Abstract
The wood-based panel industry is growing all over the world, and in many countries the raw material is becoming increasingly inadequate and increasingly expensive. Therefore, new inputs are needed to reduce production costs. The residue of babassu palm fruit after nut extraction process is an alternative, due to its fibrous characteristics, the high availability in the large agroindustrial complexes in the North of Brazil and the low cost. Thus the research was: (i) to determine the mechanical characteristics (tensile strength and elasticity), physicochemical characteristics (density, pH, extractives content and chemical composition) and micro-structural of the babassu residue, comparing it with the particles of Pinus sp., used in commercial panels; (ii) to evaluate the quality of panels manufactured with babassu residue by physical conditions (swelling in thickness and water absorption) and mechanical characterization (elasticity and rupture) based on Brazilian Technical Standards (NBR 14810-2: 2013), American (ANSI A208.1: 2009) and European (EN 312: 2003). Statistical analysis of the data was performed with the aid of Infostat software through analysis of variance using Tukey test at the 5% probability level. The babassu residue has technological characteristics that allow its use in particleboard production. However, there are particularities that may compromise its use, such as high silica content and high density. Particleboard made from babassu residue presented mechanical performance above that required by current normative documents. However, for the physical properties, especially for the porosity of the particleboard of babassu, the obtained values were lower than the required minimum.
Highlights
The babassu palm (Orbygnia phalerata Mart.) is considered to be one of the most important Brazilian palm, especially because it is one of the most abundant palms in the pre-Amazon region, and for its relevant socioeconomic contribution of northern Brazil (Queiroga et al, 2015)
From the remaining 93% of the fruit after the extraction process, 13% corresponds to the epicarp the outermost part of the fruit, which has a high proportion of fibers; 20% to the mesocarp, intermediate portion which has a high content of starch and 60% to the endocarp, a portion that surrounds the nuts, which presents more woody characteristics
The knowledge of the mechanical, chemical and anatomical characteristics of fibrous residues are important in the decision of making process to determine the specific design of the composites, optimizing the quality and reducing processing costs. In this context, considering the lack of information, the objective of this study was to evaluate the mechanical, physic-chemical and micro-structural characteristics of the epicarp-endocarp residual complex of babassu coconut, and to evaluate the quality of particleboard based on the epicarp-endocarp residue of babassu coconut considering the Brazilian technical norms (NBR 14810-2: 2013), the American technical norms (ANSI A208.1: 2009) and the European ones (EN 312: 2003), comparing them with particleboard manufactured with commercial particles
Summary
The babassu palm (Orbygnia phalerata Mart.) is considered to be one of the most important Brazilian palm, especially because it is one of the most abundant palms in the pre-Amazon region, and for its relevant socioeconomic contribution of northern Brazil (Queiroga et al, 2015). From the remaining 93% of the fruit after the extraction process, 13% corresponds to the epicarp the outermost part of the fruit, which has a high proportion of fibers; 20% to the mesocarp, intermediate portion which has a high content of starch and 60% to the endocarp, a portion that surrounds the nuts, which presents more woody characteristics. Forest industry researchers have started efforts to use the residuals as raw material for the production of particleboard (Iwariki et al, 2004)
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