Quercus pubescens Willd. is a common oak species in the Mediterranean area, where it is currently exploited mainly for purposes such as firewood. To improve the technological properties of its wood, various steaming and/or heat treatments were applied to 160 wood samples from a southern Italian stand, cut from either sapwood or heartwood, while 20 samples served as controls. Steaming was carried out in an autoclave at 120 °C, whereas heat treatments were performed in an oven at 150 or 200 °C for 3 or 6 h. The equilibrium moisture content, swelling, mass loss, wood density, compression strength, color variation, and lignin content of the samples were measured and compared among treatments. The swelling and water adsorption of wood samples decreased due to the hydrothermal treatments. The mass loss was strictly related to the temperature and duration of the heat treatments, whereas it was not influenced by the steaming treatment. The average axial compression strength value was positively influenced by the combination of steaming and heat treatments. A significant and general darkening of color was also observed for the harshest treatments, while an increase of lignin content was detected mainly in the sapwood. Thus, pubescent oak wood subjected to steaming and heat treatments may acquire useful characteristics suitable for its industrial use.

Behavior of pubescent oak (Quercus pubescens Willd.) wood to different thermal treatments

TODARO, Luigi;RITA, ANGELO;MORETTI, Nicola;
2015-01-01

Abstract

Quercus pubescens Willd. is a common oak species in the Mediterranean area, where it is currently exploited mainly for purposes such as firewood. To improve the technological properties of its wood, various steaming and/or heat treatments were applied to 160 wood samples from a southern Italian stand, cut from either sapwood or heartwood, while 20 samples served as controls. Steaming was carried out in an autoclave at 120 °C, whereas heat treatments were performed in an oven at 150 or 200 °C for 3 or 6 h. The equilibrium moisture content, swelling, mass loss, wood density, compression strength, color variation, and lignin content of the samples were measured and compared among treatments. The swelling and water adsorption of wood samples decreased due to the hydrothermal treatments. The mass loss was strictly related to the temperature and duration of the heat treatments, whereas it was not influenced by the steaming treatment. The average axial compression strength value was positively influenced by the combination of steaming and heat treatments. A significant and general darkening of color was also observed for the harshest treatments, while an increase of lignin content was detected mainly in the sapwood. Thus, pubescent oak wood subjected to steaming and heat treatments may acquire useful characteristics suitable for its industrial use.
2015
File in questo prodotto:
File Dimensione Formato  
iForest_ifor1348-007_Todaro.pdf

accesso aperto

Tipologia: Pdf editoriale
Licenza: DRM non definito
Dimensione 827 kB
Formato Adobe PDF
827 kB Adobe PDF Visualizza/Apri

I documenti in IRIS sono protetti da copyright e tutti i diritti sono riservati, salvo diversa indicazione.

Utilizza questo identificativo per citare o creare un link a questo documento: https://hdl.handle.net/11563/105291
Citazioni
  • ???jsp.display-item.citation.pmc??? ND
  • Scopus 9
  • ???jsp.display-item.citation.isi??? 9
social impact