Adding Value to Agricultural Waste to New Products

Abstract

The goal of research on the creation of value from agricultural waste to new products is to find solutions to problems, reduce the amount of waste material left in agriculture, which can improve air quality, and generate commercial value–added waste. The process of manufacturing particleboards from agricultural wastes, longan branches and leaves, is to reprocess them to 3 mm in the Sub–chopper and mix 10% isocyanate glue by weight in the mixing machine. A sample was weighted and placed in a 400 x 600 mm mold by compressing it with a heat press. A 400 x 600 mm mold was filled with a weighted sample, which was compressed using a heat press machine set at roughly 30 MPa for ten minutes at 160 °C. Particleboards were then taken out of the heat press machine. The averages of density, moisture content, and thickness swelling, according to the study's findings, were 788.53 kg/m3, 8.82%, and 5.58%, respectively. Additionally, the averages for tension perpendicular to the surface, modulus of elasticity, and flexural strength were 0.42 MPa, 1,763.9 MPa, and 11.12 MPa, respectively. The physical properties of particleboards were found to surpass the Thai Industrial Standard 876–2547 when compared to the standard, although the mechanical properties did not. Consequently, although this particleboard was excellent for building homes, it was not suited for creating furniture, but it was suitable for making home decoration.