Thermally-modified panels, boards, and flooring manufactured from engineered wood, including, but not limited to, oriented-strand board (OSB). These products may be in the form of a sub-floor panel or substrate, a board, a panel, a combined panel, tile, or similar form. Heat treatment or thermal modification of wood or wood-based composites provides wood-based products with improved water resistance, dimensional stability, microbial resistance, and related biological durability with reduced use of harmful chemicals and/or the elimination of hazardous chemical pretreatments.

The present invention relates to a method for treating a vent gas steam from heat treatment of plant biomass. The invention also relates to an apparatus for performing the method for treating a vent gas steam from heat treatment of plant biomass.

A wood heating system comprises an electric power source, a first electrode assembly, a second electrode assembly, and a control system. The first electrode assembly is connected to the electric power source and is adapted to make electrical contact with a first end of a wood length to apply electric power to the wood length. The first electrode assembly comprises at least two electrode segments. The second electrode assembly is adapted to make electrical contact with a second end of the wood length. The control system is adapted to selectively connect/disconnect electric power flow between the electric power source and at least one electrode segment of the first electrode assembly.

In some examples, a method of manufacturing a densified wood transaction instrument includes boiling a sheet of wood in a chemical solution, compressing the boiled sheet of wood using a die in a press to form one or more features in the sheet of wood, during the compressing of the boiled sheet of wood, heating the boiled sheet of wood to create a sheet of densified wood, and attaching one or more payment elements to at least one of the one or more features formed in the sheet of densified wood to form a sheet of one or more densified wood transaction instruments.

The present invention relates to a heating element for a timber drying device and a timber drying device using same, the heating element comprising: a concave and convex metal plate sandwiched between vertically laminated timbers and having ridges and valleys alternately formed thereon; heating cables generating heat as power is applied thereto; and a plurality of heat transfer pipes which are tightly coupled to the concave and convex metal plate between the ridges and valleys of the concave and convex metal plate to reinforce the strength of the concave and convex metal plate and into which the heating cables are sequentially inserted to transfer heat generated from the heating cables to the concave and convex metal plate. According to the present invention, with a very simple structure, heat can be transferred evenly throughout the timbers, the heat conduction efficiency from the heating cables to the concave and convex metal plate can be greatly improved, the lifespan of the heating element can be significantly extended, and the convenience of a timber laminating work for timber drying can be greatly improved.

A treatment process and wood products thereof including a product formulation of a single phase solution combining a wood preservative (durable component) with a Flame Retardant component (FR) to produce a durable Flame Retardant (dFR) treated wood product. The durable component comprises a range of copper based and non-copper based wood preservatives, while the FR component comprises alkali metal silicates and alkali metal aluminate compounds. The dFR working solution undergoes chemical impregnation (treatment) followed by a heat (fixation) process step that locks the chemical into the wood making it non-leachable. The dFR treated wood products are tested for their enhanced fire performance properties. When heated, wood undergoes thermal degradation and combustion producing gases, vapors, tars and chars. Using a cone calorimeter burn test method, dFR treated wood products show a significant reduction in heat release rate, mass loss rate and smoke generated values compared to untreated radiate pine.

A durable palm fiber composite material is obtained by impregnating an unprocessed palm bark in a resin adhesive solution prepared by using a palm leaf as a raw material and then hot-pressing. The palm bark is dried under a natural state without additional processing. The palm leaf is made into a tannin resin adhesive solution under the effect of additives such as furfuryl alcohol, paraformaldehyde, and others. A pH value of the adhesive solution is controlled to be 9-11. A solid content is 40-60%. An adhesive amount applied to the palm bark by the resin adhesive solution is 800-1500 g/m.sup.2. Odd number of layers (three or more layers) of palm barks that are impregnated by the resin adhesive solution and are hot-pressed to the composite material. Hot-pressed parameters are as follows: the temperature is 150-180° C. the unit pressure is 0.8-1.5 MPa, and the time is 10-30 s/mm.

A method for treating wood packaging materials using Radio Frequency heating includes the steps of heating wood packaging materials using RF heating and applying a pressure before the heating or incrementally applying a pressure during the heating. The wood packaging materials are heated in a RF operating unit that has a sealed chamber with an inner surface and a liner cover a majority of the inner surface, the liner having a heat-reflective inner face and an insulation layer between the inner face and the inner surface.

The present invention relates to a method for continuous acetylation of wood elements. The acetylation is conducted with an acetylation medium at a pressure of at least 1.5 barg in a substantially oxygen free environment. Alternatively, the method according to the invention comprises the steps of: (a) feeding wood elements in a substantially oxygen free environment to a continuous acetylation reactor, and (b) treating the wood elements with an acetylation medium in the continuous acetylation reactor under wood acetylation reaction conditions, at a pressure of at least 1.5 barg. The process according to the present invention allows to acetylate wood elements to a high acetyl content in a very efficient way, without compromising on the quality of the material. The acetylated wood elements can be used in the production of medium density fibreboards with superior qualities such as dimensional stability and durability.

The present disclosure relates to a wood article and a process for preparing the wood article. In particular, the present disclosure relates to a wood article comprising a wood substrate comprising acidic substances and having at least one major surface; an adhesion promoting layer directly applied on the major surface of the wood substrate; and a Michael Addition curing coating applied on the adhesion promoting layer, wherein the adhesion promoting layer is formed by a composition comprising a functional silane comprising amino and/or imino functional groups; and wherein the Michael Addition curing coating is formed from a two-component curable coating composition.