Effect of Temperature and Pressure of Supercritical CO2 on Dewatering, Shrinkage and Stresses of Eucalyptus Wood

Supercritical CO2 (SuCO2) dewatering can mitigate capillary tension and reduce wood collapse. In this study, Eucalyptus urophylla × E. grandis specimens were dewatered by SuCO2 at temperatures of 35, 40 and 55 °C, in pressures of 10 and 30 MPa, respectively, for 1h. Effects of temperature and pressure on dewatering rate, moisture content (MC) distribution and gradient, shrinkage and residual stress of wood after dewatering were investigated. The results indicate that the SuCO2 dewatering rate is much faster than that of conventional kiln drying (CKD). The dewatering rate increases with increasing of temperature and pressure; however, pressure has a significant influence, especially for the high-temperature dewatering process; the MC distribution after 1 h dewatering is uneven and MC gradients decrease with reducing of mean final MC of wood. MC gradients along radial direction are much smaller than that in tangential direction; collapse of wood significantly reduces after dewatering due to SuCO2 decreasing the capillary tension, and residual stress of wood during dewatering is mainly caused by pressure of SuCO2, which decreases with increasing temperature. SuCO2 dewatering has great potential advantages in water-removal of wood prone to collapse or deformation.

Drying Characteristics of Eucalyptus urophylla × E. grandis with Supercritical CO2

Supercritical CO2 (ScCO2) is a drying medium with excellent solubility and mass transfer efficiency. Supercritical CO2 drying (SCD) can remove the water of wood rapidly and prevent a change of microstructure caused by capillary tension in the drying process. In this study, Eucalyptus urophylla × E. grandis specimens with lengths of 50 and 100 mm were dried with ScCO2. Conventional kiln drying (CKD) and oven-drying (OD) were used as control. After 1 h, the drying rate, shrinkage, moisture distribution, drying stress were measured to explore the influence of drying methods and specimen length for drying characteristics during the early drying stage. The results showed that compared with CKD and OD, water removal was the fastest under SCD, and the drying rate was nine times of CKD and one time of OD. The shrinkage of SCD was the lowest among the three drying methods. Moisture distribution of SCD and OD was uneven. The drying stress of SCD was relatively high, the drying stress index of it was almost five times of CKD and three times of OD. Regardless of the drying method, shorter specimens had a shorter drying period but greater drying defects than the long specimens.

Radio frequency vacuum drying of Eucalyptus nitens juvenile wood

Wood drying is an important process for adding value and manufacturing innovative products. Eucalyptus nitens wood is inherently difficult to dry because of its natural propensity for checking as well as collapse and shrinkage. Lumber recovery after industrial drying of eucalypts is also very low. This study measured the wood quality of E. nitens juvenile wood (13 mm thickness) after radio-frequency vacuum (RFV) drying and wood dried in a conventional kiln dryer (KD). Drying cycles were performed using a radio frequency vacuum dryer with a 3 m3 of capacity and convective kiln-dryer equipment with a 3.5 m3 of capacity. The results showed that the drying time using the radio frequency vacuum method was reduced by 47% when compared to conventional kiln drying. The shrinkage was significantly lower in the RFV than in the conventional KD. The volumetric collapse decreased by approximately 60% in the RFV drying. RFV drying of E. nitens juvenile wood improves the wood quality for solid wood products because the intensity of surface checking and collapse are reduced.

Characteristics of commercial-scale radio-frequency/ vacuum (RF/V) drying for hardwood lumber

Two runs of commercial-scale radio-frequency/vacuum (RF/V) drying for maple hardwood were performed to explore the practical technology and its drying characteristics. The results revealed that the power density was a prerequisite for the drying schedule development. The drying time and in-process moisture content (MC) were evaluated by the calculated amount of dehydration at 1% MC removal. The drying defects, such as checks, bowing, and twist, and MC variation met the requirements of GB/T 6491 (2012). The drying rate of run 2 increased 22% after the drying schedule modification. The dehydration capacity was affected by the temperature, which first increased fast as the wood temperature increased to the boiling point and then increased more slowly after that point. The dehydration capacity was also associated with the initial lumber MC. Approximately 30% of the total energy maintained the chamber vacuum and approximately 70% was used for RF heating for both runs. The overall specific energy for water removal during RF/V drying had a competitive advantage compared with conventional kiln drying. The energy conversion efficiency of both runs was low at 50% during the warming stage, and increased to 80% and 90% for Run 1 and Run 2, respectively, during the drying stage.

YIELD OF A PORTABLE SAWMILL AND WOOD DRYING OF Hovenia dulcis IN CONVENTIONAL KILN

The objective of this work was to evaluate the yield of sawn wood and the operational efficiency in the sawing of Hovenia dulcis logs in a portable sawmill, as well as to evaluate the behavior of the wood in conventional kiln drying. For this purpose, five trees were selected, from which 14 logs of 1.8 meters in length were obtained to determine the volume, the yield of two diametric classes (20 to 24 and 24.1 to 28 cm) and the operational efficiency during the sawing of the logs. For the drying process, the parameters of initial temperature, final temperature and drying potential were obtained from the drastic drying method at 100ºC. The yield results showed that there were no statistical differences between the two diametric grades. For operational efficiency, the highest diameter class (1.00m³/worker/day) was higher than the lower diameter class (0.70m²/worker/day). For the drying of Hovenia dulcis wood, it is possible to consider this species as a difficult drying type according to the parameters found for the elaboration of the drying programs. In addition, the moisture loss of the wood occurred slowly due to its low permeability.

COMPARISON BETWEEN WOOD DRYING DEFECT SCORES: SPECIMEN TESTING X ANALYSIS OF KILN-DRIED BOARDS

It is important to develop drying technologies for Eucalyptus grandis lumber, which is one of the most planted species of this genus in Brazil and plays an important role as raw material for the wood industry. The general aim of this work was to assess the conventional kiln drying of juvenile wood of three clones of Eucalyptus grandis. The specific aims were to compare the behavior between: i) drying defects indicated by tests with wood specimens and conventional kiln-dried boards; and ii) physical properties and the drying quality. Five 11-year-old trees of each clone were felled, and only flatsawn boards of the first log were used. Basic density and total shrinkage were determined, and the drying test with wood specimens at 100 °C was carried out. Kiln drying of boards was performed, and initial and final moisture content, moisture gradient in thickness, drying stresses and drying defects were assessed. The defect scoring method was used to verify the behavior between the defects detected by specimen testing and the defects detected in kiln-dried boards. As main results, the drying schedule was too severe for the wood, resulting in a high level of boards with defects. The behavior between the defects in the drying test with specimens and the defects of kiln-dried boards was different, there was no correspondence, according to the defect scoring method.