Panel Products Made of Oil Palm Trunk: A Review of Potency, Environmental Aspect, and Comparison with Wood-Based Composites

Abstract

Oil palm plantations have expanded rapidly in Southeast Asia, particularly in Indonesia and Malaysia. A lot of products, including food and other edible products, oleo-chemicals, cosmetics, personal and household care, pharmaceutical products, and biodiesels are derived from palm oil, thus making them one of the most economically important plants. After 25–30 years of age, the palms are felled and replaced due to declining oil production. Oil palm trunks (OPT) are considered significant waste products. The trunks remain on the plantation site for nutrient recycling or burning. This increases insect and fungi populations causing environmental problems for the new palm generation or air pollution due to the fire. Up till now, OPT has received less attention in research studies. Therefore, this review summarizes the utilization of OPT into products made of oil palm fibers mainly derived from OPT and its application as the substitution of wood panel products. Some research works have been carried out on oil palm fibers that are derived from OPT for exploiting their potential as raw material of composite panel products, which is the objective of this review. Areas of development are processed into various conventional composite panel products such as plywood and laminated board which are usually predominantly made of wood and bonded by synthetic resins, particleboard with binder, or binderless and cement board which is arranged with wood as a minor component. All of the products have been presented and described technically according to best knowledge of the authors and literature review.

Effects of Compression Ratio and Phenolic Resin Concentration on the Properties of Laminated Compreg Inner Oil Palm and Sesenduk Wood Composites

“…Oil palm trunk is frequently used as a raw material in the manufacture of composite materials such as laminated veneer lumber (LVL); plywood, flooring, furniture, and other composites [9][10][11][12][13][14][15]. However, it was reported that oil palm wood extracted from the trunk has four major drawbacks, i.e., low mechanical strength, inferior dimensional instability, poor durability, and poor machining characteristics [16,17].…”

Steam Gasification of Biomass for Hydrogen Production – A Review and Outlook

“…The global production of palm oil reached 410.7 million ton in 2019 which occupied about 28.3 million hectares of plantation land area [12]. Indonesia, Malaysia, and Thailand contributed about 88% of the global production as shown in Figure 1.…”

“…Indonesia, Malaysia, and Thailand contributed about 88% of the global production as shown in Figure 1. However, the increase in production capacity of oil palm in the past decade only increased by 15.6% in Malaysia unlike the other countries where it doubled in Thailand and increased by nearly 3 folds in Indonesia [12]. Oil palm industry contributes to the majority (about 85%) of biomass waste in Malaysia, 10% for Municipal Solid Waste (MSW) and 5% for other biomass resources [13,14].…”

“…Another important upgrade of biomass is by converting it into high-grade gaseous fuels such as hydrogen through pyrolysis and gasification processes [32]. [12] Gasification technology is crucial for the utilization of biomass, as it gives more flexibility for the use of different feedstock types of materials. This allows the conversion of all biomass types into syngas through gasification which includes hydrogen (H2), carbon dioxide (CO2), carbon monoxide (CO) and some methane (CH4) with some higher hydrocarbons (typically <1%), including ethane and ethylene as well as tar compounds such as benzene, toluene, and naphthalene, etc.…”

Recent Developments in Eco-Friendly Wood-Based Composites II

“…This causes environmental problems for the new palm generation or air pollution due to fire. Therefore, the comprehensive review conducted by Nuryawan et al [55] summarizes the utilization of OPT into products made of oil palm fibers mainly derived from OPT, and its application for the substitution of wood panel products. Some research works have also analyzed oil palm fibers derived from OPT for the exploitation of their potential as raw material to process into various conventional composite panel products, such as plywood and laminated board, particleboard, or binderless and cement board.…”