Particleboards with partially liquefied bark of different sizes

• Utilizing biomass waste for wood-based composites has been driven by harsh competition for raw materials and environmental concerns for more sustainable products. Bark, as a by-product of the sawmilling and pulping industries, is a lignocellulosic material that is rich in lignin and extractives, and holds potential for producing chemicals and value-added materials. There are many possibilities of using bark in wood-based panel manufacturing such as making adhesives (e.g. bark tannin extractives, liquefied bark) or using it as a furnish in small amounts. Instead of using the completed liquefied bark products in the adhesive mixture, we have been working on a novel method of making particleboards by using partially liquefied bark as a furnish material with binding abilities. Thus, partially liquefied bark was mixed with wood chips with an aim to investigate the effect of different bark sizes on the properties of particleboards.Maritime pine (Pinus pinaster Ait.) bark was partially liquefied in the presence of ethylene glycol as solvent and sulphuric acid (H2SO4) as catalyst in 180˚C for 30 minutes. Four different sizes of bark were used: mix, coarse (> 2 mm), middle (1-2 mm), and fines (< 1 mm). One-layered 8-mm particleboards were prepared by mixing dry wood chips with the partially liquefied bark categories (9.1% or 20% w/w). Melamine-urea-formaldehyde (MUF) resin was 10% of the total weight of the furnish materials (dry wood chips and partially liquefied bark); while boards were also made without adding the resin. Mechanical and physical properties of the particleboards were tested according to the European standards, and ANOVA analysis of the results showed no statistically significant differences between varying bark sizes. Particleboards made with 9.1% of partially liquefied bark and with 10% of MUF resin met all the standard requirements for mechanical strength and thickness swelling. Particleboards made with 20% of partially liquefied bark and without adding MUF resin were inferior to those with MUF resin.From the current results we can conclude that it is possible to make particleboards from partially liquefied bark with competitive properties, and this supports our original idea of not completing the liquefaction process. In that respect, our work can contribute to energy and material savings when using liquefied products in wood panel manufacturing. More research is needed to optimize the process as well as to evaluate the formaldehyde emission level from this type of panels. 

Ämnesord

LANTBRUKSVETENSKAPER  -- Lantbruksvetenskap, skogsbruk och fiske (hsv//swe)

AGRICULTURAL SCIENCES  -- Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries (hsv//eng)

LANTBRUKSVETENSKAPER  -- Lantbruksvetenskap, skogsbruk och fiske -- Trävetenskap (hsv//swe)

AGRICULTURAL SCIENCES  -- Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries -- Wood Science (hsv//eng)

Nyckelord

bark

ethylene glycol

liquefaction

maritime pine

MUF resin

particleboards

Forestry and Wood Technology

Skog och träteknik

Publikations- och innehållstyp

ref (ämneskategori)

kon (ämneskategori)