Study on the use of oil palm trunk in paper industry

Abstract

Oil palm byproducts, such as EFB (empty fruit bunches), OPF (oil palm fronds), and OPT (oil palm trunks), are generated during the production of palm oil but are discarded as waste for lack of an end use. Therefore, new industrial uses for oil palm byproducts should be developed. In this study, we fabricated novel organic fillers using OPT and investigated their effects on paperboard bulk and the energy required for paperboard drying. Handsheets containing OPT fillers were prepared and their physical properties were measured. The effect of the OPT fillers on the drying energy was determined by measuring the moisture content of these handsheets and by calculating the reduction in the required drying energy. The OPT fillers increased the bulk and the decreased the strength of the handsheets. The required drying energy was reduced by adding OPT fillers to the handsheets. Therefore, OPT could be used to manufacture organic fillers for use in the paperboard industry.