At The Core
Formaldehyde Issue Reared Its Head Four Decades Ago by Rich Donnell
We report elsewhere in this issue that Congress passed and the President signed into law the Formaldehyde Standards for Composite Wood Products Act. The law limits the allowable emissions of formaldehyde from particleboard, MDF and hardwood plywood sold in the U.S., including imported products, largely based on the already established California Air Resources Board (CARB) emission limits established in 2008.
The national emission numbers call for a phased in 0.09 ppm for particleboard, 0.11 for MDF and 0.13 for thin MDF, as well 0.05 ppm for hardwood plywood with veneer core, and 0.05 for hardwood plywood with composite core.
Features
Everything Is Big At Duratex Board Plant In Agudos
Duratex, the large South American wood-based products manufacturer, started operating a record size 9 ft. x 77 m Siempelkamp ContiRoll continuous press and new line at its Agudos MDF plant in mid 2009. The plant is 330 km from Brazil’s capital of São Paulo.
Also huge in appearance and operation is a flash tube dryer supplied by Siempelkamp subsidiary Büttner. It was designed for a material throughput of 97 t/h bone dry. The cooling and stacking line as well as the complete finishing line including an intermediate storage system, sanding, cut-to-size and packing were supplied by Siempelkamp Handling Systeme.
Ink Jet Marking Advantages For Wood Panels
With so many methods available today, it is challenging to determine which marking technology best fits a particular need. Ink jet printing is gaining momentum, particularly in the engineered wood industry.
The reasons to mark are focused primarily on the needs of production and customers. Production information (date, time and line number) is recorded for tracking and quality control. For adding value to the product, cut lines and nail patterns are printed to assure the product is used effectively as intended by the manufacturer. Industry quality standard codes ensure ultimate board quality.
New Press, Fingerjoint Line Boost Roseburg EWP Plant Flexibility by Dan Shell
Installing a new fingerjoint line for solid sawn flange production and a new cold press has given Roseburg’s massive engineered wood products facility the ability to bring five process centers under one roof: drying and grading, hot press, an I-joist line, fingerjoint line and cold press.
The ability to offer solid sawn flanges “enables us to get into new markets and pick up new customers not only for the solid sawn products but other products as well,” says Dave Vculek, LVL I-Joist Plant Manager who’s been at the helm since the plant started up in 2001 as North America’s largest combination LVL/I-joist plant.
Staggered But Not Out OSB Industry Continues To Answer The Bell by Jennifer McCary
Six years ago, when Panel World took a snapshot view of the OSB industry, it appeared the sky was the limit as housing starts soared above 2 million and OSB continued to gain market share. Producers were operating at 97% of capacity and Random Lengths noted record setting production totals for the third consecutive year. It was also the year the rate of U.S. home ownership peaked at 69.2%.
Industry’s second wave of expansion was in full swing with four new construction projects in progress and expected to add another 2.35 billion SF (3⁄8 in. basis) to North America’s OSB capacity. From that vantage it was hard to imagine what was waiting just over the horizon.
Projects
Recent Mill Orders, Installations & Startups
Three months have passed since the installation and startup of the first Steinemann Technology Satosplus sanding system at Egger Holzwerkstoffe in Brilon, Germany, and results are positive.
Upon the modernization of its particleboard line in 2009, Egger decided to replace its more than 20-year-old 6-head sander NOVA-S with Steinemann Technology’s new Satosplus 22 KK-NNN with 10 sanding heads. With the new Satosplus, a total of three sanding machines with 22 sanding heads are installed at Brilon.
QC
Quality Control
Altec Thickness Quality Monitoring System (TQM) is a high performance on-line non-contact measurement system that provides real-time thickness and sheet width measurements in industrial manufacturing processes.
The system uses high precision lasers to provide real time thickness trending as well as thickness and width distribution histograms. Configurable automatic reporting provides a permanent record of the plant’s performance. The system’s real time functionality and alarming allows manufacturing personnel to detect product quality problems before defects cause product downgrading or customer returns.
Supply Lines
Equipment & Supplier News
Georgia-Pacific Chemicals LLC is proactively seeking development partners to accelerate the advancement of significant technologies, support growth opportunities and address customer needs.
Georgia-Pacific Chemicals seeks partners within universities, private and federal laboratories, entrepreneurs and corporations that have technologies of interest to leverage its own application and development capabilities.
Taking Stock
If The Stock Market Has Crashed, Don't Read This | Part 2 by Rich Donnell
I don’t know why I continue to do this, but several times each day I find myself going to marketwatch.com and getting the latest news on finances and stocks.
As if I was a major player.
True, I am a player in a major stock, Apple. But I am minor league material.
Update
Breaking News
Final 2009 production shipments in three main product categories paint a grim picture for composite panels, according to the Composite Panel Assn.’s 2009 North American Shipments Report, as last year capped a decade that began with combined particleboard, MDF and hardboard shipments topping 9 billion SF in 2000—and finishing 2009 at 5.5 billion BF.
According to CPA, shipments of particleboard, MDF and hardboard all decreased in 2009. Particleboard shipments decreased 20.7% to 3.07 billon SF; MDF shipments dropped 16.2% to 1.87 billion SF; and hardboard decreased 16.8% to .41 billion FS.