The physical properties of treated oil palm veneer used as face layer for laminated veneer lumber

Abstract

The depletion of our tropical timber supply has encouraged the Malaysian wood-based industry to seek alternative resources such as fast-growing plantation trees and crops for wood-based products. Oil palm tree (Elaeis guinensis) has been identified as one of the potential alternative raw materials for the production of value-added products such as plywood, laminated veneer lumber (LVL) and even solid oil palm lumber. As we know, the properties of oil palm lumber or veneer is inferior to those of wood. Modification and treatment to the oil palm are needed to enhance the quality and dimensional stability. The main objective of this study is to determine the physical properties of LVLs made from oil palm veneers (OPVs) treated with low molecular weight phenol formaldehyde (LMWPF) resin with different resin solid content and different initial moisture content (MC) of veneer. OPVs were soaked into LMWPF and re-dried to semi gel condition before being hot-pressed. There was no additional resin was added to bond the veneers together into LVL. The physical properties such as density, moisture content, thickness swelling, water absorption and weight percent gain were determined in this study. The results showed that the LVLs made by treated OPVs exhibited better physical properties compared to LVLs made from untreated OPVs but still inferior with rubberwood LVL. It can be concluded that treating OPVs prior to their usage for LVL-making is essential and effective to produce LVLs with convincing physical properties.