Multi-Opening Press Drying of Oil Palm Veneer

Researcher: Dr. Anis Mokhtar

 

Introduction

Some of the processes need improvement to get better quality of plywood. In line with that, the efficiency of the process has to improve especially the drying of veneer. Initial moisture content of the oil palm trunk is about 100-500%. Moisture content rises high from the outer region of the trunk towards the inner region. From the bottom of its base towards the height of the trunk, the moisture content also increases gradually. Poor dimensional stabiltity in oil palm trunk is not only due to the high moisture content but also variation in density. The dissilmilar density will affect the properties of plywood made from oil palm trunk, causing limitations in term of services. Low density will provide low mechanical strength. Therefore from this project we hope that the press drying process could improve the properties by applying pressure during drying.

 

Objectives

• To develop a new drying system for oil palm veneer.

• To commercialize the new process in drying veneer.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Engineered Palmwood Veneer for Improved Plywood Quality

Researcher: En. Kamarudin Hassan

 

Introduction

The plywood manufacturing industry, as an integral part of the timber industry in Malaysia, is a strategic industry that plays a key role in national development. Plywood products represent a substantial portion of Malaysian wood products. Plywood is basically manufactured from stacked wood veneers, which are arranged in an odd number of layers with their grain alternately at right angles to each other. The cross-laminated placement of the wood veneers gives strength, stiffness and dimensional stability to the plywood.

 

Veneer peeling operations and the resulting product quality depend on the intrinsic strength properties of the feedstock material used, which in turn is dependent on the variation in the feeling age and growth rate.

 

Objectives

• To develop protocols for optimising the quality of palmwood veneers, which in turn, would improve the opportunities for a larger market share as feedstock raw materials for various panel products.

• To investigate the veener thickness factors and the cross-laminated placement angles of the vascular bundles directions within the veneer assembly in the relation to the strength properties of the finished products.

• To relate deformation mechanisms of resulting product to their intrinsic morphological characteristics of engineered palmwood veneers used.

• To improve the durability of palmwood plywood from biological degradation.