New environmental regulations in the United States impose stricter controls on wood
composite board manufacturing facilities. Volatile organics released from drying furnish for
particleboard account for about 75 percent of the total volatile organic compounds (VOCs)
emission during particleboard manufacturing (Boswell and Hunt 1991). All wood used in
composite board production must be dried from an average of 60% to 90% moisture content
(on a dry weight basis) to approximately 3% moisture content before entering the production
line. Conventional drying systems for wood strands currently employ a rotary drum dryer that
shoots a raw flame through a 20’-30’ rotating drum while tumbling the wood product around.