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UNIVERSITI PUTRA MALAYSIA

PERMEABILITY AND MOISTURE DISTRIBUTION IN OIL PALM WOOD AND INFLUENCE ON DEVELOPMENT OF EFFECTIVE METHOD FOR VENEER

MOISTURE REDUCTION

ADRIAN CHOO CHENG YONG.

IPTPH 2012 2

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PERMEABILITY AND MOISTURE DISTRIBUTION IN

OIL PALM WOOD AND INFLUENCE ON

DEVELOPMENT OF EFFECTIVE METHOD FOR

VENEER MOISTURE REDUCTION

ADRIAN CHOO CHENG YONG

DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY

UNIVERSITI PUTRA MALAYSIA

2012

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PERMEABILITY AND MOISTURE DISTRIBUTION IN OIL PALM WOOD

AND INFLUENCE ON DEVELOPMENT OF EFFECTIVE METHOD FOR

VENEER MOISTURE REDUCTION

By


Thesis Submitted to the School of Graduate Studies, Universiti Putra Malaysia, in

Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy

February 2012

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To my beloved wife

Rachel Tan Choon Hui

My beloved parents

Choo Geok San & Maureen Tan Juat Khing

My beloved sister

Patrina Choo Mei Yin

Thank you for being the people I love the most

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Abstract of thesis presented to the Senate of Universiti Putra Malaysia in fulfillment of

the requirement for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy

PERMEABILITY AND MOISTURE CONTENT IN OIL PALM WOOD AND

INFLUENCE ON DEVELOPMENT OF EFFECTIVE METHOD FOR VENEER

MOISTURE REDUCTION

By


FEBRUARY 2012

Chairman: Professor Paridah Md Tahir, PhD

Faculty: Institute of Tropical Forestry and Forest Science (INTROP)

In Malaysia, it is estimated that there is an excess of 14 million cubic meters of oil palm

stem available every year due to replanting. However, the large variation in density and

moisture content (MC) hinders a full utilization of the oil palm wood. In this study, an

investigation was conducted to determine the basic properties of the oil palm wood and

also the veneers that are derived from it. Permeability studies were also conducted on

the palm wood and its influence on moisture was examined. A method was also

developed to reduce the moisture content of oil palm veneers before they were subjected

to drying.

Oil palm trees were selected randomly from the species Elaeies guineensis Jacq from

Taman Pertanian Universiti located in Universiti Putra Malaysia, Serdang, Malaysia.

The water and gas permeability values were measured using two specific apparatus that

was set-up for the purpose of this study. The oil palm wood was segregated to outer,

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middle and inner sections and samples of different lengths were tested. Anatomical

studies were then carried out using an image analyzer to determine the maximum or

theoretical permeability. Veneers obtained from a plywood factory in Kedah were

examined for density and moisture content variations and its distribution throughout the

length of the stem. A specially designed and built machine (Malaysian Patent No: MY-

143318-A) was used to conduct a pre-drying process on green veneers and optimization

of pressing conditions on reducing the moisture content was carried out using the

Response Surface Method (RSM).

The permeability results showed that the oil palm wood is more permeable when it is

green compared to after it is dried. Shorter samples had a higher permeability value

compared to longer samples. Results showed that the different sections influenced both

the water and gas permeability values of the oil palm wood with the middle section

giving the highest values followed by the inner and outer sections respectively. The

maximum or theoretical permeability was consistently higher than the water and gas

permeability for all samples. The average permeability values for 5 cm samples were

23.29 darcies, 5.91 darcies and 0.96 darcies for the maximum or theoretical, water and

gas respectively.

The density of the oil palm veneers decreases as the veneers were peeled towards the

inner section of the stem while the inverse was true for MC. The outer veneers had an

average density of 0.337 g/cm3 compared to 0.272 g/cm

3 for the inner veneers. The

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veneers obtained from the top part of the stem had higher density values (0.318 g/cm3)

compared to veneers obtained from the bottom part of the stem (0.290 g/cm3). The inner

veneers had an average MC of 313.4 % while the outer veneers had an average MC of

229.0 %. There was not a significant difference in MC between veneers taken from the

bottom and top part of the stems.

Optimum conditions were obtained in the pre-drying process. They were feeding for two

passes, 82 kgf/cm2 pressure and 41.49 Hz roller speed for outer veneers and two passes,

77 kgf/cm2 pressure and 41.49 Hz roller speed for inner veneers. The expected response

was 17.62 % and 22.01 % MC reduction for outer and inner veneers respectively.

This study found that the different sections of the oil palm stem showed different

physical properties. The study suggests that the oil palm wood or veneers should be

segregated to outer and inner sections to maximize efficiency and to improve

homogeneity in various processes concerning it. The method of reducing moisture

content was proven to be successful and it can be utilized before the drying process to

lower drying time and cost.

