Wood modification requires homogenous treatment levels within the wood matrix to prevent insufficiently treated areas being subject to biodeterioration. Esterification of wood by citric acid and sorbitol can show differences in density caused by uneven chemical distribution during the curing phase and can be detected by x-ray densitometry. This study used density profiling to investigate the influence of pre-drying on treatment levels in radiata pine. The results show that vacuum pre-drying produce lower density differences in wood, which leads to the assumption that homogeneity of the modification treatment can be improved and sufficiently described by x-ray densitometry. However, density profiling aggregates data from several layers in only one plane and is therefore limited in the information it provides.

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