (ZHU et al, 2011)
The water in the vessel elements, lumen and others void spaces are connected to the wood by weak capillary connections, forming the free water (SKAAR, 1988)
Three seven-years-old trees of Eucalyptus urophylla clone and three of Corymbia citriodora from seeds were collected in Paraopeba, Minas Gerais state, Brazil, (19° 16’ 26” S 44° 24’ 14” W)

Summary

Introduction

All freshly cut timber has high quantities of water when harvested (KOLLMANN; CÔTÉ, 1968; BRAND et al, 2011; TAHVANAINEN et al, 2014), requiring drying before transporting this material (ZHU et al, 2011). The outdoor storage is commonly used to reduce logs moisture (BRAND et al, 2010; ZANUNCIO et al, 2015). This method is the most used in wood for pulp production, with low cost, but requires long drying period. The water retained in the cell wall by hydrogen bonds is called adsorption water; its removal is slow and requires more energy due to the strength of its connection to the wood (ENGELUND et al, 2013). The water of constitution can be removed only after the complete wood degradation (SKAAR, 1988)

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