การปรับปรุงสมบัตเิ พื่อศักยภาพการขนสงของบรรจุภัณฑเยื่อกระดาษขึ้นรูปทางใบปาลมน้ํามัน

Properties Enhancement to Transportation Potentiality of Molded Pulp Packaging Using Oil

Palm Frond (Elaeis guineensis Jacq.)
รตนพรรษ หรรษอุดม1 เลอพงศ จารุพันธ 1 งามทิพย ภูวโรดม1 และ ธัญญารัตน จิญกาญจน 1
Ratanapat Hunsa-Udom1, Lerpong Jarupan1, Ngamtip Poovarodom1 and Tunyarut Jinkarn1
บทคัดยอ
จากปญหาสิ่งแวดลอมนําไปสูการสรางมูลคาเพิ่มใหกับเศษวัสดุเหลือทิ้งปาลมน้ํามันจากการเกษตรและ
อุตสาหกรรมการสกัดน้ํามันปาลม ทางใบปาลมน้ํามันถูกนํามาใชเปนวัตถุดิบเพื่อการพัฒนาเปนบรรจุภัณฑเยื่อ
กระดาษขึ้นรูป เยื่อจากทางใบปาลมน้ํามันในการวิจัยนี้ไดผานกระบวนการผลิตเยื่อโดยวิธซี ัลเฟตหรือคราฟท
และถูกปรับปรุงสมบัติเชิงกลและกายภาพของเยื่อ โดยการเติมสารเติมแตงชนิดแปงดัดแปรประจุบวกในปริมาณ
รอยละ 1.4 และแอลคิลคีทีนไดเมอรในปริมาณรอยละ 0.5 ของน้ําหนักเยื่อแหง เยื่อกระดาษจากทางใบปาลม
น้ํามันถูกขึ้นรูปเปนบรรจุภัณฑดว ยวิธีการกดอัดและทดสอบความสามารถตอการตานทานแรงกดของบรรจุภัณฑ
เพื่อเปรียบเทียบความแข็งแรงกับบรรจุภัณฑขึ้นรูป ที่ผลิตจากโฟมและเยื่อกระดาษรีไซเคิลที่พบเห็นทัว่ ไปใน
ทองตลาด พบวาบรรจุภัณฑเยื่อกระดาษขึ้นรูปจากทางใบปาลมน้ํามันมีคาความตานทานแรงกดสูงกวาบรรจุ
ภัณฑขึ้นรูปจากทองตลาดทั้งสองประเภท นอกจากนี้การทดสอบการใชงานดานการขนสงผลิตผลทางการเกษตร
ดวยวิธีการวัดการสั่นสะเทือนโดยการบรรจุผลแอปเปล พบรอยช้ําบนผิวของแอปเปลที่บรรจุในบรรจุภัณฑขึ้นรูป
จากทางใบปาลมน้ํามันมากกวาบรรจุภัณฑขึ้นรูปจากโฟมและกระดาษรีไซเคิล ซึ่งแสดงวาผิวสัมผัสของบรรจุ
ภัณฑเยื่อกระดาษขึ้นรูปมีความแข็งกระดางมากกวา
ABSTRACT
ต ร ์
A concern related to ongoing
ศ า ส environmental issues leads to value-adding of unutilized oil
palm wasted from plantation and ษตรextraction operation. Oil palm frond is considered as a material for
extended development ofาลmolded ัยเก pulp packaging. Oil palm fronds pulped by sulfate or kraft process
along with an addition ิา ทofย cationic starch 1.4% and alkyl ketene dimer (AKD) 0.5% (based on OD fiber
ว
มห This property-enhanced pulp was then pressed to form molded pulp
weight) wasิทัลobtained.
packaging.ม ร ู้ดิจFurther, greater compression strength from molded pulp packaging using oil palm frond
คว า
คลัง
was obtained as compared with other commercial ones using foam and recycled pulp. The vibration
testing accounting for transportation and handling performance showed less bruises on packed
apples in the commercial molded pulp packaging than one using oil palm frond. This is caused by
molded pulp packaging using oil palm frond has less flexibility.
Key Words : Oil Palm Frond, Molded Pulp Packaging, Vibration Test, Cationic Starch,Alkyl Ketene Dimer (AKD)
L Jarupan : fagilpj@ku.ac.th

1
ภาควิชาเทคโนโลยีการบรรจุ คณะอุตสาหกรรมเกษตร มหาวิทยาลัยเกษตรศาสตร วิทยาเขตบางเขน กรุงเทพมหานคร 10900
Department of Packaging Technology, Faculty of Agro-Industry, Kasetsart University, Bangkhen Campus, Bangkok, 10900
 INTRODUCTION

