Wood is a renewable material widely used in the construction industry. However, it is susceptible to fungal degradation. Several chemical products have been developed to improve its durability, but the toxicity of some of these products limits their use. One alternative to chemical treatment is thermal modification of wood. This method improves the dimensional stability of wood and reduces its susceptibility to decay. The impact of different parameters (maximum temperature, heating rate, holding time and gas moisture content) of thermal modification on the mechanical properties of Betula papyrifera was studied in a prototype furnace. The results show a marked decrease in the modulus of rupture with increasing temperature while the modulus of elasticity does not seem to be affected. The hardness increases with maximum modification temperature, and in the absence of moisture in gas, and there is an improvement in the dimensional stability after thermal modification.
AtesS, AkyildizMH, OzdemirH. 2009. Effects of heat treatment on Calabrian pine (Pinus brutia Ten) wood. Bioresources. 4(3): 1032–1043.
2.
AkyildizMH, AtesS, OzdemirH. 2009. Technological and chemical properties of heat-treated Anatolian black-pine wood.Afr. J. Biotechnol. 8: 2565–2572.
3.
ASTM International. (ed.)2004. Annual book of ASTM standards, section 4 (construction), 4·10 (wood). West Conshohocken, PA: ASTM International.
4.
BekhtaP, NiemzP. 2003. Effect of high temperature on the change in colour, dimensional stability and mechanical properties of spruce wood.Holforschung57: 539–546.
5.
BourgoisJ, GuyonnetR. 1988. Characterization and analysis of torrified wood.Wood. Sci. Technol. 22: 143–155.
6.
de GrootWF, PanWP, RahmanMD, RichardsGN. 1988. First chemical events in pyrolysis of wood.J. Anal. Appl. Pyrolys. 13: 221–231.
HillCAS. 2006. Wood modification – chemical, thermal and other processes. Chichester: John Wiley and Sons.
9.
HingstonJA, CollinsCD, MurphyRJ, LesterJN. 2001. Leaching of chromate copper arsenate wood preservatives: a review.Environ. Pol. 111: 53–66.
10.
KaasA, WangaardFF, SchroederHA. 1970. Chemical degradation of wood: the relationship between strength retention and pentosan content.Wood Fib. Sci. 2: 31–39.
11.
KocaefeD, ChaudryB, PoncsáksS, BouazaraM, PichetteA. 2007. Thermogravimetric study of high temperature treatment of aspen: effect of treatment parameters on weight loss and mechanical properties.J. Mater. Sci. 42(3): 854–866.
12.
KocaefeD, PoncsákS, BolukY. 2008a. Effect of thermal treatment on the chemical composition and mechanical properties of birch and aspen.Bioresources3(2): 517–537.
13.
KocaefeD, PoncsákS, GenevièveD, YounsiR. 2008b. Effect of heat treatment on the wettability of white ash and soft maple by water.Holz. Roh. Werkst. 66: 355–361.
14.
KocaefeY, KocaefeD. 2008. A method of thermally treating wood. Patent application in progress. International publication number and date: WO 2008/000081 (3/01/2008). European publication number and date: EP 2040894 (01/04/2009).
15.
LevanSL, RossRJ, WinandyJE. 1990. Effects of fire retardant chemicals on bending properties of wood at elevated temperatures. US Department of Agriculture, Forest Service, Forest Products Laboratory, Madison, WI, USA. Research paper FPL-RP-498.
MilitzH. 2002. Heat treatment technologies in Europe: scientific background and technological state of art. Proc. Conf. of Enhancing the durability of lumber and engeneered wood products. Kissimmee, FL, USA, February 2002. Forest Product Society. 25–32.
18.
NazerianM, GhalehnoMD, KashkooliAB. 2010. Effect of wood species, amount of juvenile wood and heat treatment on mechanical and physical properties of laminated veneer lumber.J. Appl. Sci. 11: 980–987.
19.
PizziA, StephanouA, BoonstraMJ, PendleburyAJ. 1994. A new concept on the chemical modification of wood by organic anhydrides.Holforschung48: 91–94.
20.
SandlandKM. 1998. Dimensional stabilization of wood by heat treatment. Proc. Conf. of Performance of wood. Florence, Italy, May 1998. Mechanical Performance of Non-standard Wood. Pages 219–227.
21.
SchultzTP, NicholasDD. 2002. Development of environmentally benign preservatives based on the combination of organic biocides with antioxidants and metal chelators.Phytochemistry61: 555–560.
22.
SeborgRM, TarkowH, StammAJ. 1953. Effect of heat upon the dimensional stabilization of wood.J. FPRS3(9): 59–67.
23.
StammAJ. 1964. Wood and cellulose science. New York: The Ronald Press Company.
24.
WinandyJE, LobowPK. 2001. Modelling strength loss in wood by chemical composition.Part I. An individual component model for southern pine. Wood Fib. Sci. 33(2): 239–254.
25.
WinandyJE, RowellRM. 1984. The chemistry of solid wood. Washington, DC: American Chemical Society.
