Enhancing dimensional stability of oriented strand composites within biorefinery

Zeki Candan,Juan Jacobo Paredes Heller,Russell Edgar,Stephen M Shaler

doi:10.4067/s0718-221x2017005000033

Abstract

The objective of this study was to investigate the effects of hot water extraction process on the dimensional stability of oriented strand composites. Aspen wood strands were extracted using various severity factor levels. Phenol formaldehyde and polymethylene diphenyl diisocyanate resins were used for production of the oriented strandboard panels. Six panel groups were produced from the extracted or unextracted aspen wood strands. The dimensional stability of the material was evaluated by measures of equilibrium moisture content and thickness swell and water absorption after soaking in water for 2 hours and 24 hours. Results obtained in this study showed that thickness swell and water absorption values significantly decreased with the hot water extraction process, with the thickness swell of phenol formaldehyde bonded panels decreasing 70% after 2 hours soaking. The panels with polymethylene diphenyl diisocyanate resin exhibited lower thickness swell and water absorption relative to the panels prepared with phenol formaldehyde resin. Equilibrium moisture content values of the panels bonded with both phenol formaldehyde and polymethylene diphenyl diisocyanate resin decreased with the extraction process. The findings of this work indicate that hot water extraction process could be effectively used to produce oriented strand composites having an enhanced dimensional stability property.

Highlights

Widespread raw material sources for energy, food, and human civilization depended almost entirely on renewable materials from forestry and agriculture before 1900s
One inch Thickness swell (TS) after 2h and 24h water immersion of the panels with phenol formaldehyde (PF) decreased with increasing hot water extraction (HWE) levels and were improved by 70% and 57%, respectively
Water absorption, and moisture content as characteristics of dimensional stability of the OSC panels made using PF or polymethylene diphenyl diisocyanate (pMDI) resin were significantly affected by the hot water extraction process

Summary

Introduction

Widespread raw material sources for energy, food, and human civilization depended almost entirely on renewable materials from forestry and agriculture before 1900s. Energy and chemicals derived from non-renewable sources have long-term implications. The use of wood material for bio-fuel production is receiving considerable interest, primarily through conversion of the cellulosic component. The conversion of wood to bio-fuel is not yet wide-spread due to technical and economic barriers. A variety of processes are used in biorefineries to convert biological materials into products including; thermochemical (pyrolysis of biomass for fuel), chemical (production of poly lactic acid), and biocatalytic methods including enzymatic biocatalysis (cellulase treatment of cellulosic biomass and whole-cell biocatalysis including fermentation) (Lasure and Zhang 2004, Tan and Xu 2010, Agnihotri et al 2015, Dziurka et al 2015)

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Conclusion