Estimación de carbono fijo almacenado en la madera de una especie forestal comercial en el cantón Gonzalo Pizarro, provincia de Sucumbios.

Abstract

The aim of this research was to estimate the amount of fixed carbon stored in the wood of a commercial forest species in the canton of Gonzalo Pizarro, province of Sucumbíos. For the identification of the species, botanical samples were collected at the study site and later the samples were taken to the herbarium of the Escuela Superior Politécnica de Chimborazo (CHEP), which was followed with the corresponding procedure to be able to identify the species under study dendrologically. For the estimation of the amount of fixed carbon stored in the wood of the commercial species, it was carried out in the chemistry laboratory of the Faculty of Natural Resources, using 5 wood samples per section, where 15 samples were taken from the apex and 15 from the base, that is, a total of 30 samples for the three shafts under study, Three important variables were evaluated to estimate the amount of fixed carbon, which were the percentage of moisture, volatile material and ash content, following the methodology and technical standards of the Ecuadorian Standardization Service (INEN) and the American Society for Testing and Materials (ASTM) for carbon, to determine the next analysis of the wood. The results showed that the species identified was Croton tessmannii Mansf., for the determination of the percentage of humidity, a higher content was obtained in the apex section with 37.99 % in relation to the base, while, for the fixed carbon, the apex presented a higher content with 9.58 %; however, the two sections did not show such a difference. It is concluded that the wood section with the highest content of moisture and fixed carbon was the apex, finally it is suggested to carry out more studies on the subject presented in species of the genus Croton.