Page 1 of 11
European Journal of Applied Sciences – Vol. 10, No. 4
Publication Date: August 25, 2022
DOI:10.14738/aivp.104.12999. Quartey, G. A., Eshun, J. F., & Marfo, E. D. (2022). Proximate Analysis of the Fuel Energy Potential of Guarea Cedrata and Terminalia
Catappa. European Journal of Applied Sciences, 10(4). 848-858.
Services for Science and Education – United Kingdom
Proximate Analysis of the Fuel Energy Potential of Guarea
Cedrata and Terminalia Catappa
Gladys A. Quartey
Department of Interior Design and Technology
Faculty of Built and Natural Environment
Takoradi Technical University. P. O. Box 256. Takoradi
John Frank Eshun
Department of Interior Design and Technology
Faculty of Built and Natural Environment
Takoradi Technical University. P. O. Box 256. Takoradi
Eric Donkor Marfo
Department of Interior Design and Technology
Faculty of Built and Natural Environment
Takoradi Technical University. P. O. Box 256. Takoradi
ABSTRACT
Wood has the potential to be used as fuel for electricity production. This is because
when the wood is subjected to combustion, it produces biogas in the form of
methane, carbon dioxide, and other trace gases. An analysis of the heat value of
Guarea cedrata and Terminalia catappa wood species from Ghana was done to
ascertain the potential of their biomass to be a solid, natural, and renewable fuel.
These species are abundant in this region and can also be grown as plantations.
They are also used as furniture and construction materials with a lot of waste which
can be made use of in the form of energy. The calorific values of these two tropical
species were determined using an oxygen bomb calorimeter. T. catappa had a high
calorific value of 18.2539 MJ/kg followed by G. cedrata with a value of 16.6099
MJ/kg. The ash contents of T. catappa were 0.24% and G. cedrata 0.32%. Greater
biomass volatile content was shown to lead to greater gas production instead of the
solid phase. The volatile matter emitted by the wood species under study was 72.34
% for T. catappa and 68.30 % for G. cedrata. The results showed that the wood of
these species can be considered a good potential as a renewable energy resource.
Keywords: Ash content; calorific value; volatile matter, fixed carbon, tropical species,
wood biomass.
INTRODUCTION
Wood biomass is a source of renewable energy. It is one of the renewable energy sources, which
can be converted into solid, liquid, and gaseous fuel, and that can generate energy in the form
of heat by means of its burning, as well as electricity through conversion processes [1]. Hoglund
[2], describes the term biomass as vegetal biomass, animal biomass, microbial biomass, and
aquatic biomass. By biomass combustion, this material could be capitalised, dried, processed,
Page 2 of 11
849
Quartey, G. A., Eshun, J. F., & Marfo, E. D. (2022). Proximate Analysis of the Fuel Energy Potential of Guarea Cedrata and Terminalia Catappa.
European Journal of Applied Sciences, 10(4). 848-858.
URL: http://dx.doi.org/10.14738/aivp.104.12999
and brought to the global market as a new product to be burnt in thermal power plants. When
these high-performance power plants use biomass as an energy source, they have a maximum
efficiency of 85-90 % [3]. The combustion of wood biomass is an ecological one, with a minor
impact on the environment [4]. Presently, the necessary energy assuring issues are so acute at
the global level, that it is very difficult to entirely satisfy the energy need, considering the aspect
of population increase worldwide, ensuring the energy need for the social economic sector and
the exhaustion of fossil resources for energy production [5]. This is a huge concern. Throughout
the past years, favorable changes have been noticed in the energetic field by the obtainment of
energy from alternative sources.
According to Adam et al. [6], Barro et al. [7], Ozyuguran et al., [8], and Perez-Arevalo and
Velazquez-Marti [9], wood biomass represents boundless possibilities for energy production
and consumption all over the world. According to [10], there are many wood biomass sources,
starting with forestry operations, forest residues, byproducts from wood processing, wood
from demolition sites, and even municipal wastes. Again Adam et al. [6] opined that the wood
industry provides a wide range of wood wastes from primary processing of logs to veneers,
plywood, panelboards, Oriented Strand Board (OSB), Medium Density Fiberboard, and
furniture manufacturing. The AEBIOM [11] report indicates that wood and solid biomass
accounted for about 69% of all energy consumption in 2018 in Europe [10]. The interest in the
use of renewable energy has been growing fast in the last years, due to the problems of global
warming and the continued depletion of fossil fuels. It has been proven that Biomass from wood
has also a great advantage because it can be used alone or in combination with fossil coal [6].
