Processing of hemp and cannabis residue into non-adhesive chipboards and wall panels

Abstract

As woods are dwindling and agriculture waste burning causes severe air pollution and releases greenhouse gases, processing Hemp and lignocellulosic surplus materials into chipboards and other construction elements may substitute timber and reduce environmental pollution. The presented environmental-friendly technology can potentially process hemp and recycle residual materials into industrial woodchip boards and structural elements without the use of hazardous expensive resins. By applying cold plasma pre-treatment followed by the pressing stage acceptable wood chip standard physical properties are achieved. The irradiation dosage is probably optimal since once exceeding the dosage applied, wood disintegration starts; the process improvement may be related to the pressing configuration. Since the pressing temperature and duration are probably higher than required, the element that may still be aligned is the pressing pressure. Moreover, the positive correlation between sample strength and pressing pressure did not reach a steady state value even when pressing the sample to the maximum possible pressure allowed in the existing equipment (5.5 tons). It is suggested that a significant strength improvement will be attained by increasing the pressing pressure and decreasing the pressing temperature. It is assumed that 20 tons/m2 pressing pressure will be sufficient to attain the desired properties.