ENHANCING PROPERTIES OF OILPALM STEM PLYWOOD THROUGH PRETREATMENT OF PHENOLIC RESIN

Loh Yueh Feng Institute of Tropical Forestry and Forest Product Universiti Putra Malaysia Serdang Selangor MALAYSIA

INTRODUCTION
Rapid growth of oil palm Plantation in Malaysia. 1990 (1.7 MILLION ha) 2006 (4.5 MILLION ha) 100,000 hectares + 13.6 million OPS due to replanting each year (Anon 2005) Total 4.5 million m3 plywood can be produce

INTRODUCTION
Based on 13.6 MILLION stems, about 4.5 million m3 of OPS plywood can be produced each year. Taking the selling price of OPS plywood at RM1,000/m3, this would generate a revenue of RM4.5 billion to the plywood industry. If the QUALITY can improved, the price can be doubled, the revenue from palm plywood will reach RM 4.5 billion/year Export market: United States, United Kingdom, and Japan Due to its environment friendliness, lightness, and easy to work with. International acceptance: Certified as GREEN PRODUCT if the use of non-wood material > 10% - under sustainable forest resources

COMMON PROBLEMS IN THE MANUFACTURE OF OIL PALM STEM PLYWOOD 1. Low Quality Veneer

Contain two distinctly different materials: solid vascular bundle and loose parenchyma cells Rough surface Less stable (shrink and swell more)

high adhesive consumption Use as core veneers

COMMON PROBLEMS IN THE MANUFACTURE OF OIL PALM STEM PLYWOOD 2. Low Price Palm Plywood

Low strength OPS plywood Low dimensional stability

Low-grade Palm Plywood Categorised under Utility-Grade Current market price USD260/m3

COMMON PROBLEMS IN THE MANUFACTURE OF OIL PALM STEM PLYWOOD 3. Variation of density
Unevenly distribution of vascular bundles along the radial direction of stem variation of density values at different parts of the oil palm stem. Wide range density of oil palm veneers - affect the performance of Plywood

high density (600 kg/m3) medium density (400-600 kg/m3)

low-medium density (<400-550 kg/m3) low density (<400 kg/m3)

OBJECTIVES
Enhancement of veneer quality through resin treatment To develop effective resin treatment to improve the quality of OPS veneers To determine suitable adhesive spread rate for oil palm stem veneers To determine the mechanical properties of pre-treated OPS plywood

Materials
OPS veneer : Outer layer (1st stage peeling, 358 - 442kg/m3) Inner layer (2nd stage peeling, 272 - 446kg/m3) Treatment resin : Low Molecular weight Phenol Formaldehyde Binder : Urea Formaldehyde

METHODOLOGY
Phase 1: Oil Palm Trunk Veneer Production Phase 2: Pre-treatment of OPT veneer using PF resin. Phase 3: Production of Plywood

Parameter Used In This Study

Oil Palm Stem Plywood

Untreated (Control)

Treated with Lmw PF

200g/m2 UF Spread rate

250g/m2 UF Spread rate

200g/m2 UF Spread rate

250g/m2 UF Spread rate

100% Outer Type

100% Inner Type

100% Outer Type

100% Inner Type

100% Outer Type

100% Inner Type

100% Outer Type

100% Inner Type

Phase 1: Veneer Production

Log cutting

Peeling

Clipping

Drying

Inner peeling

Veneer stacking

Phase 2: Development of treatment method The optimum procedure for treating OPS veneers with LmwPF is as follows:
1. 2. 3. 4. 5. OPS veneers were segregated into outer and inner type Dry the veneer to 6-8% MC Soaking of veneers in LmwPF by passing the veneers through a container full with LmwPF resin for ~5seconds Pre-pressing (between 2 rollers) to squeeze out the excessive resin. The pressure is set until screw tight. MC of treated veneers should be between 20-30% Drying of phenolic treated veneers at 60C for 48 hours. Final MC between 6-7%

Phase 2: Treatment of Veneer

Treatment

Veneer treated with PF UF and PF resin

Veneer after pressing

Roller pressing machine

Continue

Sticker

Phase 3: OPS Plywood Manufactured

Glue spread

Cold press

OPS plywood

Hot press

Properties Assessment

Static bending test BS EN 310

Mechanical Test
Bonding test BS EN 314-1

Average Density Increment of OPT Veneer and Plywood after Treated with Lmw PF
Resin Solid Uptake (%)
Outer 15.86

Veneer Density (Kg/m3)

Treated 565

Untreated 367

Increase in Veneer Density (%) 54

OPT Plywood (Kg/m3)

Treated 857

Untreated 717

Increase in Plywood Density (%) 19

Inner

18.98

393

315

25

709

624

14

Percentage of MOR increment

Mean of MOR For OPS Plywood
50 45 40 35 30 MPa 25 20 15 10 5 0
12.47 17.1 34.55 26.37 27.3 20.83 43.62 35.02

Inner type gave high percentage of increment about 119% for 200g/m glue spread rate. The lowest increment was 250g/m glue spread rate with 22%. Shows that, treatment do help increase strength properties of OPS veneer and reduced the amount of resin consumption.

Outer Inner

200

250

200

250

Untreated

Treated

Percentage of MOE increment

Mean of MOE For OPS Plywood

9000 8000 7000 6000 MPa 5000 4000 3000 2000 1000 0
Untreated Treated
2031
200

7722

4763 3090 1944 1903

250 200

5205

The highest result for MOE increment is outer type with 250g/m glue spread rate. Treating the veneer with LmwPF resin had increased the stiffness by 67%
Outer

3179

Inner

The lowest increment was inner type with 200g/m glue spread rate. Shows that treatment help to increase stiffness properties of the boards.

250

Glue Bond Shear Strength of Phenolic-treated OPS Plywood in Dry Test and Wet Test (cold water)

1.2 1.047 1

1.8 1.6 S h e a r S tr e n g th (M P a ) 1.4 1.2 1

1.683

S h e a r S tr e n g th (M P a )

0.8 0.6 0.4 0.2 0

0.711 0.605 0.622 Outer Lay-up Inner Lay-up

0.939 Outer Lay-up 0.534 0.378 Inner Lay-up

0.8 0.6 0.4 0.2 0

Untreated

Treated

Untreated

Treated

Dry Test

Wet Test

Percentage of Wood Failure of Phenolic-treated OPS Plywood in Dry Test and Wet Test (cold water)
100 98 96 94 92 90 88 86 84 Untreated Treated Outer Inner

100 80 60 40 20 0 Untreated Treated Outer Inner

Dry Test

Wet Test

Strength Retention of Phenolic-Treated OPS Plywood

180.00 160.00 S tre n g th R e te n tio n (% ) 140.00 120.00 100.00 80.00 60.00 40.00 20.00 0.00 75.10 62.48

160.74

150.96

Further improvement of bond quality On going analysis is currently conducted to look at the cured glueline whether some crosslinking had occurred between Phenolic-treated veneer and UF resin.

Outer Lay-up Inner Lay-up

Untreated

Treated

Conclusions
Treatment of OPS veneer with LmwPF has significantly improved the strength. Segregating the veneers by density (outer= 358 - 442kg/m3 inner= 272 - 446kg/m3 ) had increased the average strength of the OPS plywood. Greater improvement was seen in the performance of plywood made from the lower-density-inner veneers. The technique used in this study was able to enhance the strength and bond quality properties of plywood made from OPS veneer, as well as, reduced the amount of resin consumption.