The environmental concern gives rise to development of biodegradable materials in a

packaging domain. Biodegradable packaging is believed to alleviate environmental problems
effectively. In recent years, utilization of lignocellulosic materials (other than wood) has been growing
to replace existing wood species in conventional product making. Increasing trend in non-wood
materials has been induced by growing demand for lightweight and great performance in diminishing
natural fiber resources (wood in particular), and escalating raw materials and energy (Abusamah et
al., 1994, Chew and Ong, 1985). Thus, the prospect of using oil palm residues is increasingly bright
in light among lignocellulosic materials in vast application areas (Rowell et al., 1997).
Fibers from oil palm (Elaeis guineensis Jacq.) are potentially the largest source of non-wood
materials throughout the tropical region today. Several tons are produced each day in palm oil
producing countries (Sobral, 1990). Aside from palm oil, a massive amount of lignocellulosic
residues from the industry is also generated, including empty fruit bunches (EFB), trunks and fronds.
Pulp from oil palm fronds considered as a non-wood material can be used for packaging
material. Nevertheless, an enhancement of pulp in terms of physical and mechanical properties
should be done prior to the application. Cationic starch as a dry strength additive was used since it is
chemically modified to provide strong attachment to fibers (Lim et al., 1992). Yet fibers are
hygroscopic by nature hence very sensitive ์ to moisture conditions that may cause the reduction in
ส ร
ตwas undoubtedly to be used for solving such problem.
mechanical properties, a sizing agent า
This presented study then ษตรศaims at exploring potentiality of oil palm frond to be used as a new
ล ย
ั เก
sustainable packaging material.
ย า The experimental study spans four steps. Firstly, a sulfate process
was used for pulping. ท
ิ
าว Secondly, the resulting pulp was improved it strength properties by an addition
ห
of optimal amounts
ท
ิ ัล ม between cationic starch as dry strength and alkyl ketene dimer (AKD) as sizing
ม รู้ดิจ pulp molded packaging was obtained from pressing method and its compression
agent. าThirdly,
ง
ั คว was measured. Fourthly, vibration testing account for transportation and handling
strength
คล
performance was investigated.

MATERIALS AND METHODS

Oil palm fronds and additive agents

Oil palm fronds used in this study were obtained from a local oil palm mill in Chonburi
Province, Thailand in form of stalk. Prior to the pulping process, the raw material was cut to
approximately 5-10 cm in length and air dried. Cationic starch (TAPLINK-3) from Tapioca
Development Corp., Ltd., whose moisture content of 11.56%, pH of 6.24 and degree of substitution of
0.035 was used as dry strength agent. Alkyl ketene dimer size emulsion (AKD, EKA DR C221) with
solid containing of 12.5%, cationic charge, and pH ranging from 2.5-4.0 was supplied by Eka
Chemicals. Moreover, Granny Smith Apples (size 113) were used as fruit samples for vibration
testing.

Pulping and additive blending

Sulfate process was employed for oil palm frond pulping. The pulping condition was as
following: liquor-to-material ratio is 5:1, time for cooking 180 minutes under a controlled temperature
of 160 °C, sulfidity of 25%, and the active alkali equals 16%. Prior to blending additives with pulp,
cationic starch was first cooked under 95 °C with continuous agitation. Varied proportions of starch
and AKD in solution were added into the pulp stock. The 60 g/m2 of handsheets were prepared and
cured under 100 °C for 5 minutes and conditioned at 27 °C with 65 %RH for at least 24 hours before
testing. Mechanical and physical properties in terms of tensile, tear, burst and water resistances, and
contact angle at periods of 0, 30, and 60 second as well as surface analysis with scanning electron
microscope (SEM) were examined.

Making of molded pulp packaging

ต ร ์
าส
ษตรศ
An optimal proportion between cationic starch and AKD had been determined prior to
making of molded pulp packaging,
ล ย
ั เก which was produced through a hydraulic compression machine
า
(Pamalyn, Model PML-10)ิา ทย under the pressure of 2.5 bar for 3 minutes and left dried under a reflow
ว
oven machine atมห125 °C for 20 minutes. Mechanical properties in terms of compression strength
จ
ิ ิทัล 30 mm./min., deformation 15 mm.) was investigated. However, all molded pulp were
(sampling ู้ดspeed
ว า มร at 27°C and 65% RH (representing standard condition) and 12+2 °C and 92+2 %RH
conditioned
ค
คลัง
(representing cold storage condition) for 24 hours before testing.

