Evaluation of Dynamic Microchamber as a Quick Factory Formaldehyde Emission Control Method for Industrial Particleboards

Abstract

The most common formaldehyde control method for wood panels in Europe, the perforator method, measures formaldehyde content, while most of the legal requirements in the world are based on emissions. Chamber methods typically used for emission measurements require too much time to reach steady state for factory quality control. The aim of this study was therefore to investigate whether emission values of particleboards measured one day after production would be usable for quality control purposes. The correlation between 1-day and 7-day emission values was determined using a dynamic microchamber (DMC). Three industrial board types that differed in density and emission levels were used for the evaluation. The online emission measuring equipment Aero-laser AL4021 connected to the 1 m3 chamber was used to gain further information on the emission reduction behaviour of the different board types. Only the two particleboard types with higher densities showed good correlation between the 1-day and 7-day emissions. The overall results suggested that 1-day emission values can be used for factory quality control purposes; however, if the initial 1-day values are above the permitted level, extensive evaluation for each individual board type needs to be performed.