Research on Structural Optimization of High-Density Wood Panel Equilibration Chamber Based on Computational Fluid Dynamics

Abstract

To guarantee the uniformity of the flow field within an equilibration chamber during the process of hot air baking and to elevate the quality of high-density wood panels, an in-depth analysis was conducted, focusing on the impact of various factors such as the number of side air inlets in the chamber, the spacing between panel gaps, and the configuration of the bottom air inlet spacing. The aim was to optimize the structural parameters to enhance the uniformity of temperature and wind speed. The results indicated that the factors influencing the flow field uniformity within the equilibration chamber were, in descending order of importance, the number of side inlets, the spacing between the bottom inlets, and the distance between the plate gaps. In addition, the optimized hot air increased the average velocity by 0.16 m/s and the average temperature by 6.44K. The percentage of boards passing the inspection of its substandard products was only 9.2%, an improvement of 11.8 percentage points, and the average moisture content was also reduced to 8.76%. The simulation and analysis program effectively improved the uniform distribution of temperature and air velocity in the equilibration chamber and improved the quality of panel production. Therefore, the adoption of this solution helps to achieve efficient drying of wood-based panels and reduce costs.