Production and characterization of palm fruit shell bio-oil for wood preservation

• Published in: Forest products journal Vol. 61; no. 2; pp. 180 - 184
• Main Authors: Sunarta, Sigit, Darmadji, Purnama, Uehara, Tohru, Katoh, Sadanobu
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Madison Forest Products Society 01.02.2011
• Subjects: absorption; biofuels; blue-stain fungi; Ceratocystis; Cryptotermes; Density; drywood termites; Environmental impact; Falcataria moluccana; fluorescence; Forest products industry; Fungi; Gravity; growth retardation; Humidity; Isoptera; Laboratories; Moisture content; mortality; Oil consumption; Oils and fats industry; Palm oil; Physical properties; Pinus; Pinus merkusii; Production management; Production processes; raw materials; refractive index; Retention; specific gravity; Studies; Termites; Vegetable oils; Waxes industry; wood; wood preservation; Wood preservatives; New York
• ISSN: 0015-7473; 2376-9637
• DOI: 10.13073/0015-7473-61.2.180

Pyrolytic liquid (bio-oil), produced by pyrolyzing the shell of the palm fruit, was characterized, and its preservative properties were examined using drywood termites (Cryptotermes spp.) and blue stain fungi (Ceratocystis spp.). The yield from shell bio-oil production ranged from 35 to 37 percent relative to the mass of the raw material. The shell bio-oil had the following properties: specific gravity (ranging from 1.0365 to 1.0431), refractive index (ranging from 1.3594 to 1.3613), wood absorption level (ranging from 0.0088 to 0.0625 g/cm3), and retention (ranging from 0.0022 to 0.0141g/cm3). The shell bio-oil also had termicidal activity as shown by drywood termite mortalities: 25 percent between days 3 and 6, 50 percent between days 3 and 20, and 100 percent between days 5 and 49 in termite resilience tests. Using a fluorescence microscope, we demonstrated that the shell bio-oil-treated wood completely inhibited the growth of blue stain fungi on both pine (Pinus merkusii) and Sengon (Paraserianthes falcataria) wood.