C.

Material and Energy Balance

This hot press has adjustable parameters to suit the requirements for different durian
MDF thickness. For the parameters for each product thickness, adapted based on the study of
Gul, Khan, & Shakoor (2017), refer to the table below.
Thickness, mm Press time, s Temperature, °C
8 180 170
11 227 170
16 315 190
18 340 190

Material Balance

Moisture

HOT PRESS
Wet Mat
Resin (15%) Dry Fiberboard
Fiber (73.95%)
Moisture (11.05%)

Energy Balance
Heat supplied ¿ the plates=Heat absorbed by the board+ ¿
Heat absorbed by the moisture content
As provided by Table 1, each product thickness require specific press time and plate
temperature. These will be used as the basis for the heat needed to be supplied to the plates.
Using the Fourier’s Law:

kA
Q plate = (T f −T i )
x
Where
k = thermal conductivity of the plate
A = surface area of the plate (2500 mm x 1300 mm)
x = thickness of the plate (42 mm)
Ti = ambient temperature (30°C)
 Tf = desired plate temperature

For the production of Durian MDF having a thickness of 8 mm, the minimum thickness, the
following data from material and energy balance were obtained.

Inlet Outlet
237.270 kg/ kg/
Durian Fiber = 3 h Dry Fiberboard = 285.3981 h
48.1278 kg/ kg/
Resin = 5 h Moisture = 35.45418 h
35.4541 kg/
Moisture Content = 8 h    
320.852 kg/
Total Feed = 3 h Qfiberboard = 513.9332 kW
541.666
Qplates = kW
7 Qmoisture = 27.73344 kW

Meanwhile, for the production of Durian MDF having a thickness of 16 mm, the maximum
thickness, the following data from material and energy balance were obtained.

Inlet Outlet
251.227 kg/ kg/
Durian Fiber = 4 h Dry Fiberboard = 302.1863 h
kg/ kg/
Resin = 50.9589 h Moisture = 37.53972 h
37.5397 kg/
Moisture Content = 2 h    
kg/
Total Feed = 339.726 h Qfiberboard = 588.8098 kW
619.047
Qplates = kW
6 Qmoisture = 30.23783 kW

Process parameters to be used vary depending on the desired thickness of the product
to be manufactured. From the material balance, a minimum feed rate of 320.8523 kg/h and a
maximum feed rate of 339.726 kg/h were obtained. The minimum and maximum amount of
heat needed to be supplied to the plates are 541.6667 kW and 619.0476 kW respectively.
With these data, we got to size the equipment.