Heat treatment has been used to improve properties of non durable European species. Chemical modification of some of the wood components provides improved dimensional stability and biological performance against decay fungi while mechanical properties such as modulus of rupture are reduced. Quality control of commercially made thermally treated wood is one of the major challenges to allow its industrial development. The variability inherent within wood specie and between wood species, density and chemical compositions variation combined with the heat treatment parameters such as temperature duration and levels contribute to the production of heterogeneous heat treated wood. The development of a heat treatment process by conduction which monitors the weight changes during the process will facilitate and help in controlling, in understanding and predicting the properties of heat treated wood. Data collected from a pilot study of heat treated wood using conditions similar to commercial process show that hardwood species were more susceptible to thermal degradation as compared to softwood. It was also established that wood chemical composition is directly connected to the percent of weight loss due to thermodegradation, allowing the use of chemical composition to predict fungi durability. Carbon and oxygen contents and/or oxygen to carbon ratio of heat treated wood can be therefore used as valuable markers to develop quality control assessment of heat treated wood.

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