Physical and Mechanical Properties of Particleboard Made from Palm Tree Prunings

Abstract

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.

Properties of Cement-Bonded Particleboards Made from Canary Islands Palm (Phoenix canariensis Ch.) Trunks and Different Amounts of Potato Starch

“…Canary Islands palm-cement boards have thermal properties that are in line with those obtained with boards manufactured with other species of palm trees, achieving a level of thermal insulation that is interesting for a board that is classed as high-density, which may be explained by the low relative humidity found in the manufactured boards. The greater density achieved in this study can be explained by the addition of cement to the board, as urea-formaldehyde was used as a binder for palm particles in other research [37,38]. Figure 8 shows the values achieved in terms of the thermal resistance of the boards; there were no significant differences between them.…”

“…Canary palm trunk-cement 6.7 1039-1083 0.054 [37] Canary palm rachis 10.0 842 0.057 [37] Washingtonia palm rachis 10.0 813 0.059 [38] 6.5 677-886 0.059-0.062 [37] Date palm rachis 10.0 747 0.059 [39] 4.2-5 187-389 0.083 [40] Rice straw 6.5 980-1148 0.076-0.091 [41] Sugarcane bagasse 7.0 350-500 0.079-0.098 [42] Wood particleboards 300 0.100 [42] 600 0.140 [42] 900 0.180 [42] Wood-cement particleboards 1200 0.230…”

Permeable Water-Resistant Heat Insulation Panel Based on Recycled Materials and Its Physical and Mechanical Properties

“…While the predominant part of the crushed PUR foam particles is in the range of 5 to 15 mm, the predominant part of the husk can be characterized by dimensions of 1.5 to 3 mm. The particle size has a major influence on the mechanical properties of the boards [32]; however, in the case of the sandwich panels, where one layer is significantly stronger than the other, the geopolymer layer takes over all the flexural strength [33]. In this research, the particle size affected tensile strength perpendicular to the level of the board.…”

Anatomy of the Windmill Palm (Trachycarpus fortunei) and Its Application Potential

“…In modern materials, leaf sheaths have many applications. When used as biomass composites [16][17][18][19], they have better adhesive properties than ordinary materials. Windmill palm fiber-based activated carbon materials, such as those made by Li et al [20], show a remarkable adsorption capacity, and the authors suggested that this accounts for their great potential value.…”