Abstract
The charcoal is a renewable natural resource, produced from wood by the process of carbonization and with great energetic importance. However, there is still little research and use of new technologies to optimize the use of wood in the production of charcoal. Therefore, the present work was aimed at analyzing the yield from forest harvesting operations for the production of charcoal. The research was developed at Vallourec e Mannesmann Florestal, a company located at Itapoã farm, municipality of Paraopeba, Minas Gerais. To this end, the harvest and timber transport operations in the short log system, the carbonization, and the properties of the charcoal produced were assessed. To this end, data was collected from eighteen 9-hour shifts for the Harvester, fifty-four 9-hour shifts for the forwarder, and 36 carbonization cycles. The equipment was analyzed working with three different log lengths—2.1 m, 3.7 m, and 5.0 m. The results demonstrate, during the cutting and processing, that the yield by cutting longer logs is higher. Likewise, at forwarding, the operation’s yield increases according to log length for thick and thin logs. Finally, concerning carbonization, the yield at the furnace loading stage was higher as the length of the log used increased, however, upon unloading the furnace, it was when it decreased.
Highlights
The progressive demand for energy, coupled with the scarcity of natural resources, expose the need for renewable energy sources
Considering that the Harvesters are machines designed to work with logs of 2.0 m to 6.0 m in length and that the yield increased upon increasing log length, the yield curve of this machine, due to the increased length of the log, is close to the optimum point upon working with logs of 3.70 m and 5.0 m in length, not displaying greater increases in productivity upon varying log lengths from 3.70 m to 5.0 m
The highest yield in m3/h worked is achieved upon sectioning logs of 5.0 m in length (21.02 m3/h worked), a lower yield in comparison with the yield of 28.00 m3/h worked found by Burla, 2008, upon analyzing the work of a John Deer Harvester model 1270 D, 6 × 6 drive, fitted with tires and a 160 Kw engine, and with a 762 C cutting head, sectioning logs at 4.4 m lengths. This increased productivity can be explained by the greater agility that the Harvester fitted with tires has in moving around, in comparison with the one equipped with tracks, in terrains in which machines move with ease
Summary
The progressive demand for energy, coupled with the scarcity of natural resources, expose the need for renewable energy sources. Wood appears as a biofuel by means of its woody material, becoming one of the leading possibilities for the provision of inputs in production processes (Lucena et al, 2011) In this context, charcoal is a renewable natural resource, produced from wood by the carbonization process, which consists in the heat treatment of wood in a controlled atmosphere of oxygen (Frederico, 2009). Charcoal is a renewable natural resource, produced from wood by the carbonization process, which consists in the heat treatment of wood in a controlled atmosphere of oxygen (Frederico, 2009) This feature has great economic importance for Brazil, contributing with 1.5% to the Brazilian Gross Domestic Product (GDP) in 2014 (Secretariat of Geology, Mining and Mineral Transformation-Sgm, 2015). For Damásio et al (2015) the quality of charcoal is related to the physical and chemical properties of the wood and to the carbonization activities
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