Experimental approach of coconut peeling process

Abstract

A substantial area of senile coconut palms exists within the Asia-Pacific region. Once coconut palms become over-mature and senile, their production of traditional products, such as coconuts, significantly decreases, resulting in profitability challenges for farmers. Presently, few profitable markets exist for over-mature, senile coconut palms. Using the coconut palm stem in composite or engineered wood products could, however, provide an attractive alternative. Coconut palm wood differs substantially from hardwood, softwood, and even the wood of other palms. Due to some of its unique characteristics, a processing system able to recover wood from the highdensity zone near the stem periphery is desirable. A series of rotary veneer laboratory trials were undertaken to establish fundamental benchmark lathe settings and veneering characteristics for coconut palm stems. Different pressure bar configurations, billet pre-treatment temperatures, and veneer thicknesses were tested and the resulting cutting forces and veneer quality were assessed.