Abstract
Solid wood has a certain amount of resistance to fire exposure. Recently, there is also great interest in characterization of the thermal behaviour of treated wood due to increasing demand of such products within the perspective of sustainability of environment. The objective of this study was to evaluate and predict the thermal decomposition process of samples from different wood species, Norway spruce (Picea abies Karst.), common ash (Fraxinus excelsior L.) and Turkey oak (Quercus cerris L.), so that such data can be used for enhanced design of wood products for more effective and better utilization in different applications. Spruce and ash samples were treated at a temperature of 190 °C for 2 h while Turkey oak specimens were steamed at a temperature of 110 °C for 24 h before they were thermally treated at a temperature of 160 °C for 3 h. A thermo-gravimetric analysis of the samples highlighted intraspecific differences in mass loss and the stage of thermal degradation between treated and untreated specimens. The degradation of the wood was characterized by twofold reaction stages, with an exception of Norway spruce samples, which exhibited a one-stage reaction. In addition, thermal treatments affected chemical composition of wood. The obtained results will be helpful in determining the applicability of these materials according to their thermal degradation properties.
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Acknowledgements
This work was supported by the Italian Ministry of Education, University and Research MIUR-PRIN 2015 (Grant No. 2015YW8JWA) granted to LT. The research was also carried out in the framework of the project ‘Smart Basilicata’, which was approved by MIUR (Notice n.84/Ric 2012, PON 2007–2013 of 2 March 2012) and funded with the Cohesion Fund 2007–2013 of the Basilicata Regional authority. The authors’ thanks are due to Prof. G. Gorrasi for the technical assistance.
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Todaro, L., Rita, A., Pucciariello, R. et al. Influence of thermo-vacuum treatment on thermal degradation of various wood species. Eur. J. Wood Prod. 76, 541–547 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00107-017-1230-7
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00107-017-1230-7