BRIQUETTES QUALITY PRODUCED WITH THE MACAUBA EPICARP (Acrocomia aculeata) AND Pinus sp. WOOD

Abstract

The macaúba palm (Acrocomia aculeata) is a palm-seed-oil producing tree of great economic value for its high productivity, and the broad range of possible uses for the different parts of the plant. This palm is one of the most promising species for the production of biodiesel, however, its use generates large amounts of waste. The aim of this work is to produce and evaluate the quality of briquettes made from the epicarp of the macaúba palm, in association with the waste of the Pinus sp. For the characterization of the residues, the following analyses were carried out: bulk density, immediate chemical composition, and higher calorific value. Different treatments were adopted in the production of the briquettes, namely: T1 (100% macaúba palm), T2 (75% macaúba palm + 25% pine), T3 (50% macaúba palm + 50% pine), T4 (25% macaúba palm + 75% pine) and T5 (100% pine). The briquettes were produced at a pressure of 1000 PSI, and at a temperature of 120-130 ºC, press and cooling times of 5 minutes, and an average humidity of 9.88% for the macaúba palm and 8.00% for the Pinus. In order to qualify the briquettes’ dimensions, the following were evaluated: apparent density, rupture load, lower calorific value, useful calorific value and energy density. In general, mixing at least 50% macaúba epicarp is recommended to produce briquettes, as this material provides increased strength and energy density to the product.

Acrocomia spp.: neglected crop, ballyhooed multipurpose palm or fit for the bioeconomy? A review

“…Approximately half of these investigated products and applications of acrocomia oils and leaf and fruit components, illustrating a range of processing strategies. Reported uses include briquettes as energy carriers (Costa et al 2019), biochar (Guilhen et al 2019;Rodriguez Correa et al 2019), activated carbon (Barbosa et al 2020;Moreira et al 2020a), composite material for brick production (Calvani et al 2020), cellulose nanocrystals from leaf fibers (Corrêa et al 2019), plasticizers from oil (Alarcon et al 2020), and biofilms based on pulp flour and fruit residues as substrate for enzyme production (da Silva et al 2020a;Lopes et al 2020). A phytochemical study of A. totai leaves revealed a new chemical compound that inhibits cell growth, called "totaiol," potentially allowing for medicinal applications (Souza et al 2019a).…”

Potencial energético dos resíduos do processamento de café combinados com finos de carvão vegetal

“…Em relação a outros tipos de biomassas lignocelulósicas, o PCS médio das misturas residuais (Figura 3A) é próximo ao encontrado para o epicarpo de macaúba -Acrocomia aculeata (20,36 MJ Kg -1 ) e madeira de Pinus sp. (21,30 MJ Kg -1 ) (Costa et al, 2019), e maior do que aqueles quantificados para diferentes cultivares de aveia -Avena spp. (17,9 MJ Kg -1 ) (Pinto et al, 2021) e cascas dos frutos de Munguba -Pachira aquatica (16,24 MJ Kg -1 ) (Correia et al, 2022).…”

“…Os tratamentos com 10, 20 e 30% de finos de carvão não apresentaram diferença estatística nos valores de densidade a granel. Segundo Costa et al (2019), valores baixo de densidade a granel (80-150 kg m -3 ) são um dos fatores que limitam a utilização de resíduos agrícolas em produtos bioenergéticos, devido sua influência na densidade energética e nos custos de transporte. Neste contexto, os resíduos oriundos do beneficiamento do café possuem potencial para uso energético, principalmente quando agregados com os finos de carvão vegetal, haja vista que promoveram o aumento da densidade energética (Figura 4B), sugerindo o uso potencial dessas misturas residuais para biocombustíveis compactados.…”

Preliminary Study on the Biodegradability of Chitosan Films Emulsified with Palm Oils (Aracaceae) from the Brazilian Cerrado

“…They are typically found in the tropical and subtropical regions of the Americas and the Brazilian Cerrado [39][40][41]. This species is also known for being an oil palm of high economic value due to its high productivity and the various uses of its different components [42], giving it the potential for energetic, socio-environmental, and oil applications. Its energy application is demonstrated in briquette production [42], and its socio-environmental applications include serving as a raw material for food, pharmaceutical, cosmetic, and biofuel production [43][44].…”

“…This species is also known for being an oil palm of high economic value due to its high productivity and the various uses of its different components [42], giving it the potential for energetic, socio-environmental, and oil applications. Its energy application is demonstrated in briquette production [42], and its socio-environmental applications include serving as a raw material for food, pharmaceutical, cosmetic, and biofuel production [43][44]. Given the lipid-rich composition of both its pulp and almond [45][46][47][48], as well as its employment in light biodiesel production, it is also suitable as an aviation fuel component [49].…”