Development of Modified Wood Products Based on Furan Chemistry

Abstract

The first processes for “furfurylation” of wood (wood modification with furfuryl alcohol) were developed several decades ago. Furfuryl alcohol is a renewable chemical since it is derived from furfural, produced from hydrolysed biomass waste. Over the last decade modernised processes for furfurylation of wood have been developed. These new processes are based on completely new catalytic systems and process additives. The properties of furfurylated wood depend on the retention of grafted/polymerised furfuryl alcohol (PFA) in the wood. At high modification levels (high retention of PFA) the enhancement of a wide variety of properties are achieved: an exceptional hardness increase, exceptional resistance to microbial decay and insect attack, high resistance to chemical degradation, increase in MOR and MOE, and high dimensional stability. At lower modification levels many property enhancements also occur, however to slightly lower extent. Notable are resistance to microbial decay and insect attack, increase in MOR and MOE, and relatively high dimensional stability. Two main processes for production of furfurylated wood have been developed for Kebony ASA (Former Wood Polymer Technology ASA) by the authors. Kebony TM for hardwood modification and VisorWood TM for soft wood modification, where the name reflects the colour of the material produced by the process. Commercial production according to the Kebony process has been running since October 2003, mainly for flooring. A small Kebony production plant is now in operation in Lithuania. A Kebony/VisorWood production plant was started during of 2003 in Porsgrunn, Norway. There are now planed for an expansion of this plant, and plans for a large Visorwood plant is ongoing. Further commercialisation of the technology will be done through licences issued by Kebony ASA.