Impregnation of Wood with Waste Engine Oil to Increase Water- and Bio-Resistance

Impregnation is a common method of protecting wood from external influences. This study proposes the use of spent engine oil as an impregnating composition for modifying birch wood to make it resistant to biological degradation and water. The indicators of water resistance and dimensional stability of wood such as wetting contact angle, thermogravimetric analysis, Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), and biodegradation tests have been determined. It has been found that treatment with spent engine oil significantly increases the dimensional stability (56.8% and 45.7% in tangential and radial directions) and water-resistant indicators of wood. Thermogravimetric analysis has showed that the curves for the impregnated specimens were different from the control group and had two sharp peaks at 302 and 357 °C. However, FTIR indicated that no clear chemical reactions occur between spent engine oil and wood. A study on wood resistance to biological degradation has showed a significant increase in resistance against brown rot (Poria placenta fungi) in the treated specimens, in contrast to the control group. Thus, impregnation of wood with spent engine oil makes it possible to increase wood resistance to water and biological degradation.

Color Changes and Resistance Against Subterranean Termites Attack of Furfuryl Alcohol Impregnated Pine and Sengon Woods Through Graveyard Test

Pine (Pinus merkusii Jungh. & de Vriese) and sengon (Falcataria moluccana (Miq.) Barneby & J.W. Grimes) are common species of woods used for many purposes. Both species are known susceptible against subterranean termite attack. This study aims to analyze the effect of furfuryl alcohol impregnation on color changes and the resistance against subterranean termites of pinewood and sengon after in-ground test for one year. Furfurylated pine and sengon woods reached weight percent gain 31.2% and 79.1%, densities 0.93 g/cm3 and 0.43 g/cm3, moisture content 3.27% and 2.88%, respectively. Furfurylated pine and sengon woods have lost weight 4.07% dan 2.09%, respectively, with the average resistance level of 9.8 on both woods while untreated pine and sengon woods lost weight were 59.02% and 35.58%, with resistance level 4 and 3.8, respectively. Resistance level scoring was conducted by refering to ASTM D1758-06. Higher resistance level and lower weight loss on both furfurylated woods compared to untreated woods showed that furfurylation could increase the wood resistance against termite attack.

Wood Moisture-Content Measurement Accuracy of Impregnated and Nonimpregnated Wood

The influence of the impregnation process of pine wood (Pinus sylvestris L.) samples on the electrical resistance changes and the moisture-content measurement accuracy is presented in this paper. In this study, the resistances of impregnated and nonimpregnated green pine timber harvested from northern Poland were compared. An impregnation method based on a vacuum-pressure chamber was used. Copper salts were applied as the impregnated solutions. The obtained results of the electrical resistance comparison showed a dependence of wood resistance on the moisture content. Higher conductivity occurred in impregnated wood samples filled with copper salt compared with wood samples without impregnation. Noticeable differences in the electrical resistance values were observed when the wood moisture content was significantly above the Fibre Saturation Point (FSP).

Phenotypic Variability and Differences in the Drought Response of Norway Spruce Pendula and Pyramidalis Half-Sib Families

In a changing climate, forest managers need to select productive and climate-change-resilient tree species and provenances. Therefore, assessing the growth response of provenances growing in field trials to climate provides useful information for identifying the more appropriate provenance or variety. To determine the genetic gain through selection of the most productive and resilient families and to decipher the role of crown forms of Norway spruces (Picea abies (L.) Karst.), we used 24 families with a classical crown (pyramidalis) and 24 with a narrow crown (pendula) from eight provenances, growing in a 25-year-old comparative trial. The annual wood characteristics (ring width and early- and latewood), the wood resistance (expressed by latewood proportion (LWP)), and the growth response to climate of the two spruce crown forms were investigated. No significant differences between the two spruce forms were found regarding the ring width characteristics. However, three pendula families of Stâna de Vale I provenance exhibited the highest LWP and could be included in a future selection strategy, the respective trait having also high heritability. Radial growth was positively and significantly correlated with previous September and current July precipitation and negatively with current June temperature. Both spruce forms showed good recovery capacity after a drought event.

Color change and termite resistance of fast-growing tropical woods treated with kesambi (Schleichera oleosa) smoke

Smoke treatment can be used to enhance wood resistance to subterranean termite attack. In this study, kesambi (Schleichera oleosa) wood was pyrolyzed to produce charcoal. The smoke produced as a by-product of pyrolysis was used to treat sengon (Falcataria moluccana), jabon (Anthocephalus cadamba), mangium (Acacia mangium), and pine (Pinus merkusii) wood samples for 1, 2, or 3 weeks. Following the smoke treatment, the wood specimens were exposed to subterranean termites (Coptotermes curvignathus Holmgren) according to the Indonesian standard 7207-2014 in a laboratory. The color change caused by smoke treatment was observed, and chemical analysis of smoke was also done. The results showed that chemical compounds of kesambi smoke predominantly consisted of acetic acid, phenol, ketones, amines, and benzene. The color of smoked wood became darker, less yellow, and a little redder, while a longer smoking period produced a darker color which was more resistant to termite attack. Smoke treatment enhanced the resistance of wood to subterranean termite attack, and the resistance levels were not significantly different based on the duration of the smoke treatment.