Terminalia catappa is a tree very easily recognised because of its pagoda-like structure [12].
According to Orwa C. et al. [13], Terminalia catappa is a tall deciduous and erect tree reaching
15-25 m in height, trunk 1-1.5 m in diameter, and often buttressed at the base. The branches
are in whorls of nearly horizontal, slightly ascending, and are spaced 1-2 m apart in tiers, or
stories, up the trunk. The pagoda-like habit becomes less noticeable as the branches elongate
and droop at the tips [12]. It grows best in moist tropical climates and is admirably adapted to
sandy and rocky coasts and flourishes on oolitic limestone. It has many uses including medicinal
and construction.
Guarea cedrata is a semi-deciduous tree to 45 m with a cylindrical trunk to a dense rounded
crown, branches drooping. The bole may be fluted above and may have short, blunt, and heavy
buttresses which spread widely along the ground. It has many uses including firewood, charcoal
production, and timber [12, 13].
The study ascertains the potential of the biomass of these wood species for energy use by
performing proximate analysis to determine the percentage of material that burns in a gaseous
state that is the volatile matter, in the solid state that is the fixed carbon, and the percentage of
inorganic waste material that is the ash content. Since there is a positive relationship between
fixed carbon and charcoal yield as well as the volatile content and ash which relate negatively
to charcoal yield [14]. It is known that the higher biomass volatile content will lead to higher
gas production instead of the solid phase (charcoal). Since in other areas of the world, Biomass
continues to be an important fuel, especially for cooking and heating, Ghana can also explore
this energy source as an alternative to the hydro generation of energy.
Page 3 of 11
850
European Journal of Applied Sciences (EJAS) Vol. 10, Issue 4, August-2022
Services for Science and Education – United Kingdom
MATERIALS AND METHODS
Source of wood materials
Wood planks were obtained from the two trees under study in Takoradi in the Western region
of Ghana. Wood shavings were produced from the various wood species, through the process
of drying, milling, pelletizing, and cooling. The analyses of the biomass were determined by
following the procedure of the American Society Standard Test Method [15] for the analysis of
wood fuels which was performed at the Department of Chemical Material Engineering at
Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology at Kumasi in Ghana.
Preparation of samples
Heats of combustion were determined in an oxygen bomb calorimeter and parameters were
measured by a substitution procedure in which the heat obtained from the sample was
compared with the heat obtained from the combustion of a similar amount of benzoic acid
whose calorific value is known. These measurements were obtained by burning a
representative sample in a high-pressure oxygen atmosphere within a metal pressure vessel
(bomb calorimeter). During the process of combustion, the energy released by this combustion
was absorbed within the calorimeter and the resulting temperature change within the
absorbing medium was noted. The heat of combustion of the sample was then calculated by
multiplying the temperature rise in the calorimeter by a previously determined energy
equivalent using ASTM [16]. The parameters measured were their moisture content, ash
content, volatile matter content, and fixed carbon content.
Biomass Analysis
This analysis was conducted by making use of the following techniques:
Proximate Analysis
The proximate analysis of the biomass materials was determined by heating approximately 2g
of the sun-dried mass of each wood species with the particle size of 420μm using an electric
furnace at a temperature of 50 ̊C for four (4) hours. This was cooled thereafter in a desiccator
and weighed to determine the ash content of the samples. The percentage of volatile matter in
the biomass was also determined.
Estimation of Moisture Content
The moisture content of the wood biomass material which is related to a fuel’s calorific value
was obtained by first determining its initial weight before sun-drying it. After sun-drying, the
samples were continually reweighed until a constant weight was attained (i.e., the final dry
weight).
The moisture content (MC) was calculated in percentage as:
MC = Initial weight - Final weight x 100
Final weight
Ash Content Determination
The ash content which is a measure of the mineral content and other inorganic matter in
biomass is used in conjunction with other procedures to determine the total composite of the
biomass sample was based [16, 18]. The ash content (AC) was calculated in percentage as:
AC = M ́100