Utilization of Oil Palm Midrib Waste for Particleboard with an Adhesive Mixture of Phenol Formaldehyde and Acacia Tannin

Abstract

Oil palm midrib is solid waste from oil palm plantation with huge potential of 20 ton/ha/year (Sayed Umar, 2009). This lignocellulosic material can be optimally utilized for particleboard. Acacia bark is also organic waste from the manufacture of acacia chip, containing tannin whose properties similar to adhesive, so that it is called bio-adhesive. In this research, tannin functions as the extender for Phenol Formaldehyde adhesive in the manufacture of particleboard from oil palm midrib. The objective of the research was to find out the characteristics of oil palm midrib for particleboard with a mixture variation of Phenol Formaldehyde (PF) and tannin. The research employed the factorial experiment with complete random design, where factor A consisted of two levels, i.e. PF adhesive compositions of 8% and 10%, and factor B consisted of 4 levels, i.e. tannin additions of 0%, 2.5%, 5% and 10% of PF adhesive weight. The result indicated that the physical properties of oil palm midrib particleboard (KA and density), the mechanical properties (MOR, IB and screw holding strength), and some parts of MOE from the PF use of 10% could meet SNI (Indonesian National Standard) 03-2105-1996.