Manufacturing Particleboard from Eastern Redcedar

The Redcedar Problem in Oklahoma  

1}     Eastern redcedar is actually a member of the Juniper genus.

2}     Redcedar is considered a nuisance in Oklahoma. It is low-quality wood and competes with vegetation needed by wildlife.

3}     Redcedar has been proliferating for two decades.

4}     Redcedar is highly adaptable.

5}     Redcedar’s greatest expansion is in Southwest and Northwest Oklahoma.

 

Attempts to Control Redcedar

6}     There are problems with the removal methods: (a) controlled burns, (b) spraying with chemicals, and (c) chaining and cutting (extraction). Extraction entails significant costs but otherwise is often the most feasible approach.

 

A Possible Solution

7}     Wood composition panels such as particleboard are commodity products manufactured in great quantities in the United States and are primarily used in the furniture industry.

8}     The manufacturers of reconstituted wood products in Oklahoma utilize over $26.2 million in materials to produce $41.4 million of products.

9}     In Oklahoma, making particleboard appears to be the most economical and environmentally beneficial way to remove redcedar.

10} This study analyzes the economic feasibility of this plan and the quality of redcedar particleboard.

 

Economic Feasibility of Supplying Redcedar to Manufacturers

11} State and federal programs fully subsidize the cost of extracting redcedar. Landowners are only responsible for the cost of transportation.

12} Transportion costs—shown in Table 1—are about $9.25/ton, assuming a 100-mile delivery trip and no-cargo return trip.

13}  Because  manufacturers pay between $12.50 and $15.00 per ton for any form of acceptable particleboard furnish—which can potentially enable landowners to cover their transportation costs.

 

Procedure

14} Three redcedar trees were harvested. Two were limbed and their trunks were chipped. The third was chipped with branches and foliage.

15} The two limbed trees were used as the raw material for round tree particleboard furnish while the third tree was used for whole tree furnish.  See figure 1.

16} We made 18 single-layer particleboard panels from the round wood furnish and 18 single-layer panels from the whole tree furnish.

17} Test samples were prepared based on ASTM D-1037 specifications.

 

Results and Discussion

18} Modulus of elasticity (MOE) values, modulus of rupture values (MOR), and internal bond strength (IB) were ascertained (Table 2). The round wood particleboard exceeded ASTD specifications. The IB values for the whole tree particleboard were just 2% below ASTD standards.

19} It appears that by removing a small amount of bark and needles during manufacture, the whole wood furnish would also meet ASTC specifications.

 

Conclusions

20} Redcedar can be transported to manufacturers at a cost well below what manufacturers normally pay for other furnishes, round wood furnish can be used to manfacture particleboard.

21} Further studies should focus on increasing the IB values of whole tree furnish and three-layer panels should be tested.

22}  Potentially, the use of redcedar in the manufacturing of particleboard could motivate landowners to extract more redcedar from their land.