Effect of Combination Oven and Microwave Heating in the Resin Semi-Curing Process on the Physical Properties of ‘Compreg’ OPW

Abstract

Oil palm wood (OPW) is still difficult to utilize efficiently due to its low strength, non-durability, low dimensional stability, and poor machinability. This study was conducted to investigate semi-curing of OPW with low-molecular weight phenol formaldehyde (Lmw-PF) by a combination of oven and microwave heating. Four main processes in a modified compreg method were used, i.e. drying, impregnation, resin semi-curing heating, and hot-pressing densification. Heating type had a significant effect on the physical properties of treated OPW. The combination of the heating methods used a much shorter time compared to heating by oven only, where over 24 to 30 h were needed to dry the treated OPW.

Keywords

• Phenolic resin
• Oil palm wood
• Wood heating
• Physical and mechanical properties