Kualitas Pengeringan Kayu Mahoni Pada Berbagai Variasi Kerapatan Incising Dengan Dua Skedul Pengeringan Suhu tinggi

Tujuan dari penelitian ini adalah untuk mengetahui pengaruh interaksi variasi kerapatan incising dan dua skedul pengeringan terhadap kecepatan dan cacat-cacat pengeringan kayu mahoni, serta mengetahui pengaruh variasi kerapatan incising terhadap kekuatan lengkung statik kayu mahoni yang telah dikeringkan. Tiga pohon mahoni (Swietenia mahagony) berdiameter 300-350 mm ditebang dan selanjutnya dibelah dan dibuat menjadi balok dengan ukuran 60 mm × 100 mm dengan panjang 500 mm untuk dijadikan sampel pengeringan. Di antara masing-masing bagian tersebut, dibuat sampel ukuran 20 mm × 20 mm × 25 mm, yang digunakan untuk penentu kadar air awal dan distribusinya. Sampel pengeringan selanjutnya dibagi menjadi 5 variasi kerapatan incising, yaitu 0 lubang/m2 (tanpa incising), 1000 lubang/m2, 2000 lubang/m2, 3000 lubang/m2, dan 4000 lubang/m2. Setiap variasi kerapatan incising selanjutnya akan dikeringkan dengan 2 skedul pengeringan, yaitu suhu pengeringan 100°C sampai tercapai kadar air akhir 12% dan suhu 60°C pada 8 jam pertama dan selanjutnya dilanjutkan 100°C, sampai tercapai kadar air akhir 12%. Paramater yang diamati adalah kecepatan pengeringan, cacat retak permukaan, dan distribusi kadar air akhir. Hasil analisis menunjukkan bahwa kerapatan incising 3000-4000 lubang/m2 memberikan pengaruh yang cukup nyata di dalam mempercepat proses pengeringan dan distribusi kadar air akhir. Skedul pengeringan dan variasi kerapatan incising tidak berpengaruh pada retak permukaan. Pra perlakuan incising sampai batas 4000 lubang/m2 ini dapat diterapkan untuk mempercepat proses pengeringan dengan penurunan nilai modulus elastisitas dan modulus patah yang tidak berbeda nyata.Kata kunci: incising, pengeringan suhu tinggi, mahoni, lengkung statik, skedul pengeringan AbstractThe aims of this research were to investigate the effects of interaction between incising densities and two drying schedules on drying rate and defects as well as to examine the effect of incising densities on static bending characteristics of dried mahogany. Tree mahogany (Swietenia mahogany) trees with the diameter of 300-350 mm were cut and sawn into columns with the dimension of 60 mm ×100 mm × 500 mm. Each column was cut into five parts with the length of 500 mm. A small sample with the dimension of 20 mm × 20 mm × 25 mm were taken in between drying sample to measure moisture content. Five incising densities, which were 0 holes/m2 (unincised), 1000 holes/m2, 2000 holes/m2, 3000 holes/m2 and holes/m2, were applied to the drying sample. Samples were dried with two different drying schedules until the moisture content of 12%. Drying rate, defects, and moisture distribution were measured to evaluate the drying quality. Static bending test was applied to examine the strength properties. The results showed that incising densities of 3000-4000 holes/m2 could significantly improve drying rate and final moisture content distribution. There was no significants defects due to the variation of incising densities and drying schedules. No significant decrease of modulus of elasticity and modulus of rupture among five incising densities was found in this research.

Moisture Content Measurements on Sawdust With Radio Frequency Spectroscopy

The aim of the research described in this paper is to measure moisture content in biomass fuel with radio frequency spectroscopy. The advantage with this method is that radio waves penetrate large samples, and thereby gives an average moisture content representing the whole sample. The method is fast and is a small scale version of what can be applied in the future on-line for biomass fuel arriving in containers to the power plants. The moisture content is determined with a sensor that measure attenuation and phase shift for a frequency spectrum from 310 MHz to 900 MHz. The measurements are performed on sawdust with moisture contents normally occurring in power plants (from 34 to 65%). Multivariate data analysis is used for evaluation of the dielectric spectra from samples with known moisture content. Our results show that it is possible to measure moisture content in sawdust using radio frequency spectroscopy. A partial least square model is built on samples from sawdust. The moisture content varied between 34 and 60%. A standard error for the cross validation of 0.99% and a correlation factor of 0.99 was received. It is known that dielectric properties are also influenced by bulk density and temperature. Tests show that the influence of the bulk density is of greater importance. Further calibration measurements have to be performed to be able to make reliable measurements on the different bio fuels used at power plants.