Volume 12 Issue 2

Rubberwood is an important wood resource for the wood-based industry in Malaysia and the neighboring countries in the Southeast Asian region. Many studies have been conducted to assess rubberwood’s properties and economic viability for value-added wood products manufacturing. However, information on the material’s environmental performance and green labeling is limited. Therefore, the life cycle approach was carried out in this study to evaluate the carbon footprint of rubberwood rough green sawn timber production. A cradle-to-gate approach was applied. The results indicated that the carbon footprint for rubberwood rough green sawn timber production was 52.9 CO2-eq/m3. However, when taking into consideration the carbon footprint of the whole rubberwood sawmilling industry in comparison to the Dark Red Meranti sawmilling industry, it is apparent that the total carbon footprint of the rubberwood sawmilling industry is remarkably higher. This is due to the use of inefficient processing technology, which leads to a high level of wastage on the harvesting site and in the mill. Therefore, this study shows that the green label accorded to rubberwood appears questionable from the perspective of its carbon footprint, and that efforts must be taken to minimize the waste if the material is to achieve a green material status.

The chemical, morphological, physical, and thermal properties of raw materials and single fibers extracted from different morphological parts of windmill palm were examined and comprehensively characterized after an alkali treatment. Leaf sheathes (LS) with the highest cellulose content (52.26%) achieved the most efficient extraction of fibers. Single fibers extracted from the vascular bundles of the windmill palm raw material had a slender shape with a tapering and sealing terminus, with each single fiber possessing a lumen in its cross-section. These windmill palm fibers displayed similar chemical compositions, but they exhibited significant differences in morphological parameters. Leaf blade fibers (LBFs) had the longest length (1240 μm ± 470 μm) and highest aspect ratio (121.39), which presented excellent potential as a reinforced fiber. After the alkali treatment, almost all of the hemicelluloses and lignin were removed, which resulted in increased crystallinity of extracted fibers. Thermogravimetric analysis confirmed LS stability up to 319 °C, which was higher than that of other materials from windmill palm.

The application of the wrinkle measuring method described in Müller et al. (2017) and the subsequent evaluation algorithm of a range of deep-drawn samples were used to determine the influences and interdependencies of blankholder force, tool temperatures, and drawing height on the formation of wrinkles in paperboard. The main influences were identified and quantitatively evaluated. For the given experimental space, a regression function was derived and validated in further experiments. It was shown that a quadratic regression was superior to the previously used linear regression. The findings were discussed and compared with the results of similar experiments from past publications. Special attention was given to the wrinkles formed and the resulting quality of the formed paperboard cups. The restrictions of the data acquisition from the measuring method that was used and limitations of the model were presented to demonstrate the reliability of the results.

Short rotation coppice is an option for timely procuring biomass for use as a source of energy, but it often requires the use of expensive equipment. Small-scale farmers lack the ability to purchase such equipment, but rather can use their own affordable tools. Performance of motor-manual harvesting using brush cutters in a short rotation willow coppice was evaluated by coupling traditional, Global Positioning System (GPS), and Geographic Information System (GIS) tools and methods. Strong dependence relations were found between the time effectively spent to fell willow shoots and the row length. The delay-free time consumption accounted for 81% of the total observed time, while the time spent to fell the shoots accounted for 97% of the delay-free time. The net production rate was low (0.13 ha h-1) being related to the technology used. Delays (19%) affected the performance resulting in a gross production rate of 0.11 ha h-1. Nevertheless, small-scale farmers use this level of technology in harvesting their crops by adapting the crop rotation to very short cycles, possibly to cope with technical limitations of brush cutters. The plantation system, layout, and the weather conditions may act as performance-limiting drivers. Also, adequate planning of the operational layout has the potential to increase the field performance.

One challenge of monitoring and inspecting timber bridges is the difficulty of measuring the moisture content anywhere other than close to the surface. Damage or design mistakes leading to water penetration might not be detected in time, leading to costly repairs. By placing electrodes between the glulam beams, the moisture content through the bridge deck can be measured. Due to the logarithmic decrease of the resistance in wood as a function of electrode length, the model must be calibrated for measurement depth. Two models were created: one for electrode lengths of 50 mm and one for electrode lengths up to 1355 mm. The model for short electrodes differed by no more than 1 percentage points compared with the oven dry specimens. The model for long electrodes differed up to 2 percentage points for lengths up to 905 mm, and over that it could differ up to 4 percentage points.

The effects of main veins of palm (Elaeis guineensis) particles and the amount of CaCl2 on the mechanical and physical properties of cement-bonded composite boards (CBCBs) were investigated in this study. Homogenous CBCBs were produced with main veins palm particles content at three levels of 10, 15, or 20 wt.% and CaCl2 at three levels of 0, 3, or 6 wt.%. Other manufacturing parameters consisting of pressure and time for cold-press, material dry weight, and panel dimensions were kept constant. The flexural strength, flexural modulus, internal bonding, water absorption, thickness swelling, and the thickness of CBCBs after 2 and 24 h immersion in distilled water were determined. The results indicated that increased amount of lignocellulosic particles caused a decrease in the mechanical properties of the CBCBs. The increase in calcium chloride up to 6 wt.% improved mechanical properties of the CBCBs. The panels manufactured with 10 wt.% E. guineensis particles and 6 wt.% CaCl2 showed the most favorable physical and mechanical properties.