Manufacture and properties of oil palm particleboard

Malaysia has a total of more than 4 million hectares of oil palm plantation. Besides the palm oil, the industry generates massive quantities of oil palm trunks (OPT), oil palm fronds (OPF) and empty fruit bunch (EFB) available from replanting and through routine field and mill operation. With a 25 years rotation of planting regime, 70,000 hectares is due for replanting every year and it is estimated that about 21.63 million cubic meters (14 million tones) of oil palm trunk will be available. If this raw material is not utilized properly they will be a source of environmental concern. This paper discussed the manufacture and properties of particleboard made from oil palm trunk particles. The oil palm trunk (25 yrs old) was supplied by MPOB, Bangi, Selangor. The trunk was converted into strands using a disk flaker and into particles by passing through a dust extractor. Single layered UF board and three-layered board were made and their properties determined. Boards make from unscreened particles with 700 kg/m³ density, 12% resin content and without wax have the highest MOR (26.76 MPa) and MOE (2843 MPa) values. Lowest MOR & MOE values was exhibited by boards produced from PS of >;1.0 mm with 500 kg/m³ density, 8% resin content and 1% wax. Highest IB (1.54 MPa) was shown by boards made from >;1.0 mm PS with 700 kg/m³ density, 12% resin and without wax. No boards were able to meet all the requirements of the BS Standards. Particleboard can be made from oil palm trunk particles, however further studies have to be conducted to improve their properties.