INFLUÊNCIA DA IDADE DE CORTE DE CLONES DE Eucalyptus grandis E HÍBRIDOS DE Eucalyptus grandis x Eucalyptus urophylla NA COMPOSIÇÃO QUÍMICA DA MADEIRA E POLPAÇÃO KRAFT

The recent efforts on the quality of the wood used in pulp and paper mills has focused in many points, among them the influence of the raw material chemical characteristics in the production process and final product quality. Considering the current demand for younger trees, the effect of the wood harvesting age in the chemical composition and in the process variables becomes a very important fact for the industries of this sector. So, the objective of this study was to characterize Brazilian eucalypt clones, Eucalyptus grandis and Eucalyptus urograndis, both in different harvesting ages (1 to 8 years-old), for their chemical composition and kraft pulping parameters. Both chemical compositions of wood samples showed significant statistical variations due to the alteration of their harvesting ages. The glucan content, as well as cellulose content, basic density, and extractives tended to rise with the increase of harvesting age; while xylan and the other carbohydrate contents that compose the hemicelluloses tended to decline with the increase of the harvesting age, as well as uronic acids, acetyl groups, lignin, ashes, and S: G ratio. The 5 year-old wood samples showed the greatest pulping yield results for kappa number 17, and the yield at kappa number 17 showed strong correlation with glucan content.