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Abstrak thesis yang dikemukakan kepada Senat Universiti Putra Malaysia sebagai

memenuhi keperluan untuk ijazah Doktor Falsafah

KETELAPAN DAN TABURAN LEMBAPAN DI DALAM KAYU KELAPA

SAWIT DAN PENGARUHNYA TERHADAP PEMBANGUNAN SUATU

KAEDAH PENGURANGAN AIR DALAM VENIR

Oleh


FEBRUARI 2012

Pengerusi: Profesor Paridah Md Tahir, PhD

Faulti: Institut Perhutanan Tropika dan Produk Hutan (INTROP)

Terdapat anggaran 14 juta meter padu batang kelapa sawit yang boleh didapati setiap

tahun di Malaysia hasil daripada penanaman semula. Namun begitu, variasi yang tinggi

dalam ketumpatan dan kandungan air di dalam kelapa sawit menyebabkannya sukar

dimanfaatkan. Dalam kajian ini, siasatan dilakukan ke atas sifat-sifat asas kayu dan

venir kelapa sawit. Kajian ketelapan juga dilakukan ke atas kayu kelapa sawit dan

kesannya terhadap kandungan air turut dikaji. Suatu kaedah mengurangkan kandungan

air venir kelapa sawit sebelum ianya dikeringkan juga dibangunkan.

Beberapa batang kelapa sawit dari spesis Elaeies guineensis Jacq telah dipilih secara

rawak dari Taman Pertanian Universiti, Universiti Putra Malaysia yang terletak di

Serdang, Malaysia. Ketelapan air dan gas telah diukur menggunakan dua radas yang

dicipta khas untuk tujuan itu. Kayu kelapa sawit telah diasingkan kepada bahagian luar,

tengah dan dalam dan sampel dengan kepanjangan yang berbeza telah diuji. Penelitian

anatomi telah dilakukan dengan menggunakan penganalisis imej. Kajian ke ketumpatan

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dan kandungan air telah dilakukan ke atas venir yang diperolehi daripada sebuah kilang

papan lapis di Kedah. Satu mesin khas telah dicipta dan dibina untuk tujuan

menjalankan proses mengurangkan kandungan air di dalam venir basah sebelum venir

itu dikeringkan dan pengoptimaan telah dilakukan dengan menggunakan kaedah

permukaan gerak balas.

Kajian ketelapan air menujukkan bahawa sampel basah adalah lebih telap berbanding

dengan sampel kering. Sampel pendek juga memberikan nilai ketelapan yang lebih

tinggi berbanding dengan sampel panjang. Keputusan juga menunjukkan bahawa

bahagian yang berbeza di dalam kelapa sawit mempengaruhi nilai ketelapannya.

Bahagian tengah kelapa sawit memberikan nilai ketelapan yang tertinggi diikuti dengan

bahagian dalam dan bahagian luar. Purata nilai ketelapan untuk sampel yang berukuran

5 cm adalah 23.29 darcies untuk ketelapan maksima, 5.91 darcies untuk air dan 0.96

darcies untuk gas.

Ketumpatan venir kelapa sawit berkurangan apabila batang kelapa sawit itu dikupas ke

arah bahagian dalam. Sebaliknya, kandungan air meningkat apabila batang kelapa sawit

itu dikupas ke arah bahagian dalam. Venir dari bahagian luar mempunyai ketumpatan

purata sebanyak 0.337 g/cm3

berbanding dengan 0.272 g/cm3 untuk venir dari bahagian

dalam. Venir yang didapati dari bahagian atas betang kelapa sawit mempunyai nilai

ketumpatan yang lebih tinggi (0.318 g/cm3) berbanding dengan venir yang didapati dari

bahagian bawah batang kelapa sawit (0.290 g/cm3). Purata kandungan air di dalam venir

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kelapa sawit didapati bertambah apabila venir dikupas k arah bahagian dalam batang

kelapa sawit. Venir dari bahagian dalam mempunyai kandungan air purata sebanyak

313.4% manakala venir dari bahagian luar pula mempunyai kandungan air purata

sebanyak 229.0%. Tiada perbezaan nyata di antara kandungan air purata venir dari

bahagian bawah dan venir dari bahagian atas batang kelapa sawit.

Keadaan optima juga telah didapati untuk proses pra-pengeringan. Untuk venir dari

bahagian luar kelapa sawit, keadaannya adalah seperti berikut; 2 kali laluan, tekanan

sebanyak 82kgf/cm2 dan kelajuan penggelek 38.55Hz. Untuk venir dari bahagian dalam

pula, keadaannya adalah seperti berikut; 2 kali laluan, tekanan sebanyak 73kgf/cm2 dan

kelajuan penggelek 41.49Hz. Hasil yang dijangkakan adalah pengurangan kandungan ait

sebanyak 16.2% untuk venir dari bahagian luar dan 20.14% untuk venir dari bahagian

dalam.