Vibration testing

The vibration testing was performed under the Lansmont's Model 1000 vibration test system.
Random vibration to simulate a truck vibration system level in accordance with ASTM 4169 was
selected. Bruising on sampled apples beheld in molded pulp packaging made from oil palm frond
compared to ones from recycled paper and foam accounted from vibration during transportation was
determined. Three damage parameters include percent bruised apples, average bruises per apple,
and average bruise area per apple.

RESULTS AND DICUSSION

Comparison of fiber dimensions and derived indices of oil palm portions are listed in Table 1.
Fibers from EFB and trunk appear much shorter yet narrower than ones from frond. This gives higher
slenderness ratio; hence better tearing resistance. Furthermore, frond fibers were stiffer and less
flexible, and then may cause bulkier paper than EFB and trunk according to higher Runkel ratio
(Walter, 1980). From this morphology, it is necessarily to add other agents for enhancing strength
properties of paper from oil palm frond.

Table 1. Fiber dimensions and derived values of oil palm

Portions of oil palm
Frond EFB* Trunk*
Length (mm) 1.80 0.82 0.96
Width (m) 23.4 27.0 29.60
Lumen (m) 14.4 20.5 20.0
Cell wall thickness (m) 4.50 3.28 4.80
ร ์
ต 0.63
Runkel ratio า ส 0.32 0.48
Flexibility coefficient ษตรศ 0.62 0.76 0.68
Slenderness ratio ล ย
ั เก 76.92 30.3 32.5
ย า
* Source: adopted from
ท
ิ
าว Khoo and Lee (1991)
มห
ิทัล
ู้ดิจ 2 shows the effects of additives blending. The results indicate that all tensile, tear, and
Table
ม ร
า of handsheets were improved as increasing the amount of cationic starch. This can be
burstควindices
คลัง
explained that cationic starch causes an increase of the degree of strengths and internal fiber
bonding (Au and Thorn, 1995). In addition, water resistance and contact angle reacted from a drop of
water (as shown in Table 3) were also improved as the amount of cationic starch and AKD increase.
However, the examination through SEM (Fig 1) can be explained toward water resistance that a
decrease in porosity occurs with the increase amounts of additives. In addition, a low energy of
hydrophobic surface between fiber and water is created, forming a drop of liquid on the surface with
greater contact angle, thus decreases the wettability (Roberts, 1991).
 To this end, it can be concluded that an optimal proportion of additives blending be cationic
starch 1.4% and AKD 0.5%, based on OD weight of fiber and was further used for molded pulp
packaging making.

Table 2. Mechanical and physical properties of handsheets after blending with cationic starch and
AKD
Blending proportion
Properties
(% OD weight)
Tensile index Tear index Burst index Water
Cationic starch AKD
(Nm/g) (Nm2/g) (Pa-m2/g) resistance (sec)
0.0 0.0 51.59a 0.0113ab 3820a 40a
1.0 0.4 52.17a 0.0103a 3570a 210a
1.0 0.5 51.97a 0.0106a 3700a 340a
1.2 0.4 54.30ab 0.0113ab 4160b 2740b
1.2 0.5 57.90ab 0.0111ab 3790a 2770b
1.4 0.4 62.45b 0.0102a 4220b 2800b
1.4 0.5 61.05b 0.0127b 4180b 4210c
abc
Means in the same column with different superscripts are statistically significantly different at the
5% level by DMRT ตร์ าส
ต ร ศ
Table 3. Contact angle of ัยliquidเ กษ drop reacted on pulp sheets with blending of cationic starch and
าล
AKD ิาวทย
ห
ัิทล ม (% OD weight)
Blending proportion Contact angle at various times (degree)
Cationic
ม ร ู้ดิจstarch AKD 0 second 30 second 60 second
คว า 0.0 0.0 40.31d 22.00e 0.00e
คลัง 1.0 0.4 78.79c 71.50d 70.00d
1.0 0.5 88.13bc 81.75cd 78.88cd
1.2 0.4 96.33ab 91.50bc 87.50bc
1.2 0.5 100.50ab 96.33ab 91.33b
1.4 0.4 102.33ab 99.50ab 94.83b
1.4 0.5 112.50a 108.17a 107.17a
abc
Means in the same column with different superscripts are statistically significantly different at the
5% level by DMRT
 (a)

(b) (c) (d)

ต ร ์
าส
(e) ษตรศ (f) (g)
เก
ย าลัย
Fig 1. SEM micrograph า ว ิท (X500, 10keV) of pulp sheets with additive blending based on %OD fiber
ห
weight (a: control;ัิทล ม b: cationic starch 1.0%, AKD 0.4%; c: cationic starch 1.0%, AKD 0.5%; d: cationic
starch 1.2%,
ม ร ู้ดิจ AKD 0.4%; e: cationic starch 1.2%, AKD 0.5%; f: cationic starch 1.4%, AKD 0.4%; g:
คว า
คลัง
cationic starch 1.4%, AKD 0.5%)

