Technical Evaluation of Hybrid Clones of Corymbia spp. to Produce Market Pulp

keywords:Corymbia hybrids  modified kraft pulping  mean annual increments of cellulose (MAI_cel)  specific wood consumption (SWC)

Abstract:This study presents hybrid clones of Corymbia spp. developed by Aperam BioEnergia as potential substitutes for Eucalyptus wood in the pulp industry. The biomass of Eucalyptus spp. was compared with that of Corymbia spp. by performing modified kraft pulping and basic density analyses. Comparisons were made by analyzing their respective mean annual increments of cellulose (MAI_cel) and specific wood consumption (SWC), estimated using a kappa number of (19 ± 1). The results showed that one of the hybrid clones (Corymbia citriodora × Corymbia torelliana, ID 4) had higher basic wood density, higher screened yield, better MAI_cel#k19, and lower SWC than the other samples, reaching values of 0.608 t/m³, 54.1%, 24.6 ADt/ha/year (i.e., air dry ton/hectare/year), and 2.74 m³/ADt, respectively. Consequently, clone ID 4 had the highest MAI_cel/SWC ratio score (8.98). Given its high forest productivity and low industrial cost compared with other samples, as well as its advantages over Eucalyptus spp. wood, we concluded that clone ID 4 has great potential as an alternative biomass for pulp production.