FPRDI and TRC to construct FTLD for bamboo processing
December 6, 2011
In a bid to advance the country’s bamboo processing industry, the Department of Science and Technology’s Forest Products Research and Development Institute (FPRDI) and Technology Resource Center (TRC) will collaborate in a project that seeks to construct a furnace- type lumber dryer (FTLD) with a boiling vessel for bamboo slats.
The project is in line with TRC’s establishment of a Bamboo Processing Facility in Mabalacat, Pampanga. Aside from the design, construction, and evaluation of the 1000 bdft-capacity FTLD, FPRDI will also provide the design and specifications of the machinery line-up for producing bamboo skewers and chopsticks.
The first of its kind, the FTLD with a boiling vessel will be used to boil and dry bamboo slats prior to processing. FTLD is a cheap and efficient lumber dryer that enables small and medium wood-based and related enterprises to make products that meet the importing countries’ moisture level requirement.
The Memorandum of Agreement for the project was signed by FPRDI Director Dr. Romulo T. Aggangan and TRC Director General Dennis L. Cunanan last 24 October 2011. Funds amounting to Php 700,000 will be released by TRC for this project. ### (Apple Jean C. Martin, 28 November 2011)
