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Wood Panel Board Moisture Sensors

Engineered Wood Products Overview

Wood-based panel boards, or engineered wood products (EWP), is made by combining veneers, particles, fibers and strands of wood with adhesives to create products ranging from particleboard, medium density fiberboard (MDF), oriented strand board (OSB) to cross-laminated timbers (CLT). Other products include: LVL, glulam, I-beams, etc. The dimensional stability of engineered wood versus solid wood is the major driver behind the success of this market.

Ideal Wood Applications

Cross-Laminated Timber (CLT)
– Hog Fuel
– Medium Density Fiberboard (MDF)
Oriented Strand Board (OSB)
– Particle Board
– Pellets
– Sawdust
– Wood-Based Panelboard
– Wood Shavings

Why measuring moisture in wood-based panel board matters

Finna Sensors has been involved in the engineered wood market for 20+ years. In fact, one of the first installations involved the largest producer of particleboard in North America. Finna Sensors installed its radio frequency sensor (RF) into the press to optimize the curing process. Prior to this installation, mills were unable to ‘see’ into the process to know when boards were properly cured. Opening the press too early resulted in de-lamination. If the press was held too long, then boards were lost due to over-drying. Glue costs were a consideration as well as these mills must be competitive.

Other issues exist in wood-based panel board moisture – when kept in check, the operation is becomes much more efficient. If moisture levels are too high, production speed is slowed down and there are increased risk of causing blows. When too dry, it means that excess energy is being consumed and there is an increased risk of fire and explosion in the dryer.

OMNIR for Panel Board

The OMNIR sensor is ideal for moisture measurement in these locations:
– After Drying
– Before Blending
– After Blending
– On conveyor belt
– In forming/On mat

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Measure panel board moisture with OMNIR sensor

Finna Sensors continues to invest in its product line for panel board manufacturers. The introduction of OMNIR, an online near infrared sensor (NIR) to measure moisture content at the forming lines of OSB, particleboard and MDF producers is an exciting extension of the company’s product line and industry experience. Key features of OMNIR apply to panel board manufacturers including:

These hardware features, coupled with cutting-edge data analytics using Internet of Things (IoT) mean this sensor will give its users a powerful new tool to drive operational excellence.