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

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.

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Zanuncio,Antonio Jose Vinha, Carvalho,Amelia Guimaraes, Silva,Marcela Gomes da, Lima,José Tarcisio
Format: Digital revista
Language:English
Published: UFLA - Universidade Federal de Lavras 2017
Online Access:http://old.scielo.br/scielo.php?script=sci_arttext&pid=S0104-77602017000200147
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
Description
Summary: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.