Palm trees are very fast-growing species. Their management produces annually a large amount of biomass that traditionally has been either disposed of at dumping sites or has been burnt onsite. This paper presents an experimental study to obtain particleboard using this biomass in a low energy process (short pressing time and low pressing temperature), using particles of different sizes from the rachis (midrib) of the three palm species most representative of urban gardening in Spain: canary palm (Phoenix canariensis hort. ex Chabaud), date palm (Phoenix dactylifera L.) and washingtonia palm (Washingtonia robusta H. Wendl). Their physical and mechanical properties were tested, and the feasibility of their use as a construction material was evaluated. The results showed that the manufactured particleboard had similar performance to conventional wood particleboard and good thermal insulation properties. Boards made with the canary species showed better mechanical performance. The properties of the particleboard depended on the particle size and species. The use of the pruning waste of palm trees to produce durable materials such as particleboard could be beneficial to the environment since it is a method of carbon fixation, helping to decrease atmospheric pollution and reducing the amount of waste that ends in dumping sites.
The use of alternative materials to peat in soilless crop production, such as woody pruning wastes, has been reported by several researchers. In Mediterranean countries, several potential alternatives have been identified such as palm species or woody pruning wastes coming from different plant species. Mulberry (Morus alba L.) is a tree crop widely used in Europe for urban landscaping and to provide shade. Mulberry trees are pruned in sericulture two or three times a year to obtain a better yield of leaves. In an urban landscape, the trees are pruned once a year to form the canopy. Sorghum (Sorghum vulgare L.) is a cereal crop widely cultivated because it is considered the fourth most important summer crop in the world after soy, corn, and sunflower. It is one among the few resilient crops that can adapt well to future climate change conditions, particularly increasing drought, soil salinity, and high temperatures. After the harvest, the inedible parts of the plant, the stalks and leaves, are left over and must be disposed of, most of the time by burning. Palm trees in Spain, as in most of the European regions where palms are cultivated, are mainly used as ornamental plants in urban areas. One of the most commonly used palm tree in landscaping is the Canary Island date palm (Phoenix canariensis Hort. Ex Chavaud). These palm trees are pruned up to twice a year in this region, producing huge amounts of biomass that are disposed of in landfills. In this experiment, physical and chemical parameters were determined in the different particle sizes (<0.25, 0.25-1, 1-2, and 2-4 mm) of the raw residual materials from pruning activities of mulberry (Morus alba L.), sorghum (Sorghum vulgare L.), and palm (Phoenix canariensis) to evaluate their suitability for use as growing substrate. According to the results obtained, it can be concluded that the alternative materials for substrate preparation obtained from the pruning wastes of Morus alba (MAPW), Sorghum vulgare (SVPW), and Phoenix canariensis (PCPW) had suitable values of physical properties related to substrate porosity and wetting capacity. These 11 materials also had high or very high total organic carbon (C) to total nitrogen (N) ratio values and low nutrient contents, except for potassium (K) in SVPW and PCPW.
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