Innovations in the Development of Sustainable Timber Products

A special issue of Forests (ISSN 1999-4907). This special issue belongs to the section "Wood Science and Forest Products".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (31 May 2022) | Viewed by 9880

Special Issue Editors


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Guest Editor
School of Ecosystem and Forest Sciences, Faculty of Science, The University of Melbourne, 500 Yarra Boulevard, Richmond, VIC 3121, Australia
Interests: plantation wood processing and manufacturing; development and design of high quality timber products; durability of timber and timber products and utilisation of plantation timber resource

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Guest Editor
Department of Forest Products, Faculty of Forestry, Bogor Agricultural University (IPB), Bogor 16680, Indonesia
Interests: materials; material characterization; coating; materials processing; machining; forestry; materials engineering; friction; chemical vapor deposition; microstructure

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

The global timber sector currently faces the dual challenges of meeting the growing demand for quality timber products and minimizing possible adverse impacts on the environment and human health. Thus, it has been recognized that there is an emerging need for finding solutions to lower the carbon footprint of industry practices and products. Wood is a versatile, cost-effective, and renewable raw material that provides numerous environmental benefits.

The timber industry is constantly evolving and innovating, finding new ways to use wood to provide flexible, beautiful, sustainable solutions for the construction and design industry. Researchers worldwide are closely working with the industry to bolster innovation strategies, apply new manufacturing concepts, engage the challenge of bioenergy, and apply emerging technologies. The studies address many critical issues, such as developing new products and technologies, extending products' service life (design for energy efficiency and durability), reducing material waste at all stages of the processing chain, recovering and reusing timber products for new products or energy, and reducing processing and transport energy.

We welcome studies from all timber research fields to contribute to this Special Issue to promote knowledge and adaptation strategies for developing intelligent and efficient manufacturing processes and concepts, new advanced products, design, and construction.

Prof. Dr. Barbara Ozarska
Prof. Dr. Wayan Darmawan
Guest Editors

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Keywords

  • innovative processing and manufacturing technologies
  • wood waste reduction and waste utilisation
  • wood product performance in various environmental conditions
  • value-chain analysis for plantation wood products
  • engineered wood products
  • timber as a high-tech construction material
  • life cycle analysis
  • design for energy efficiency and durability
  • forest based bio-products

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Published Papers (4 papers)

