Araújo, Solange de OliveiraNeiva, Duarte M.Carneiro, Angélica de CássiaEsteves, BrunoPereira, Helena2018-10-082018-10-082018Forests 2018, 9, 535http://hdl.handle.net/10400.5/16045Torrefaction is a promising pre-treatment for improving the fuel quality of biomass. This study examined the effect of a mild torrefaction (from 160 to 230 C) on the heating value, elemental composition, and thermogravimetric analysis of wood from eight Eucalyptus species (E. botryoides Sm., E. globulus Labill., E. grandis W.Hill ex Maiden, E. maculata (Hook.) K.D. Hill & L.A.S.Johnson, E. propinqua Maiden Deane, E. rudis Endl., E. saligna Sm., and E. viminalis Labill.). The higher heating values (HHV) increased from the initial average of 19 MJ kg􀀀1 to 21 MJ kg􀀀1 in the torrefied samples. The carbon content increased from 48.2% to 53.3% and the C/O ratio from 1.08 to 1.35. The torrefied wood samples showed more thermal stability with a shift of the mass loss peaks to higher temperatures and a higher residual mass at 450 C of 36%, in comparison to 30% of the untreated samples. Torrefaction concentrated the biomass samples in the more energetic and thermal resistant components and decreased their sulfur and chlorine content, leading to a better combustion performance. The wood of the eight Eucalyptus species had a similar behavior and showed quality improvement. Therefore, torrefaction showed potential as a pre-treatment for eucalyptus biomass fuel improvementengEucalyptustorrefactionhigh heating value (HHV)thermogravimetric analysis (TGA)elemental compositionjournal article10.3390/f9090535