The effectiveness of oil-heat treatment in the main chemical constitutes of planted 15-year-old acacia hybrid

The hybrids were natural regeneration and were progenies of the two Acacia species that had been planted near each other. The Acacia hybrid was chosen because it exhibits better properties (It is less susceptible to heart rot disease) in comparison with A. mangium. Moreover, A. hybrid also widely planted in most countries as sources to replace natural timber. The study focused on variations in the chemical constituents of oil-heat treated planted 15 years-old Acacia hybrid investigated. The logs of planted A. hybrid were harvested, segregated and cross-cut into the bottom, middle and top portions. The portions then process into respective sizes, and oil-heat treated using organic palm oil at temperature of 180, 200 and 220°C for the time 30, 60 and 90 minutes respectively. The samples were dried and milled into sawdust and air-dried before undergoing subsequent chemical analysis — the untreated woods used as controls. Standard outlined by the Technical Association of the Pulp and Paper Industry (TAPPI) followed. The results highlighted that the chemical composition of the Acacia woods changes during the oil-treatment process from 180 to 220°C and occurred at both the sapwood and heartwood. The holocellulose and cellulose decreased from 71.5 to 63.1% and 47.1 to 37.7%, respectively for sapwood while from 73.4 to 64.0% and 48.9 to 38.1%, respectively for heartwood. The hemicellulose content increases from 24.4 to 25.4% in the sapwood and 24.5 to 25.9% for the heartwood. Nevertheless, lignin contents increased 20.8 to 24.0% for the sapwood and 22.4 to 24.9% in the heartwood for treatment temperature from 180 to 220°C.