Investigation of using old corrugated container in the production of three- layer particleboard

Background and objective: The demand for composite wood products, such as plywood, oriented strand board (OSB), hardboard, particleboard, medium density fiberboard, and veneer board products has recently increased substantially throughout the world. Particleboard represents 57% of total consumption of wood based panels and its demand is continuously growing with 2-5% annually. The demand for particleboards in the sectors of housing construction, furniture manufacturing, and interior decoration has continued to increase. The demand for wood in the forest product industry has been growing, but the production of industrial wood from natural forests continues to decline. There is still an ongoing research interest to find alternative sources of raw materials for composite manufacturing. OCC (Old Corrugated Container) could be a good alternative raw material because, 1) this material is a recycled fiber resource available almost anywhere in the country; 2) it is relatively low- priced compared to office waste paper; 3) it is a relatively clean source of fiber without significant fillers or plastic contaminants. In this research, the use of OCC in surface and middle layers on the mechanical and physical properties of three layer particleboard has been investigated.
Materials and methods: OCC used for packaging various low-weight materials (furniture, equipment, instruments and especially grocery items etc.) which mainly consisted of 3 or 5 paper sheets, were included in this study. OCC with various ratios (15:85, 30:70, 45:55 and 60:40) in surface and middle layers of three layer particleboard were separately used. Coarse and fine wood chips from senate choube shomal company used. Urea formaldehyde resin used at 10% content on dry weight basis of the wood particles and OCC and ammonium chloride was used as a catalyst to 2% of the dry weight of adhesive. After the mixing process of wood particle/OCC with adhesive and hardener, mat at temperature of 170°c for 5 minutes under hot press was. After making particleboard, physical and mechanical properties of panels using variance analysis in statistical confidence level of 95% will be analyzed.
Results: The results showed that the bending strength and modulus of elasticity of boards had the best resistant at the level of 30% and 15% in surface and middle layers respectively. Internal bond decreased with increasing of old corrugated container content and control sample had the maximum strength. Water absorption and thickness swelling increased with increasing of OCC content.
Conclusion: On the basis of results of this study, it can be concluded that particleboard containing OCC in the surface layers up to the level of 30% and in the middle layer up to the level of 15% % can be used for general purpose boards for use in dry conditions.