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11 pages, 841 KiB  
Article
Study on Wood in Houses as Carbon Storage to Support Climate Stabilisation: Study in Four Residences around Jakarta Municipal City
by Jamaludin Malik, Supriyanto, Adi Santoso, Ignasia Maria Sulastiningsih, Achmad Supriadi, Deazy Rachmi Trisatya, Ratih Damayanti, Efrida Basri, Saefudin, Novitri Hastuti, Sigit Baktya Prabawa, Sona Suhartana and Rudi Dungani
Forests 2022, 13(7), 1016; https://doi.org/10.3390/f13071016 - 28 Jun 2022
Cited by 2 | Viewed by 1894
Abstract
Global agreements mandate the international community, including Indonesia, to commit to reducing the risks and impacts of climate change. Indonesia’s Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs) will contribute to the achievement of the Convention’s goals by reducing greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions and increasing climate resilience. [...] Read more.
Global agreements mandate the international community, including Indonesia, to commit to reducing the risks and impacts of climate change. Indonesia’s Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs) will contribute to the achievement of the Convention’s goals by reducing greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions and increasing climate resilience. This commitment must be supported by a wide range of actions, including the use of timber. Despite the fact that wood contains carbon, limited information is currently available on the size of the wood utilisation subsector’s contribution to reducing GHG emissions. More research is needed on the magnitude of wood products’ contribution to climate change mitigation. This study assessed the amount of carbon stored in wood used as a building material. Purposive sampling was used to select the cities with rapid housing development surrounding Jakarta’s capital city, i.e., the Bekasi District, East Jakarta City, Depok City, and Bogor District. The amount of carbon stored in wood was calculated according to EN 16449:2014-06 and energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDS/EDX) analysis. Results show that wood is currently only used in door frames, door leaves, window frames, shutters, and vents. The carbon stored on the components ranges from 450 to 680 kg (average of 554.50 kg) in each housing unit, according to the EN 16449:2014-06 calculation. The weight range is between 130 and 430 kg (average of 400.42 kg) according to EDX/S carbon analysis. With an increase in housing needs of 800,000 units per year, this amount has the potential to store 0.44 million tons of carbon over the lifespan of the products. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Innovations in the Development of Sustainable Timber Products)
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13 pages, 1195 KiB  
Article
A Comparative Evaluation of Combustion Characteristics of Araucaria cunninghamii, Intsia bijuga and Pometia pinnata for Bio-Energy Source
by Benson K. Gusamo and Koniel A. Towalis
Forests 2022, 13(4), 563; https://doi.org/10.3390/f13040563 - 1 Apr 2022
Cited by 1 | Viewed by 2637
Abstract
Burning woody biomass for energy is gaining attention due to the environmental issues associated with fossil fuels and carbon emissions. The carbon released from burning wood is absorbed by plants and, hence, offsets pollution. The purpose of this study was to investigate the [...] Read more.
Burning woody biomass for energy is gaining attention due to the environmental issues associated with fossil fuels and carbon emissions. The carbon released from burning wood is absorbed by plants and, hence, offsets pollution. The purpose of this study was to investigate the combustion characteristics (heat calorific values and ash contents) of three timbers: Araucaria cunninghamii, Instia bijuga, and Pometia pinnata to recommend for fuelwood. The test samples were sawdust particles (treatment) and solid woods (control) extracted from the heartwoods. The sawdust particles were oven dried, sieved, and pelletized into pellets using a hand-held pelletizing device, thus, forming a cylindrical dimension (volume 1178.57 mm3, oven-dry density 0.0008 g/mm3). Meanwhile, the solid woods were cubed and oven dried (volume 1000.00 mm3, oven-dry density 0.001 g/mm3). Prior to combustion in a semi-automatic bomb calorimeter, 90 test specimens (15 replicates per treatment and control per species) were conditioned to 14% moisture content (at a temperature of 105 °C) and weighed to a constant (unit) mass (1.0 g). The heat energy outputs and ash residues (of treatments) were analyzed statistically. The results indicated variability in heat energy outputs and ash residues between the test specimens of the three species. Comparatively, the treatment specimens of A. cunninghamii produced a higher calorific value (18.546 kJ/g) than the control (18.376 kJ/g), whilst the treatment specimens of I. bijuga and P. pinnata generated lower heat calorific values (17.124 kJ/g and 18.822 kJ/g, respectively) than the control (18.415 kJ/g and 20.659 kJ/g, respectively). According to ash content analysis, A. cunninghamii generated higher residues (6.3%), followed by P. pinnata (4.5%), and I. bijuga (2.8%). The treatment specimens of the three species could not meet the standard heat energy requirement (20.0 kJ/g) and, thus, were unsuitable for fuelwood. However, the control specimens of P. pinnata generated an equivalent heat energy (20.659 kJ/g) and could be a potential fuelwood. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Innovations in the Development of Sustainable Timber Products)
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14 pages, 2949 KiB  
Article
Effect of Sodium Hydroxide, Succinic Acid and Their Combination on Densified Wood Properties
by Sarah Augustina, Imam Wahyudi, Wahyu Dwianto and Teguh Darmawan
Forests 2022, 13(2), 293; https://doi.org/10.3390/f13020293 - 11 Feb 2022
Cited by 6 | Viewed by 1910
Abstract
The effect of NaOH, succinic acid and their combination used as pretreatments on selected properties of densified wood samples of pisang putih (Mezzettia spp.), nyatoh (Palaquium spp.) and sepetir (Sindora spp.) has been studied. The properties of these samples were [...] Read more.
The effect of NaOH, succinic acid and their combination used as pretreatments on selected properties of densified wood samples of pisang putih (Mezzettia spp.), nyatoh (Palaquium spp.) and sepetir (Sindora spp.) has been studied. The properties of these samples were then compared with those of untreated wood (control) and densified wood samples without any pretreatment (HD wood). For alkali-pretreatment, after immersion in 10% NaOH (w/w) for 1, 2 and 3 h, the samples were immediately compressed; for acid-pretreatment, the sample was impregnated with 10% succinic acid (w/w) using a vacuum of −50 kPa for 30 min and a pressure of 7 bar for 2 h before pressing; while for the combination-pretreatment, the sample was initially immersed in 10% NaOH then impregnated with 10% succinic acid (w/w) and finally densified/compressed. Compression was applied in a radial direction and carried out in an open system using a hot press machine at 180 °C and 7 MPa specific pressure for 30 min with a 40% compression ratio. The results showed that densified wood with or without pretreatment had a higher specific gravity (SG) than the control, whereas sepetir wood showed the greatest increase in SG. The alkali- and combination-pretreatments resulted in a higher C-set value than in the control, HD and acid-pretreated samples. Acid-pretreatment resulted in the best improvement in dimensional stability compared to the other pretreatments. Increasing the immersion time in NaOH solution was proven to be able to increase dimensional stability both in alkali- and combination-pretreatments, although water absorption values varied. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Innovations in the Development of Sustainable Timber Products)
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14 pages, 3253 KiB  
Commentary
Barriers to the Effective Adhesion of High-Density Hardwood Timbers for Glue-Laminated Beams in Australia
by William Leggate, Robert L. McGavin, Andrew Outhwaite, Benoit P. Gilbert and Shanmuganathan Gunalan
Forests 2022, 13(7), 1038; https://doi.org/10.3390/f13071038 - 1 Jul 2022
Cited by 6 | Viewed by 2665
Abstract
A number of international timbers of high commercial importance are extremely difficult to glue, which is significantly hindering access to global market opportunities for engineered wood products, especially for heavily demanded structural products. Some particularly problematic timbers in Australia are the dominant commercial [...] Read more.
A number of international timbers of high commercial importance are extremely difficult to glue, which is significantly hindering access to global market opportunities for engineered wood products, especially for heavily demanded structural products. Some particularly problematic timbers in Australia are the dominant commercial hardwood species, including spotted gum (Corymbia spp.) and Darwin stringybark (Eucalyptus tetrodonta). These species are renowned for their very high mechanical properties, natural durability and attractive aesthetic appeal. However, they are notoriously difficult to glue, especially for sawn laminate-based engineered wood products, such as structural glue-laminated beams. Despite considerable effort and testing of diverse internationally established best-practice approaches to improve adhesion, glue-laminated beam samples of these timbers still frequently fail to meet the requirements of the relevant standard, mainly due to excessive glue line delamination. This paper discusses the key barriers to effective adhesion of these high-density timbers and particularly emphasises the necessity of achieving greater adhesive penetration. Greater adhesive penetration is required to enhance mechanical interlocking, entanglement and molecular interactions between the adhesive and the wood to achieve stronger and more durable bonds. Potential solutions to enhance adhesive penetration, as well as to improve gluability in general, are discussed in terms of their likelihood to satisfactorily prevent delamination and the potential to be applied at an industrial scale. This new fundamental understanding will assist the development of solutions, allowing industry to commercialise newly engineered wood products made from high-density timbers. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Innovations in the Development of Sustainable Timber Products)
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