Research on Rapid Curing of Artificial Woodworking Board Powder Coating Using Carbon Fiber Heater Element Infrared Radiation

Global demand for woodworking products remains robust, highlighted by the extensive production of artificial boards exceeding 100 million cubic meters annually. Among these, Medium Density Fiberboard (MDF) stands out, with annual production volumes reaching 30 million square meters. When calculated at a standard thickness of 16mm, this amounts to approximately 1.8 billion square meters of MDF annually. These boards are expertly crafted using wood fibers bonded with formaldehyde-based adhesives, catering to diverse industrial needs worldwide.

Due to the high porosity of artificial boards, traditional paint coatings allow the capillary pores of wood fibers to emit formaldehyde during the use of the furniture, posing hazards in residential and office environments. The International Agency for Research on Cancer classified formaldehyde as a Group 1 carcinogen in 2004. Previously, the production of artificial boards in China exceeded this standard by eight times. Therefore, there is a significant environmental issue with VOCs (Volatile Organic Compounds) emissions and formaldehyde emissions from furniture, posing a major health risk to people in these environments. This remains a critical problem that the artificial board processing industry needs to address.

Using powder coating with ածխածնային մանրաթելային տաքացուցիչի տարր infrared radiation for quick curing on artificial boards can achieve zero formaldehyde and zero VOCs emissions. This special technology comes from the Optoelectronics Engineering Research Lab at the Academician Workstation of Wuyuan Science and Technology. However, there are still two issues that need further research and improvement:

1. Electrical Conductivity of Board Surfaces: The main factors affecting the electrical conductivity of artificial boards include moisture content, density, temperature, and anisotropic properties. At room temperature, the resistivity of saturated boards is 10³ ohms·m, and the surface resistivity of dry boards is greater than 10¹² ohms·m. Thus, artificial boards are between semi-insulators and insulators, requiring solutions to improve surface resistance and conductivity for effective powder coating.
2. Thermal Sensitivity of Wood Materials: As wood is a thermally sensitive material with significantly different thermal conductivity from metals, high temperatures during curing can cause cracking.

If these two issues are effectively resolved, it could represent a technological revolution in the woodworking board processing industry. Let’s explore the electrical properties of wood:

• Conductivity of Wood: Wood lacks free electrons and exhibits very weak electrical conductivity. The minor conductivity in absolutely dry wood is mainly due to the few mobile ions in wood, derived from ionic groups in cell wall components or minimal inorganic components in the wood. The presence of water facilitates ionic conductivity, where the interaction between ionic groups, inorganic components, and water molecules forms conductive interfaces. This mechanism is complex; at low moisture levels, the number of free ions plays a significant role, whereas at high moisture levels, ion mobility is crucial. Changes in ion concentration and distribution within the wood can significantly affect its conductivity.
• Dielectric Constant of Wood: The dielectric constant indicates the ability of wood to plan and store electrical energy in an alternating electric field. It is the ratio of the capacitance of wood in an alternating field to that of the same conditions in a vacuum. With dry wood having a dielectric constant of about 2 and water at 81, the lower the dielectric constant, the better the insulating properties.

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