Physical and mechanical properties of oil palm (Elaeis guineensis) wood modified with bio-based impregnant.

Oil-palm wood could potentially substitute conventional wood as wooden houses. However, the wood possessed inferior physical (low density, unstable dimension), and mechanical (low compression strength parallel to grains and perpendicular to grains) properties. The research aimed to investigate the properties of 25-and 32-year-old oil palm wood that have been impregnated with the oil-palm-bark-extract-based bio-impregnant. The bio-impregnant used was a mixture of liquid oil-palm bark extracts (obtained from the 32-year-old oil-palm trees), resin, and formaldehyde with a composition of 40:1:4. Approximately 5% tapioca's starch flour was further added as filler. Vacuum-pressure and hot immersion treatments were used to impregnate the impregnant solution into the wooden structure. Physical and mechanical properties of the wood were tested according to BS 373 and ASTM D143, while the drying properties test followed Terazawa Method. All samples for the analysis were taken from the outer part of the stem's base. Of all treatments performed and compared to the control, the 32-year-old wood that had been vacuum-pressured gave the best result. It had average density range of 0.45 g/cm³-0.65 g/cm³; average compression strength parallel to grain value range of 79 kg/cm²-231 kg/cm²; average compression strength perpendicular to grain value range of 75 kg/cm²-148 kg/cm²; and average post-12-month-storage moisture content value of 10.3%. The drying properties of control oil-palm wood (without impregnation) from both ages were very poor. Meanwhile, the properties of corresponding wood impregnated with the vacuum-pressure method were classified as low to rather low and fair to quite good quality for 25 and 32 years consecutively. Based on the wood drying properties test results, the 32 year old oil-palm wood being impregnated by using vacuum pressure also gave the mildest drying schedule with the drying temperature range of 50-75/80^oC and humidity range of 83% to 12%. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]