Thermal modification of non-durable wood species 2. Improved wood properties of thermal treated wood

IRG/WP 98-40124

B F Tjeerdsma, M J Boonstra, H Militz

Properties of wood treated in a new heat-treatment process called the PLATO-process have been studied. Several wood species have been treated using this new thermal modification process using a range of process conditions (mainly time and temperature). In this study the characteristics of the treated wood were determined using samples from whole planks treated on pilot plant scale. The modified chemical structure of the wood after treatment results in a product with improved properties. The most important properties of wood, strength, dimensional stability and durability, were determined before and after the heat-treatment. The examined wood species showed a minor loss of strength after treatment. The correlation between the hygroscopicity of the treated wood in moist conditions and the dimensional stability has been studied. Depending on the applied process conditions the hygroscopicity of the treated wood decreased. The hygroscopicity was reduced by 40% and the dimensional stability appeared to have an improvement, ranging to 50%. The durability after heat-treatment was substantially improved.


Keywords: HEAT-TREATMENT; PROPERTIES; STRENGTH; DIMENSIONAL STABILITY; DURABILITY

Conference: 98-06-14/19 Maastricht, The Low Countries


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