On the measurement of formaldehyde release from low-emission wood-based panels using the perforator method

In Europe, the perforator method (EN 120) is the mostly used laboratory method of the wood-based panel industry. Usually, the measured perforator value depends on the moisture content of the boards. According to DIBt-100, the measured perforator values are corrected to a common moisture content (MC) of 6.5% using an established equation proposed by Jann and Deppe (1990). The correction factor of Jann and Deppe (1990) is based on the assumption that particle- and fibreboards change their perforator values to the same extent regardless whether increasing or decreasing the moisture content in the range of 3 ≤ u ≤ 9%. Application of this correction factor to particle- and fibreboards of higher moisture content than 6.5% can lead to biased corrected results in favour of low emission. The corrected values can also lead to paradoxical relation between the perforator values and emission in the low-emission region.     

Influence of molar ratio in aminoplastic resins on the dependence of the measured perforator values on the moisture content of wood-based panels

The correction factor developed by Jann and Deppe (1990) to adjust the measured perforator values of particleboards and fibreboards measured at different moisture contents in the range of 3% ≤ u ≤ 9% to the level at 6.5% moisture content has two main deficiencies. It takes no account of the influence of the molar ratio of the resins used, which seems to remarkably impact the relationship between the moisture content and the measured perforator values. Moreover, research work revealed that the correction factor to be applied also depends on the moisture content, at which the perforator value was measured, according to an inversely proportional correlation. Besides, the correction factor according to Jann–Deppe leaves this fact unconsidered.