Mechanical properties of the obtained molded pulp packaging are indicated in Table 4. The
compression testing showed that packaging using oil palm frond withstands greater compression
loads than the commercial ones using recycled paper and foam under both standard and cold
storage conditions. Based on the vibration results, damages in terms of percent bruised fruit, average
bruises per fruit, and average bruise area per fruit beheld in molded pulp packaging from oil palm
frond showed a greater extent (Table 5). This is caused by foam packaging has higher flexibility,
regarding its morphological properties as stated previously, hence reduces the greater impact of
apple and affects the lesser damage under the vibration testing.
Table 4. Comparison on compression strength between molded pulp packaging using oil palm frond
and commercial molded pulp packaging
Compression load at 15 mm deformation (N)
Packaging material types
Standard condition Cold storage condition
Oil palm frond 1894.45a 1679.05a
Commercial
- Recycled paper 1836.65a 1392.65b
- Foam 1161.85b 1168.4c
abc
Means in the same column with different superscripts are statistically significantly different at the
5% level by DMRT

Table 5. Comparison on damage toward apples in molded pulp packaging using oil palm frond and
commercial molded pulp packaging
Apple damage data
Packaging material
Percent bruised Average number of Average bruise
types
apple (%) bruises per apple area per fruit (mm2)
Oil palm frond 88.89a 3.84a 268.90a
Commercial
- Recycled paper 64.44aร์ 1.60b 53.74b
า ส ตb
- Foam 0.00
ศ 0.00c 0.00c
ษตร different superscripts are statistically significantly different at the
เก
abc
Means in the same column with
ล ย
ั
5% level by DMRT ยา
า ว ิท
มห
ัล
ิู้ดจิท CONCLUSION
ว า มร
คลังค This study shows the possibility of utilizing residue from oil palm plantation. Pulp from oil palm
frond was selected for making molded pulp packaging, intended to add values of such wastes.
Sulfate or kraft process was used for pulping, mechanical and physical properties in terms of tensile
tearing and bursting indices along with water resistance were improved by cationic starch and AKD.
From the results obtained, oil palm fronds are capable of being used for molded pulp packaging.
Upon the comparison on compression strength of molded pulp packaging using oil palm frond with
commercial molded pulp packaging using recycled paper and foam indicated that the oil palm frond
packaging is stronger than the commercial ones. Also, vibration testing simulating the transportation
system illustrated that the oil palm packaging performed higher stiffness, hence yielding greater
extent of damages on apples. By all means, it is necessarily that this dilemma should be restrained in
the further research to resolve if any similar agricultural product is handled in oil palm packaging.

ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

The authors would like to thank Kasetsart University Research and Development Institute
(KURDI) for their financial support under the project of Special Research Unit (SRU 4.48).

REFERENCES

Abusamah, A., T.H. Chin, R.N. Kumar and H.D. Rozman. 1994. Sheet Moulding Compounds Based
on Palm Fruit Pressed Fibre, National Seminar on Utilization of Palm Tree and other Palms,
Forest Research Institute of Malaysia, Malaysia.
Au, C.O. and I. Thorn. 1995. Application of wet-end paper chemistry. Chapman and Hall, London.
Chew, L.T. and C.L. Ong. 1985. Particleboard from Oil Palm Trunk. Proceeding of the Natural
Symposium on Oil Palm By-Products from Agro-Based Industries. Kuala Lumper, Malaysia.
Khoo, K.C. and T.W. Lee. 1991. Pulp and paper from the oil palm, Appita J., 44(6), 385-391.
Lim, W.J., Liang, Y.T. and P.A., Seib. 1992. Cationic oat starch: Preparation and effect on paper
strength. Cereal Chem. 69(3), 237-239.
ร์
Roberts, J.C. 1991. Paper chemistry.สตChapmann and Hall. London.
ศ า
Rowell, M.R., Young, R.Y. and ษJ.K., ตร Rowell. 1997. Paper and Composites from Agro-Based
Resources. CRCาลPress,ัยเก Florida.
ว ิทย Plants and Their Fibres as Building Materials. Chapman and Hall. USA.
Sobral, H.S. 1990. าVegetable
ห
Walter, I.B.1980.ัิทล มPulp and Paper : Chemistry and Chemical Technology. 3rd ed. Vol. 1. A Wiley-
า รู้ดิจ
มInterscience Publication, John Wiley and Son.
คว
คลัง