The potential of using forest waste as a raw material in particleboard manufacturing

Abstract

Wood particles and a mixture of forest waste were investigated as raw material for the particleboard industry. Urea formaldehyde resin was used as the adhesive in the production of the particleboards. Some chemical (pH, dilute alkali solubility, hot and cold water solubility), physical (density, moisture, thickness swelling, and water absorption), mechanical (modulus of rupture, modulus of elasticity, internal bond strength, and screw holding strength) properties, as well as the contact angle values of the resulting particleboards were determined. Due to its needle litter and cone content, the forest waste exhibited a lower pH value and a higher content of extractive material than wood. Increasing the addition of forest waste led to significant reductions in the physical and mechanical properties of the particleboards. The addition of forest waste reduced the internal bond strength the most (56.6%), whereas the least reduction (15.7%) was in the value of screw holding strength perpendicular to the surface. The values of all panels except panel type F exceeded the minimum modulus of elasticity (1600 N mm-2) required for furniture production according to the EN 312-P2 standard. Results of the analyses showed that forest waste (10% and 20%) is a suitable renewable raw material source for panel production.