Dynamics of maturation of rubber cups exposed to real environmental conditions

Abstract

Rubber is obtained from Hevea Brasiliensis and its commercial value depends on its dry matter content. During maturation, rubber loses water and reactions occur that improve its quality. However, the study of maturation has been carried out under controlled laboratory conditions, so there is no clarity on the dynamics of drying of clots exposed to real environmental conditions. This research evaluates the dynamics of drying through the behavior of solids and water concentration as a function of maturation time under real environmental conditions. For this, samples were taken from a rubber crop, clone FX3864, located at the La Paz University Institute. Dry matter and water content were determined by thermogravimetry. Samples were analyzed with maturation times of 0, 10, 15, 20 and 30 days. The water content expressed a logistic type behavior with R^2=0.98. It was shown that times longer than 20 days favor DRCs higher than 75%. Clots with a mean radius of 15 ± 5 cm and a dry mass of 0.5 ± 0.1 kg were recorded. The maximum water transfer rate occurred at 12 days of maturation with a flux of 0.133 kg water/m2d. There is a water remainder of close to 20% for indoor drying. From this it can be inferred that the sale of clots with maturation times of less than 13 days affects the producer's return on investment, since they would contain a large amount of water, which has no commercial value. Likewise, maturation times of more than 20 days do not affect the dry rubber content, since the drying speed decreases considerably.