Wood anatomy of Ceiba speciosa (A. St.-Hil.) Ravenna under urban pollution

Urban pollution is one of the current environmental problems which most threatens the human and environmental health. In a fast-changing world, trees stand out among the sessile organisms that withstand the variations imposed by the environment throughout their lifespan. Thus, trees have become important objects of study in the evaluation of phenological, physiological and/or morphological plasticity. Previous studies have demonstrated the impact of urban environment on cambium anatomy and dendrochronology of Ceiba speciosa (Malvaceae), a native species of the Atlantic Forest. In the present study, our objective is to evaluate the impact of the urban environment on wood structure and consequently on the hydraulic architecture of Ceiba speciosa. Wood samples were collected by a non-destructive method, processed and analyzed according to the usual techniques for plant anatomy. Samples were collected in two sites: the first, an important forest remnant of the Atlantic Forest, and the second next to Avenida Brasil, the largest avenue in Rio de Janeiro, the fourth largest city in Latin America. Trees showed plasticity in seven anatomical features and significant differences in wood structure between both groups studied. Urban trees have lower hydraulic conductivity, shorter vessels and fibres, and larger, more frequent rays. These features demonstrate that in stressful situations, such as those observed in urbanized environments, Ceiba speciosa invests in more safety for water transport and in lower wood resistance, with a trade-off between high production of cells of low energy cost and providing storage of water and metabolic products for unfavorable periods.

Novel Wood Resistance Measurement Method Reducing the Initial Transient Instabilities Arising in DC Methods Due to Polarization Effects

A novel method for measuring the electrical resistance in wood is presented. It is based on applying an Alternating Current (AC) to two electrodes rammed into the wood. The method reduces the transient time for value stabilization. In case of Direct Current (DC) resistance measurement methods, typically used in wood measurement, an initial transient exists, invalidating the measured value during an initial transient period. This measurement method uses an electronic circuit based on a relaxation oscillator where the wood automatically sets the oscillation frequency depending on its electrical resistance. Compared to other AC methods, this circuit greatly simplifies the measurement process, not requiring any previous analysis for wood AC frequency estimation. Experimental results for four different wood species showed that, in all cases, the transient response of the measured wood resistance is improved when compared to the DC resistance method, reducing the stabilization time from 10–12 min in DC measurements to almost zero for the novel measurement method. The deviation between the initial wood resistance measurement and the stable value resulted in a range between 0.2% and 5% with the proposed method, while a range between 6% and 10% was obtained when using the DC method. Moreover, the proposed circuit is able to detect changes in wood resistance produced by small variations in temperature and environmental relative humidity during continuous long term measurements. For repeatability analysis, it was verified that similar ambient conditions of temperature and relative humidity (variations lower than 1 °C and 1%, respectively) in different moments provided variations lower than 1.5%. The method can also be applied to other fiber materials affectd by polarization effects when an electrical current is applied into them.

Preservation of durian timber and coconut timber with soursop leaf extract

Durian timber and Coconut timber grow a lot in the area of Gunung Pati Semarang, Central Java. The threat of biodeteoration in Indonesia as tropical area is quite high. Therefore, it is necessary to take protection measures in the form of preservation for prevention. The preservatives used in this study are natural preservative of soursop leaf extract. The preservation method used was cold soaking method with variation of concentration of preservative as follows: 0%, 5%, 10%, 15%, 20% and 25%. This study aims to figure out how significant the weight loss of timber and how durian wood and coconut wood’s resistance to termites based on the weight loss of timber. Result of examination of termite attack on Coconut timber with preservation of soursop leaf extract 0%, 5%, 10%, 15%, 20% and 25% obtained by weight loss of wood 17.57%, 13.43%, 10.61%, 7.67%, 5.50% and 4.20%. Meanwhile, the result of examination of termite attack on Durian timber with the concentration of soursop leaf extract 0%, 5%, 10%, 15%, 20% and 25% showed these following timber weight losses: 18.24%, 14.61%, 13.04%, 11.33%, 8.98% and 7.84%. Based on the wood resistance table, Durian timber with soursop leaf concentration of 20% and 25% were classified in the medium classification. Coconut timber with 15% and 20% soursop leaf concentrations were classified in the medium classification, while at 25% concentrations in resistant classification.