Kajian ini menunjukkan bahawa bahagian berbeza dalam batang kelapa sawit

menunjukkan sifat-sifat fizikal yang berbeza. Dicadangkan bahawa kayu atau venir dari

batang kelapa sawit harus diasingkan kepada bahagian yang berbeza untuk

memaksimumkan kecekapan dan meningkatkan kehomogenan di dalam proses-proses

yang melibatkan penggunaannya. Kaedah untuk mengurangkan kandungan air juga

boleh digunakan sebelum proses pengeringan untuk mengurangkan kos dan masa

produksi.

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ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

First and foremost, I would like to thank my Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ for his love

for us all.

I would like to express my sincere gratitude to the Ministry of Science, Technology and

Innovation for granting me the National Science Fellowship scholarship to conduct my

research.

I would like to say a big thank you to Professor Dr Paridah Md Tahir, my supervisor for

this thesis, without whom my research would not have been possible. I would also like

to thank her for all the guidance and encouragement that she has shown me throughout

the period of this research as a supervisor, a teacher and I hope as a friend. To my co-

supervisors, Professor Alinaghi Karimi, Associate Professor Dr Azmi Ibrahim,

Associate Professor Dr Edi Suhaimi Bakar and Associate Professor Dr Khalina Abdan, I

extend to you my warmest thanks for being patient and understanding and for providing

me invaluable guidance. I would like to also say thank you to Associate Professor Dr

Zaidon Ashaari for your willingness to spend some time to impart knowledge to me.

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I would also like to extend my appreciation to all the staff of the Faculty of Forestry and

the Institute of Tropical Forestry and Forest Products, especially Mr Azam, Mr Rizal,

Puan Halimah and Kak Lin for all their help during my study.

To my fellow researchers, Dr Loh Yueh Feng, Beng Hoong, Juliana and Balkis, I

sincerely appreciate all the help that you guys have given to me and I truly cherish our

friendship.

I am deeply indebted to my parents and my sister for being understanding and

supportive through the years. Last but not least, my deepest appreciation to my lovely

wife, Rachel Tan Choon Hui for always being there for me and encouraging me through

the trials I faced in completing this thesis. I dedicate this thesis to all of you.

Adrian

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I certify that an Examination Committee has met on 10 February 2012 to conduct the

final examination of ADRIAN CHOO CHENG YONG on his DOCTOR OF

PHILOSOPHY thesis entitled “PERMEABILITY AND MOISTURE CONTENT

IN OIL PALM WOOD AND ITS INFLUENCE ON THE DEVELOPMENT OF

AN EFFECTIVE METHOD FOR VENEER MOISTURE REDUCTION” in

accordance with Universiti Pertanian Malaysia (Higher Degree) Act 1980 and Universiti

Pertanian Malaysia (Higher Degree) Regulations 1981. The Committee recommends

that the student be awarded the relevant degree.

Members of the Examination Committee were as follows:

Mohd Hamami bin Sahri, PhD

Professor

Faculty of Forestry

Universiti Putra Malaysia

(Chairman)

H’ng Paik San, PhD

Faculty of Forestry


(Internal Examiner)

Luqman Chuah Abdullah, PhD

Professor

Faculty of Engineering


(Internal Examiner)

Martin A. Hubbe, PhD

Department of Forest Biomaterials

North Carolina State University

(External Examiner)

__________________________

SEOW HENG FONG, PhD Professor and Deputy Dean

School of Graduate Studies


Date:

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This thesis was submitted to the Senate of Universiti Putra Malaysia and has been

accepted as fulfillment of the requirement for the degree of Master of Science. The

members of the Supervisory Committee were as follows

Paridah Md Tahir, PhD

Associate Professor

Institute of Tropical Forestry and Forest Products


(Chairman)

Alinaghi Karimi, PhD

Professor



(Member)

Edi Suhaimi Bakar, PhD

Associate Professor

Faculty of Forestry


(Member)

Khalina Abdan, PhD

Associate Professor



(Member)

Azmi Ibrahim, PhD

Associate Professor

Faculty of Civil Engineering

Universiti Teknologi MARA

(Member)

_____________________________

BUJANG BIN KIM HUAT. PhD Professor and Dean

School of Graduate Studies


Date:

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DECLARATION

I declare that the thesis is my original work except for quotations and citations which

have been duly acknowledged. I also declare that it has not been previously, and is not

concurrently, submitted for any other degree at Universiti Putra Malaysia or at any other

institution.

