Home   >   CSC-OpenAccess Library   >    Manuscript Information
Modeling of moisture diffusion and heat transfer during softening in wood densification
Donghua Jia, Muhammad T. Afzal, Meng Gongc, Alemayehu H. Bedane
Pages - 191 - 200     |    Revised - 30-04-2010     |    Published - 10-06-2010
Volume - 4   Issue - 2    |    Publication Date - May 2010  Table of Contents
MORE INFORMATION
KEYWORDS
Softening, Soaking, Densification, Moisture diffusion, Heat Transfer, Modeling
ABSTRACT
Mechanical densification of wood involves compressing the wood in radial direction using heat, water and steam to produce a higher density surface exhibiting better mechanical properties. The densified wood is an environmentally friendly product that presents new opportunities for the wood products industry. Wood surface densification involves both soaking and heating. The objective of this study is to present a two-dimensional model of moisture diffusion and heat transfer during softening process in order to understand and control the degree of surface densification. The governing equations for diffusion process and heat transfer are solved numerically at non-steady state conditions. Experimental data was also collected on Aspen and Balsam fir specimens to determine the moisture profile. The model predicts suitably the moisture content and temperature in the soaking process. The results showed that the surface to be softened could be heated to a temperature of 80~90 oC in 3~5 minutes with an average moisture content of 25 percent in the surface layer.
CITED BY (2)  
1 Dupleix, A., Kusiak, A., Hughes, M., & Rossi, F. (2013). Measuring the thermal properties of green wood by the transient plane source (TPS) technique. Holzforschung, 67(4), 437-445.
2 Fortino, S., Genoese, A., Genoese, A., & Rautkari, L. (2013). FEM simulation of the hygro-thermal behaviour of wood under surface densification at high temperature. Journal of Materials Science, 48(21), 7603-7612.
1 Google Scholar 
2 Academic Journals Database 
3 ScientificCommons 
4 Academic Index 
5 CiteSeerX 
6 refSeek 
7 iSEEK 
8 ResearchGATE 
9 Libsearch 
10 Scribd 
11 WorldCat 
12 SlideShare 
13 PDFCAST 
14 PdfSR 
15 Chinese Directory Of Open Access 
A. Koumoutsakos, S. Avramidis, and S. G. Hatzikiriakos. 2001. Radio Frequency Vacuum Drying of Wood. I. Mathematical Model, Drying Technology 19(1): 65-84.
J.F. Siau, 1995. Wood: Influence of Moisture on Physical Properties, Virginia Tech., USA.
M. Inoue, M. Norimoto, Y. Otsuka, and T. Yamada. 1990. Surface compression of coniferous wood lumber. 1: A new technique to compress the surface layer. Mokuzai Gakkaishi 36(11): 969-975.
R.M. Nelson, Jr. 1991. Heats of Transfer and Activation Energy for Bound-water Diffusion in Wood, Wood Sci. Tech. 25: 193-202.
S. Avramidis, P. Englezos, and T. Papsthansiou. 1992. Dynamic nonisothermal transport in hygroscopic porous media, Moisture diffusion in wood, AIChE J. 38(8): 1279-1287.
W.T. Simpson and J. Y. Liu. 1991. Dependence of the Water Vapor Diffusion Coefficient of Aspen on Moisture Content, Wood Sci. Tech. 26: 9-21.
W.T. Simpson, 1993. Determination and Use of Moisture Diffusion Coefficient to Characterize Drying of Northern Red Oak, Wood Sci. Tech. 27: 409-420.
Mr. Donghua Jia
University of New Brunswick - Canada
jiadonghua@hotmail.com
Associate Professor Muhammad T. Afzal
University of New Brunswick - Canada
Mr. Meng Gongc
- Canada
Dr. Alemayehu H. Bedane
- Canada


CREATE AUTHOR ACCOUNT
 
LAUNCH YOUR SPECIAL ISSUE
View all special issues >>
 
PUBLICATION VIDEOS