Innovative hardwood products (FIL) in southern Lower Saxony

In order to promote cutting-edge research in the field of innovative and future-oriented products made of hardwood, the “Research Centre Innovative Hardwood Products (FIL)” was developed in the Department of Wood Biology and Wood Products at the University of Göttingen in the period from 01.07.2018-30.06.2019. The total construction costs of around 1.2 million euros come from the university and the European Regional Development Fund (EFRE).

A suitable location here is southern Lower Saxony with its numerous deciduous forests, a hardwood processing industry established regionally and in the neighboring federal states and the Wood Biology & Wood Products Department of the Faculty of Forestry and Forest Ecology at the Georg-August University in Göttingen.

The FIL aims to promote cutting-edge research in the field of innovative and future-oriented products made from hardwood. In this way, the resource of hardwood, which is available at regional level throughout Germany, is to be optimally used and further processed with regard to value-adding utilization.

Innovative research approaches for the use of hardwood in the construction sector (LaubBau)

At the moment, the FIL is already working on research topics in the fields of solid wood, glulam (finger-jointed technology) and laminated veneer lumber. These products will continue to be a focus at the FIL. In the future, however, there will also be an increased focus on chipboard and fibreboard as well as cross-laminated timber and glulam (referred to here as wood-based materials). The university and the European Regional Development Fund (‘EFRE React’) have again approved funding totalling almost €710,000 for the expansion and renewal of the equipment from 2022.

The equipment purchased will be used to optimise the use and further processing of hardwood, a resource available throughout Germany at regional level, with a view to its value-adding use, primarily in the construction sector. On the one hand, this involves equipment for manufacturing products from hardwood, such as a semi-industrial hot press for the production of wood-based materials, and on the other hand, research equipment for the structural analysis of the panel materials produced (digital microscope) or for property characterisation (Fourier transform infrared spectrometer and heat flow meter).

The creation of the FIL has enabled universities and research institutions to be interlinked with the regional economy. By creating application-orientated interfaces with regional and supra-regional small and medium-sized enterprises as well as larger regional industrial companies, hardwood resources can be converted into innovative products without long transport routes.

At the FIL in southern Lower Saxony, the employees of the Wood Biology and Wood Products department conduct cutting-edge research in the field of product innovations based on native hardwoods. At the time the application was submitted, research topics in the fields of solid wood, glulam (finger-jointed technology) and laminated veneer lumber were already being addressed. These products will continue to be a focus of the FIL. In the future, however, there will also be an increased focus on chipboard and fibreboard as well as cross-laminated timber and glulam (referred to here as wood-based materials). With the appropriate funding, further national and international collaborative projects are to be realised. The following funding programmes are particularly worthy of mention here: Renewable Raw Materials (BMEL/FNR), Forest Climate Fund (BMEL/BMU/FNR), Forest Value (BMEL/FNR) and Central Innovation Programme for SMEs (BMWI).

In addition to the production of chipboard and oriented strandboards (OSB) for structural applications, future research will also focus on the development of insulating materials (low-density fibreboards) based on native hardwoods. However, the equipment at the time of the application only allowed the production of chip- and fibre-based wood materials to a limited extent, as the outdated hot presses are not designed for this, especially at the low pressing pressures required for fibre insulation production. The following equipment was to be procured for the development of the subject area of chip- and fibre-based wood-based materials at the FIL and to support existing research fields:

• Hot press including pre-press and suction device: for the production of chipboard and fibreboard (various densities) with optimised control system
• Gluing unit (ploughshare mixer): for gluing chips, strands (OSB) and fibres
• Heat flow meter: for analysing the thermal conductivity and capacitance properties of insulation and other materials
• Digital microscope: for characterising the properties of the materials produced and other materials examined in the FIL (solid wood products, etc.)
• Fourier transform infrared spectrometer: for structural analysis of wood substrates (untreated, modified), adhesive systems and for surface characterisation as well as for quality assurance (degree of modification, adhesive and binder distribution) of the materials produced
• Panel saw: for the safe handling of manufactured panel materials
• Milling machine: for the safe production of wooden test specimens for elasto-mechanical property tests

With the help of the equipment purchased, the aim is to optimise the use and further processing of hardwood, a resource available at regional level throughout Germany, for value-adding use primarily in the construction sector.