Softwoods composition

Laminated Strand Products. The most recent developments in the family of wood-based composites are a group of laminated strand products, made with strands oriented in the long direction of the product and marketed as stmctural composite lumber. One product is made with long, narrow strips of softwood veneer. The strips or strands are about 2.5 x 13 x 600 mm (0.1 x 0.5 x 24 in.), coated with a PRE adhesive, and pressed under heat and pressure into large blocks. After the resin is cured the blocks are resawn and planed into lumber dimension stock. 

Typical compositions for softwood and hardwood kraft blackhquors are shown in Table 10. Most commercial kraft lignins are sulfonated kraft lignins or lignin amines. A few nonsulfonated products are, however, available. 

The chemical compositions of selected North American hardwoods and softwoods are given in Table 1 (10). 

Figure 22 Influence of fiber content on flexural strength and fracture toughness of (O) softwood-cement composites and ( ) hardwood-cement composites (air-cured) [78].

Timber is derived from a great number of botanical species, and has a wide range of properties. Variability also occurs within a single species and in order to achieve acceptable levels of uniformity, selection by grading is necessary. The timber trade differentiates between softwoods and hardwoods, and the latter are again separated into temperate and tropical types. Hardwoods are derived from broad-leaved and mainly deciduous trees, which are anatomically more complex and differ in chemical composition... 

Wood is a composite material that is made, up basically of a mixture of three main constituents, cellulose, hemicellulose, and lignin (see Textbox 54), all of them biopolymers synthesized by the plants, which differ from one another in composition and structure (see Textbox 58). The physical properties of any type of wood are determined by the nature of the tree in which the wood grows, as well as on the environmental conditions in which the tree grows. Some of the properties, such as the density of wood from different types of trees, are extremely variable, as can be appreciated from the values listed in Table 71. No distinctions as to the nature of a wood, whether it is a hardwood or a softwood, for example, can be drawn from the value of its specific gravity. 

The chemical composition of paper will depend greatly upon the chemical treatment which the wood has been subjected to during its conversion to pulp. When the pulp has received little or no chemical treatment, as in the case of pulp for newsprint, the chemical composition is very similar to that of the native wood. However, in those papers which have been chemically delignified, the composition may be very different. The natural compositions of native wood (softwoods and hardwoods) and the chemical pulps derived from them are shown in Table 2.2. 

Wood contains a small proportion (usually less than 5%) of components which are extractable by organic solvents such as ethanol or dichloromethane. The proportion of these extractives varies in hardwoods and softwoods and also between species. Although many of these substances are removed during the chemical pulping process, some may still be retained in the final sheet of paper. Their chemical composition is very varied, and they include alkanes, fatty alcohols and acids (both saturated and unsaturated), glycerol esters, waxes, resin acids, terpene and phenolic components. The proportion which remains in pulp and paper depends upon the pulping process used. In general, acidic components such as the resin and fatty acids are relatively easily removed by alkali by conversion to their soluble... 

Hardwoods are less thermally stable than softwoods and this is attributable to differences in the hemicellulosic content and composition. Pentosans (which are found in higher proportions in hardwood hemicelluloses) are more susceptible to thermal degradation than hexosans (Fengel and Wegener, 1989). Additionally, hardwoods, in general, have a higher proportion of hemicellulose, and the hemicelluloses of hardwoods also have a higher acetyl content compared to softwoods. 

The basic structure of all wood and woody biomass consists of cellnlose, hemicelluloses, lignin and extractives. Their relative composition is shown in Table 2.4. Softwoods and hardwoods differ greatly in wood stmctnie and composition. Hardwoods contain a greater fraction of vessels and parenchyma cells. Hardwoods have a higher proportion of cellulose, hemicelluloses and extractives than softwoods, but softwoods have a higher proportion of lignin. Hardwoods ate denser than softwoods. 

The infrared spectra of two samples from Etowah (EMC 840 and 842) (Figure 5) show lignin absorbances of both the softwood and hardwood types. While no distinct hemicellulose absorbances can be seen, lignin absorbances include both 1505 cm 1 and 1519 cm-1, thus indicative of the herbaceous dicots. The oxalate composition is very small and difficult to distinguish. One sample of EMC 840 was identified as a nettle (Urticaceae) by Philip Ruiy of the Harvard University Herbarium (2), which appears to be partially corroborated by these infrared results. 

Chaouch M, Petrissans M, Petrissans A, Gerardin P. Use of wood elemental composition to predict heat treatment intensity and decay resistance of different softwood and hardwood species. Polymer Degradation Stability. 2010 95 2255-9. 

The amount of hemicelluloses of the dry weight of wood is usually between 20 and 30% (cf. Appendix). The composition and structure of the hemicelluloses in the softwoods differ in a characteristic way from those in the hardwoods. Considerable differences also exist in the hemicellulose content and composition between the stem, branches, roots, and bark. 

Wood can be considered as a biological composite of hollow tubes of cellulose fibers held together by a lignin matrix gluing material. Liquids are transported up and down the trees through the tubular plumbing system. About 90 percent of the wood tissue of softwood trees consists of fiber tracheid cells for liquid conduction and support. The hardwood trees evolved after the softwoods and have specialized water conduction cells called vessels. 

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