The present invention relates methods for heat treatment of wood. The invention further relates to wood obtainable by the methods of the invention as well as the use of the method for preparing treated wood. The method comprises the step of pressurising said airtight tank (4) to a predefined pressure (P.sub.1) in order to establish a pressurised environment for said wood (6). The method comprises the step of placing said wood (6) in an airtight tank (4) and heating said wood (6) to a predefined temperature (T.sub.2, T.sub.3). The predefined pressure (P.sub.1) is kept so high that the water in the wood (6) cannot evaporate at the predefined temperature (T.sub.2, T.sub.3).

Alcoholic spirits may be artificially aged under highly pressurized carbon dioxide. The carbon dioxide may form carbonic acid, which may cause various esters to form in the presence of wood as well as to mellow the flavor when no wood is present. Wood may be pretreated with ozone, which may extract lignin which may further convert to vanillin during pressurized CO2 treatment, giving a vanilla note. After processing with pressurized CO2, a post-treatment of ozone may be given to the spirit, which may cause a mild oxidation and further mellowing of the spirit.

A method of preparing a fiberboard is described herein, the method comprising treating a particulate plant-derived material with plasma to obtain a plasma-treated particulate material, and compressing the plasma-treated particulate material. Further described herein is a fiberboard comprising a particulate plant-derived material, and being substantially devoid of an adhesive, or substantially devoid of an adhesive which is urea-formaldehyde resin, melamine-formaldehyde resin, polyurethane resin, epoxy resin, and/or phenol formaldehyde resin. The fiberboard may be characterized by a density of less than 500 kg/m.sup.3, a particulate plant-derived material particle area of at least 1 mm.sup.2, and/or a particulate plant-derived material water contact angle of no more than 20°.

The present invention relates to a process for preparing a modified wood product wherein the wood is treated with low-molecular weight resin based on lignin degradation products. The present invention also relates to a modified wood product produced using said process.

The invention relates to a method for preparing a densified wood article comprising vacuum impregnating a porous low-density type of wood with a specified aqueous phenolformaldehyde resin composition and pressing. The invention also relates to a densified wood article obtainable by the process having a low set-recovery. The invention further relates to the use of an aqueous phenol-formaldehyde resin composition for impregnation of wood for impregnating wood in a process for the manufacture of densified wood articles and to the use densified wood articles in high value-added applications like flooring or furniture and for machine tooling applications.

A wood substrate or member is included, having an increased density with respect to natural, untreated wood. The process includes drying the wood prior to application of heat and pressure, which are controlled to reduce or eliminate color change on a surface of the wood member where heat and pressure are applied.

A wood substrate or member is included, having an increased density with respect to natural, untreated wood. The process includes drying the wood prior to application of heat and pressure, which are controlled to reduce or eliminate color change on a surface of the wood member where heat and pressure are applied.

Methods for treating cellulosic materials comprising introducing a liquid treating composition into the cellulosic material, the treating composition comprising a solution prepared from at least: (i) one or more of a copper amine complex or copper ammine complex, such as copper tetraamine carbonate, (ii) one or more of ammonia or a water-soluble amine and (iii) water; and exposing the cellulosic material provided thereby to carbon dioxide and/or carbonic acid to provide treated cellulosic material, and treated cellulosic materials prepared thereby.

A process for producing a lignocellulose-containing, plastic-coated and printable molding (26), in particular in sheet form, comprising the steps of: a) producing a layer (A, B′) containing lignocellulose-containing particles according to the shape of the molding to be produced (26); b) applying a layer (C) of particles containing electron beam-reactive thermoplastic onto the layer produced according to the preceding feature; c) heating the layers (A, C) produced according to the preceding features such that thermoplastic particles melt into the layer containing lignocellulose-containing particles (Cs); d) pressing the layers heated according to feature (1c); and e) irradiating the layers pressed according to feature (1d) with electrons in the energy range from 1 MeV to 10 MeV. The process is for example elucidated with reference to an MDF sheet one-sidedly provided with a polymer layer.

A method for producing an ultra-stable and enhanced solid wood flooring for under-floor heating via surface compression technique includes: subjecting, while subjecting a solid wood to surface compression and enhancement, the solid wood to primary stabilization treatment by controlling a temperature of a hot pressing plate to obtain a compressed enhanced solid wood; putting the compressed enhanced solid wood into a heat treatment tank; and subjecting the compressed enhanced solid wood to secondary stabilization treatment by controlling a pressure and a temperature of steam or air in the heat treatment tank and a treatment time to obtain a finished product. The ultra-stable surface-compressed enhanced solid wood flooring produced by the method features high dimensional stability, low set-recovery after water absorption, and desired moisture and heat resistance.