The purpose of this paper is to investigate the influence of kiln temperature,
relative humidity and wood moisture content on the content of acid and alcohol released in the drying process of high temperature kiln by studying the radiated pine sawn timber of 40mm thickness. The drying temperature was between 101°C and 115°C, the relative humidity in the drying kiln was reduced from 86.1% to 39.6%, the moisture content of the lumber was reduced from 106.16% to 11.98%, and gas extraction was executed nine times with an extraction speed of 1.0 L•min-1 and a sampling time of 30 min. The concentrations of acids and alcohols were analyzed by HPLC. The results showed that the concentrations of formic acid, acetic acid, and methanol emitted in the kiln during drying were 215.6-748.2, 4148.8-16803.2, and 6381.9-15648.9 mg•m-3, respectively, and these concentrations were significantly higher than the relevant standards. The concentrations of the emitted formic acid and acetic acid were proportional to the drying temperature, the concentrations of the emitted formic acid and acetic acid were inversely proportional to the relative humidity in the kiln and the moisture content of the lumber. The concentration of the emitted methanol was independent of the drying temperature, relative humidity in the kiln, and moisture content of the lumber. It is therefore suggested that formic acid, acetic acid, and methanol be separately recovered during the high-temperature drying of Pinus radiata lumber.
STUDY ON CONCENTRATIONS OF ACIDS AND ALCOHOLS EMITTED BY PINUS RADIATA
DURING HIGH-TEMPERATURE DRYING
