A Treatability Study of Western Wood Species with Water Based Azoles and Insecticides Using Buffered Amine Oxides

IRG/WP 16-40766

R W Clawson Jr, C N Cheeks, K A Cutler

The use of Western U.S. Wood Species remains small in today’s global wood product market when compared to the use of other commercially available softwoods. One reason that other fiber sources, those that may be less naturally durable or exhibit slightly inferior mechanical properties, are utilized is ease of treatment. In an attempt to ensure adequate penetration in commercially important and difficult-to-treat Western Wood Species such as Douglas fir, Hem fir, and 100% Heart Redwood, the use of deep incisions is standard practice. The development of solvent-free, Water Based Buffered Amine Oxide Treatment Systems (known commercially as TRU-CORE® Technology) for use in wood preservation has allowed significant modernization of the application and preservation process for these species. Important to the future growth of Western Wood Species may be the elimination of incising. When the Buffered Amine Oxide Treatment System technology is utilized it has been demonstrated that non-incised difficult-to-treat species are fully penetrated in the sapwood and heartwood. The buffered amine oxides allow for a chemically based infusion process that is capable of delivering key wood protectants completely throughout the wood. This water based system imparts a minimal amount of added moisture into the wood during the process, so there is no need to dry after treatment. To date, there are over 50 commercially successful Buffered Amine Oxide Treatment Systems. In 2015, over 4,000,000 m3 (1.695 billion board feet) of wood was treated with the Buffered Amine Oxide System.


Keywords: buffered amine oxides, azoles, refractory, Douglas fir, Hemlock, Redwood

Conference: 16-05-15/19 Lisbon, Portugal


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