الفهرس | Only 14 pages are availabe for public view |
Abstract This research investigates the potentiality of using date palm pruning products for production of medium density fiberboard (MDF) and suggests the possible applications for the produced MDF according to the achieved results. Chemical and physical characterization of three products of pruning forms of materials: the whole products of pruning: leaves (midribs and leaflets), midrib bases, fruit bunches and coir, palm midribs only and fruit bunches only, were evaluated on basis of chemical constituents of the defibrated materials and electron micrographs were taken for the defibrated forms of the three materials. MDF samples with 12 mm thickness were produced from each of the three raw materials using two different resins for each material: urea-formaldehyde (UF) and polymeric diphenyl methane di-isocyanate (MDI) at two resin contents 10% and 12% for UF, while resin contents for MDI were 3% and 5%. The MDF samples for each material were studied for the main physical and mechanical properties. The average density produced was 0.723 g/cm3, the immersion of the specimens in distilled water for 24 hours showed an average swelling of 11%. Investigating the flexural strength of the specimens showed an average value for MOR of 24.4 N/mm2, while MOE showed an average of 2730 N/mm2 with an internal bond strength of 0.89 N/mm2. These results indicate that it is technically feasible to use the products of pruning of date palms in the manufacture of MDF. |