The production of particleboard includes a hot-pressing operation for the consolidation of the wood and glue mixture. In modern facilities, this stage is performed in a continuous press where custom-length panels can be produced while minimizing trimming losses. The speed of the rotating press is the factor limiting the rate of production of the entire process and is determined by the rate of curing of the adhesive. The urea-formaldehyde glue that brings internal strength to the board must be cured sufficiently before the board can exit the press otherwise delamination occurs. When the wood mat is pressed, internal stresses and steam pressure are created and these forces oppose the internal bonding strength. If they are larger than the cohesive bonding the board fails. The purpose of this study is to develop a mathematical model based on heat and mass transfer principles to predict temperature, moisture content, glue conversion and strength as functions of position within the board and time along the continuous press. The objective is to generate a realistic mathematical model that can be used to optimize press operation.
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