Production of Particle Board from Cotton Stalk

Mola Berhe; Shegaw Amed

Abstract

The cotton stalks are normally disposed of by burning, which contributes to the emission of harmful greenhouse gases which pollute the environment. This study used cotton stalk for the production of particle board. The study includes collection and preparation of cotton stalk, analyzing using the ASTM method and its morphological structure, determination of proximity and chemical compositions to compare with hardwood characteristics and production of cotton stalk particle board (CSPB) with adhesives of urea formaldehyde by Lab scale cotton stalk particle board making was done and the basic operation parameters like chemical dose (%), pressing time (min) and pressing temperature (°C) were optimized for evaluating the mechanical properties of the particle board. The quality of the board was investigated by measuring the mechanical properties (modules of rupture and internal bonding) of the particle board using universal testing machine. The experimental design selected for this study was the Box-Behnken design (BBD). The individual and interaction effects between the basic parameters were studied by using Design Expert Software 7.0.0. The best quality of board was determined to be 11.58 MPa of modules of strength and 0.54 MPa internal bonds. 11.58 MPa of modules of strength was found at chemical dose of 11%, pressing time of 10 min and pressing temperature of 150°C. The best internal bond was also found to be of 0.54 MPa at chemical dose of 14%, pressing time of 15 min and pressing temperature of 150°C. So, it has potential to serve as alternative raw material for particle board productions.

Abstract

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