___________________________


Date: 10 Februari 2012

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TABLE OF CONTENTS

Page

DEDICATION ii

ABSTRACT iii

ABSTRAK vi

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ix

APPROVAL xi

DECLARATION xiii

LIST OF TABLES xvii

LIST OF FIGURES xix

LIST OF APPENDICES xxiii

LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS xxiv

CHAPTER

1 INTRODUCTION 1

1.1 The Oil Palm Industry in Malaysia 1

1.2 Problem Statement 2

1.3 Objectives 4

2 LITERATURE REVIEW 5

2.1 The Oil Palm (Elaeis guineensis Jacq.) 5

2.1.1 Botanical Description 5

2.1.2 Anatomical Characteristics of the Oil Palm Stem 7

2.1.3 Oil Palm Plantations in Malaysia 13

2.1.4 Oil Palm Stems 15

2.1.5 Limitations of the Oil Palm Wood 16

2.2 Wood-Moisture Relationships 20

2.2.1 Moisture Content 21

2.2.2 Permeability 24

2.2.3 Water Transport in the Oil Palm Stem 28

2.3 The Plywood Industry in Malaysia 29

2.3.1 Current Industry in Malaysia 30

2.3.2 Veneer Drying 31

2.3.3 Oil Palm Plywood 32

3 THE PERMEABILITY OF OIL PALM WOOD 35

3.1 Introduction 35

3.2 Theories for Wood Permeability 39

3.2.1 Darcy’s Law 39

3.2.2 Poiseuille’s Law of Viscous Flow 42

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3.3 Methodology 43

3.3.1 Materials 43

3.3.2 Water Permeability Apparatus 45

3.3.3 Calibration of the 3 Teflon Tubes 48

3.3.4 Gas Permeability Apparatus 49

3.3.5 Density and Moisture Content Measurements 54

3.3.6 Water Permeability Sampling and Measurements 55

3.3.7 Gas Permeability Sampling and Measurements 58

3.3.8 Anatomical Observations 61

3.3.9 Statistical Analysis 62

3.4 Results and Discussions 63

3.4.1 Volume in the Teflon Tubes 63

3.4.2 Density and Moisture Content 64

3.4.3 Water Permeability 65

3.4.4 Gas Permeability 69

3.4.5 Microscopic Observations of the Tested Samples 72

3.4.6 Schematic Model of Flow Conduction in Oil Palm Wood 81

3.4.7 Comparison between the Maximum or Theoretical, Water and Gas 82

Permeability Values and the Effect of Density and MC on

Permeability

3.5 Conclusions 85

4 DENSITY AND MOISTURE CONTENT (MC) PATTERN IN OIL PALM 87

VENEERS

4.1 Introduction 87

4.1.1 Drying of Oil Palm Veneers 88

4.2 Methodology 90

4.2.1 Preparation of Oil Palm Veneers 90

4.2.2 Sampling and Measurements 93

4.2.3 Size and Number of Vascular Bundles 94

4.3 Results and Discussions 95

4.3.1 Density Pattern 95

4.3.2 Moisture Content Pattern 100

4.3.3 Effect of Vascular Bundle Distribution and Size on Density and 102

MC Variation

4.4 Conclusions 105

5 DEVELOPMENT OF A ROLLER PRESS MACHINE FOR 106

REDUCING MOISTURE IN OIL PALM VENEERS

5.1 Introduction 106

5.1.1 Roller Press: A Method for Moisture Removal 107

5.2 Methodology 108

5.2.1 Veneer Preparation and Sampling 108

5.2.2 The Veneer Roller Press Machine 109

5.2.3 Experimental Design 117

5.2.4 Machine Trial Run 118

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5.2.5 Optimization of the Pre-Drying Process 119

5.2.6 Data Analysis 122

5.3 Results and Discussion 123

5.3.1 Machine Trial Run 123

5.3.2 Model Fitting 124

5.3.3 Final Moisture Content 127

5.3.4 Moisture Content Reduction 128

5.3.5 Thickness and Density of Veneers 134

5.4 Conclusions 135

6 SUMMARY, CONCLUSIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS FOR 137

FUTURE RESEARCH

6.1 Conclusions 137

6.1.1 Permeability of Oil Palm Wood 138

6.1.2 Density and Moisture Content Patterns in Oil Palm Veneers 139

6.1.3 Pre-Drying Treatment of Oil Palm Stem Veneers 140

6.2 Recommendations 142

6.2.1 Improving the various processes involving oil palm wood 142

REFERENCES 143

APPENDICES 153

BIODATA OF STUDENT 168

LIST OF PUBLICATIONS 169

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