Introduction:

Marabú, Dichrostachys cinerea (L.), is expected to be used as biomass for electricity generation in Cuba, as a complementary fuel to sugarcane biomass in sugar industry. For this, large quantities will be required, forcing machines use for harvesting. Fuel properties of marabú biomass, obtained under these conditions, have not been studied in depth.

Objective:

To determine humidity and temperature of open stacked marabú, and microbial composition, grain size and angle of repose of marabú. harvested with the BMH-480 machine with the H 600 head, pile

Materials and Methods:

Samples of harvested marabú were obtained, and their properties were determined in several laboratories, as well as field evaluations to determine influential properties in their logistics and combustion. For the assessments, the post-harvest time was mainly taken into account.

Results and Discussion:

Several of mechanically harvested marabú properties and their dependence with post-harvest time are presented.

Conclusions:

Moisture of harvested with machines, and open stacked marabú, decreases with time. Initial value is high, but it can decrease to values of 20 % in open drying periods of approximately 12 days. Marabú stack temperature, which is modified with storage time, can reach values of 62 °C. Microbial composition of marabú biomass, its granulometric characteristics and the angle of repose of the stack were also evaluated.

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