Abstract

Charcoal production is an increasing practice which however, remains traditional in Benin despite the introduction of new techniques of carbonization. The objective of this study is to evaluate the effect of species humidity on the production process, in the perspective of improving the yield in relation to farming practices. To achieve this, three wood species appearing in four humidity conditions were used in randomized complete block design with two replications. The humidity of wood negatively affects the process; while an increased density had a positive effect on the process. The mixture of species and mixture of wood at different state of humidity gave good results compared to the use of a single species in the dry state. The yield of dry wood was estimated to an average of 31.38% for Prosopis africana, 21.5% for Anogeissus leiocarpa, 15.25% in wet or mixture of wood of different humidity and 21.5% in semi-wet or dry for Tectona grandis and 22% for the mixture of species.

Key words: Carbonization, charcoal, wood humidity, mass yield, Benin