The particleboard production process is a continuous industrial operation. Its core principle is to mix wood fragments (particles/flakes) with resin adhesive and press them into panels under heat and pressure. It can be divided into the following six core steps:

Step 1: Raw Material Preparation

  Wood Preparation: Logs are debarked using a debarker.

  Chipping and Flaking: The wood is fed into a chipper to produce small wood chips. These chips are then processed in a flaker to be broken down into finer, specified-sized flakes/particles.

Step 2: Drying and Screening

  Drying: The wet particles are fed into a rotary drum dryer, where hot gases reduce their moisture content from high levels (e.g., 30%-50%) to the required range (typically 3%-5%). This is crucial for ensuring the quality of subsequent resin blending and pressing.

  Screening: The dried particles are passed through vibrating screens or air classifiers to be separated into fine surface-layer particles and coarse core-layer particles. This is done to achieve a smoother surface and a stronger internal structure in the final board.

Step 3: Resin Blending and Additive Mixing

  Resin Application: The screened particles are fed into a ring blender or high-speed mixer.

  Mixing: During mixing, resin adhesive (most commonly Urea-Formaldehyde), a waterproofing agent (wax emulsion), and other additives (e.g., hardener) are uniformly sprayed onto the particles and thoroughly blended. This step determines the board's environmental class (e.g., E0, E1) and physical properties (e.g., moisture resistance).

Step 4: Mat Forming and Pre-pressing

  Forming: The resinated particles are fed into a forming station. Modern formers typically use mechanical or air-assisted systems, following the "fine-coarse-fine" three-layer or multi-layer principle to spread a uniform, symmetrical mat on a moving steel belt. This ensures uniform density, structural stability, and reduced warping in the finished panel.

  Pre-pressing: The loose, formed mat then enters a pre-press, where it is preliminary compacted at room temperature into a "mat band" with sufficient strength for transport and reduced thickness, preparing it for entry into the hot press.

Step 5: Hot Pressing and Curing

  Hot Pressing: This is the most critical step in the entire process. The pre-pressed mat is fed into a hot press (modern large-scale lines predominantly use continuous presses, while smaller lines use multi-opening presses).

  Curing: Inside the press, the mat is subjected to high temperature (typically 180-220°C) and high pressure. This causes the internal resin to melt and cure rapidly, firmly bonding the loose particles together to form a panel with high strength and specified density.

Step 6: Post-Press Processing

  Cooling and Conditioning: The boards exiting the hot press are very hot and must be cooled using a cooler turner. Subsequently, the boards need to rest in a conditioning area for 24-72 hours to release internal stresses, balance moisture content, and stabilize their physical properties.

  Cutting and Sanding: The conditioned boards are first trimmed to standard market dimensions (e.g., 1220x2440mm) by cross-cut and trim saws. Then, the boards enter a wide-belt sander for calibrating sanding, which removes the pre-cured surface layer and ensures precise, consistent thickness and a smooth, flat surface, ready for subsequent lamination or direct sale.

  (Optional) Automatic Stacking and Packaging: In modern production lines, the sanded finished boards are neatly stacked by automatic stackers, with stickers placed between layers. Finally, the stacks are wrapped in plastic film, reinforced, and labeled by automatic packaging machines, becoming finished products ready for warehousing or shipment.